Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Joseph Wall, 26, of Sacramento, has been appointed special assistant for climate change at the California Natural Resources Agency, where he has been an associate governmental program analyst since 2016 and was a staff services analyst from 2015 to 2016 and an executive fellow from 2014 to 2015. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $88,752. Wall is registered without party preference.

MariaElena De La Garza, 52, of Watsonville, has been appointed to the 14th District Agricultural Association, Santa Cruz County Fair Board of Directors. De La Garza has been executive director at the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County Inc. since 2013. She was a director of community relations at Janus of Santa Cruz from 2011 to 2013 and a division director at the Mexican American Community Services Agency Inc. from 1991 to 2010. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. De La Garza is a Democrat.

David Lidgett, 35, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the 15th District Agricultural Association, Kern County Fair Board of Directors. Lidgett has been an adjunct professor at Cerro Coso Community College since 2015 and a deputy sheriff at the Kern County Sheriff's Office since 2008. He is a member of the Boy Scouts of America and Rio Del Norte 4-H. Lidgett earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Liberty University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Lidgett is a Republican. 

Claire Crenshaw, 27, of Alturas, has been appointed to the 34th District Agricultural Association, Modoc District Fair Board of Directors. Crenshaw has been secretary to the superintendent at the Modoc Joint Unified School District since 2015 and a cowboy at the Modoc Auction Yard since 2014. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Crenshaw is a Republican.

Lilli Sommer, 68, of Fort Bidwell, has been reappointed to the 34th District Agricultural Association, Modoc District Fair Board of Directors, where she has served since 2014. Sommer was an academic instructor at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation High Desert State Prison from 2005 to 2011 and an office assistant at the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement from 1999 to 2005. She was an office worker at the Office Dr. Thomas S. Harper from 1998 to 1999, director of the Humboldt Literacy Project from 1985 to 1999 and an employment claims assistant at the California Employment Development Department from 1980 to 1985. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Sommer is a Democrat.

Donald DeLano, 64, of Claremont, has been appointed to the 48th District Agricultural Association, Schools’ Agriculture and Nutrition Program. DeLano has been a horticulturist and farm manager at Fairplex since 1992. He was a lecturer and nursery technician at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona from 1976 to 1992. DeLano is a member of the American Begonia Society and the Los Angeles International Fern Society. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. DeLano is a Democrat.

Coralea Harbushka, 77, of Claremont, has been appointed to the 48th District Agricultural Association, Schools’ Agriculture and Nutrition Program. Harbushka has been a self-employed designer since 1961. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Harbushka is a Republican.