SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments: 

Liana M. Bailey-Crimmins, 52, of Galt, has been appointed Director of the California Department of Technology, where she has been State Chief Technology Officer since 2021. Bailey-Crimmins was Chief Information Security Officer at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System from 2019 to 2021, where she was Chief Health Director from 2017 to 2019 and Chief Information Officer from 2013 to 2017. She was Chief Information Officer at California Correctional Health Care Services from 2010 to 2013, where she was Deputy Chief Information Officer from 2008 to 2010. She is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $206,797. Bailey-Crimmins is registered without party preference.

Erin Rodriguez, 29, of Sacramento, has been appointed Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs at the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. Rodriguez has been a California Policy Advocate at the Union of Concerned Scientists since 2019. She was a Legislative Analyst at the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery in 2018, a Legislative Aide for California State Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman from 2016 to 2018 and a Field Director for Jim Costa for Congress in 2016. Rodriguez was a Legislative Aide for California State Assemblymember Henry T. Perea in 2015 and a Political and Legislative Assistant for Blanning and Baker Associates in 2015. She earned a Master of Science degree in environmental policy management from the University of California, Davis. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $126,000. Rodriguez is a Democrat.

Sandra Matsumoto, 48, of Davis, has been appointed to the California Water Commission. Matsumoto has been Director for the California Water Program at the Nature Conservancy since 2020, where she was Associate Director from 2015 to 2020 and Project Director from 2004 to 2015. She was Project Manager at the Los Angeles Community Design Center from 2003 to 2004 and a Project Analyst at Mintz Levin from 1997 to 1999. She is an advisor to the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, a board member of the Water Education Foundation and a board member of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. Matsumoto earned a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Matsumoto is a Democrat.

Crystal Robinson, 45, of Forks of Salmon, has been appointed to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. Robinson has been Environmental Director at Quartz Valley Indian Reservation since 2014 and held that position from 2006 to 2010. She was Water Resources Program Coordinator for the Karuk Tribe from 2010 to 2014 and Scientific Field Technician at the Siskiyou Resource Conservation District from 2003 to 2006, where she was Watershed Education Coordinator from 2004 to 2005. Robinson was a Fisheries Biological Technician for the U.S. Forest Service Salmon/Scott Ranger District in 2005, a Scientific Aide for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2004, a Scientific Field Technician for the Northern California Resource Center in 2004 and a Watershed Steward for the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project from 2001 to 2003. She is a member of the Scott River Watershed Council, serves on the Salmon River Restoration Council Board and Scott Groundwater Advisory Committee. Robinson is secretary of the California EPA Tribal Advisory Committee, chairperson of the Klamath Basin Monitoring Program and Northern California representative on the U.S. EPA Regional Tribal Operations Committee. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Robinson is registered without party preference.

Adam Wright, 44, of Danville, has been appointed to the California Earthquake Early Warning Advisory Board. Wright has been Executive Vice President of Operations and Chief Operating Officer of Pacific Gas & Electric Company since 2021. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of MidAmerican Energy Company from 2018 to 2020, where he held several positions from 2012 to 2018, including Vice President of Gas Delivery and Vice President of Wind Generation and Development. Wright was Vice President of Marketing at Northern Natural Gas from 2010 to 2012. Wright is a member of the Nuclear Energy Institute and the American Gas Association. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Wright is a Republican. 

Susan Friedman, 81, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the Board of Behavioral Sciences, where she has served since 2020. Friedman was an Emmy-award winning Network News Producer for NBC News from 1982 to 2008 and from 1968 to 1977. She was a Reporter and Producer for the local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) from 1977 to 1982. She is a founding member of the Alliance for Children’s Rights Board of Directors and vice chair and commissioner of the Los Angeles County Mental Health Commission. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Friedman is a Democrat.

John Sovec, 60, of Altadena, has been reappointed to the Board of Behavioral Sciences, where he has served since 2019. Sovec has been a Clinical Consultant and Trainer for Los Angeles Shanti since 1988 and for the Life Group Los Angeles since 2005. He has been a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice since 2008 and Adjunct Faculty of Postmodern Studies at Phillips Graduate Institute since 2012. Sovec is a member of the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, the Life Group Los Angeles advisory board, the Mountain AIDS Foundation advisory board, and the Red Ribbon Foundation advisory board. He earned a Master of Arts degree in psychology from Phillips Graduate Institute. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Sovec is a Democrat.