Governor Newsom Announces Appointments 10.8.19


SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:

Kimberly Kirchmeyer, 50, of Sacramento, has been appointed director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Kirchmeyer has been executive director of the Medical Board of California since 2013, where she was deputy director from 2011 to 2013. She was deputy director of board and bureau relations at the Department of Consumer Affairs from 2009 to 2011 and deputy director at the Medical Board of California from 2005 to 2009, where she was a staff services manager from 2001 to 2005 and an associate governmental program analyst from 1999 to 2001. Kirchmeyer is a member of the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities, Federation of State Medical Boards Committees, Administrators in Medicine, and the United States Medical Licensing Examination State Board Advisory Panel. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $197,797. Kirchmeyer is a Republican.

Somjita Mitra, 41, of Orange, has been appointed chief of economic research at the Department of Finance. Mitra has been director of the Institute for Applied Economics at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation since 2017. She was an economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation from 2013 to 2017 and a senior economist at Recon Research Corporation from 2008 to 2012. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $162,000. Mitra is a Democrat.

Robert Dutton, 72, of Pearblossom, has been appointed to the 50th District Agricultural Association, Antelope Valley Fair Board of Directors. Dutton was a principal at the Antelope Valley Union High School District from 1998 to 2013. He served as a member of the Antelope Valley Union High School District Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2018. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Dutton is a Democrat.

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