SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments: Victoria “Vicki” Graf, 70, of Newport Beach, has been appointed to the Advisory Commission on Special Education. Graf has been a Professor and Director of the Special Education Program at Loyola Marymount University since 1979. She is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, the California Council on Teacher Education, the American Educational Research Association, Kappa Delta Pi and Alpha Sigma Nu. Graf earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Special Education from the University of California, Riverside. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Graf is a Democrat. Heather Snipes, 37, of Eureka, has been appointed to the Advisory Commission on Special Education. Snipes has been a Program Specialist for the Supporting Inclusive Practices Program at the El Dorado Office of Education since 2022 and an Instructor at the California Preschool Instructional Network since 2018. Snipes held several positions at the Eureka City School District from 2013 and 2022, including Director of Early Childhood Development and Special Education, Assistant Director of Early Childhood Education, Preschool Center Teacher, Substitute Preschool Teacher and Elementary School Secretary. She was SEEDS Afterschool Program Coordinator at the Westside Community Improvement Project from 2015 to 2016. Snipes was a Financial Aid Technician at the College of the Redwoods from 2014 to 2015 and an Emergency Communications Dispatcher Trainee at the City of Eureka Police Department from 2012 to 2013. Snipes was an Early Head Start Teacher at Hoopa Valley Tribal Early Head Start from 2011 to 2012 and a Preschool Teacher at the College of the Redwoods Child Development Center from 2007 to 2011. Snipes was treasurer at the California Association for the Education of Young Children, North Coast Chapter from 2020 to 2021 and is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. She earned a Master of Science degree in Early Childhood Studies from Walden University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Snipes is a Democrat. Brian Johnson, 53, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation Board of Directors. Johnson has been California Director of Trout Unlimited Inc. since 2011, where he was Director of the California Water Program from 2005 to 2011. He was an Associate at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP from 2000 to 2005 and Associate Director for Communications at the Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President from 1993 to 1997. Johnson was Manager of Energy Star Computers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation from 1991 to 1993. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Johnson is a Democrat.Kristin Peer, 42, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation Board of Directors. Peer has been a Water Attorney at Bartkiewicz Kronick & Shanahan since 2022. She was Deputy Secretary and Special Counsel for Water Policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2019 to 2022 and Assistant General Counsel there from 2015 to 2019. Peer was a Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2010 to 2015 and an Associate at Miller, Starr, Regalia from 2007 to 2010. She was a Credit Analyst at Union Bank from 2002 to 2004. Peer earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Peer is a Democrat. Lester Snow, 70, of Fair Oaks, has been reappointed to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation Board of Directors, where he has served since 2016. Snow has been an Independent Consultant since 2016. He was Executive Director of the Resources Legacy Fund’s Water Foundation from 2011 to 2016, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency from 2010 to 2011 and Director of the California Department of Water Resources from 2004 to 2010. Snow is a Member of the California Water Service Group Board of Directors. He earned a Master of Science degree in Water Resources Administration from the University of Arizona. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Snow is a Democrat.
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