The 41-year-old Stanford law professor was born in Mexico before moving with his family to the U.S. when he was 14. A registered Democrat, Cuéllar worked in the Clinton and Obama administrations in various capacities. He specializes in administrative and immigration law, but has taught a broad range of courses, including international and criminal law.   read more

Mills, 42, takes over the stem cell program as it enters the final years of the 2004 voter-approved, $3-billion venture to fund projects. Although his predecessor was said to be leaving to spend more time with his family in Australia, Alan Trounson was immediately hired by one of the companies CIRM had awarded millions of dollars to, re-enforcing the perception that the agency had a serious conflict-of-interest and cronyism problem.   read more

She takes over a department, wracked by scandal and plagued by a lack of funding, whose $654 million budget is under intense scrutiny. Her predecessor, retired Marine Corps Major General Anthony L. Jackson, was hired in November 2012 with a mandate to reform the agency. His predecessor, Ruth Coleman, resigned four months earlier after $54 million was found stashed in department accounts while 70 state parks faced closure because of budget cuts.   read more

The director takes over a department that has a lot of trouble getting its work done on time, according to the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office. A report in March said the DCA, which supervises around 37 boards and bureaus, fails at one of its primary responsibilities, disciplining licensees. Many of their reviews run way past deadlines for completing enforcement actions, led by the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, which were an average 988 days late in 2012-13.   read more

Justice Marvin Baxter, a Governor Deukmejian appointee 24 years ago, announced Wednesday he will retire when his term is up in January, joining Justice Joyce Kennard, who retired in April. Baxter is considered by many to be the most conservative member of the court, although the unpredictable Kennard outflanked him on more than one occasion.   read more

Kneier was caught on a security videotape strolling down the sidewalk with his wife in the wealthy Southern California town on June 7, glancing briefly to his right before tossing a bag of dog crap into his neighbor’s yard and continuing on his way. The surveillance video went viral and Kneier’s reputation went in the toilet.   read more

Steiner, a 24-year veteran of the insurance industry, will oversee a "scandal-plagued" agency that has had three permanent bosses and two interim leaders since 2007, and was significantly downsized beginning in 2010. State Fund, as it is known, is California's largest workers' compensation provider. State employees manage a $20 billion fund, investing $1.2 billion in annual policyholder premiums.   read more

Kim Lehmkuhl, 34, resigned last week from her $7,000-a-year, part-time job with an epic rant in an email to the City Council that denounced its misogyny, racism and “NIMBY asshattery” while wishing them luck “finding some schmuck” to take the job. Lehmkuhl has been under fire by the City Council since her election in 2012 and was the subject of a recall campaign in her final days.   read more

Jackson was given the job in November 2012 with a mandate to reform the department. His predecessor, Ruth Coleman, resigned four months earlier after $54 million was found stashed in department accounts while 70 state parks faced closure because of budget cuts. The department has been squeezed in recent years by a diminishing state commitment to fund its activities.   read more

Governor Jerry Brown reached across the country this month, to New Jersey, in selecting Alisha Griffin.She has been very active on the national and international scene, representing the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) as a member of the delegation to the Hague Private Law Convention on Child Maintenance and Family Support.   read more

The 69th Speaker of the Democratically-controlled Assembly, Toni Atkins, is a coal miner's daughter whose experience growing up poor in Virginia informs her legislative agenda, which features an emphasis on economic development, affordable housing, homelessness and health care. Atkins, the first openly gay woman to hold the position, was sworn in May 12.   read more

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has never wanted for controversy during Debbie Raphael's three years as its director. The department, which oversees and regulates the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste, has been accused of being too cozy with corporate polluters and lax in its enforcement of environmental laws. Raphael, 54, announced on Thursday that she is resigning at the end of the month to become director of the San Francisco Department of Environment.   read more

She was appointed to a four-year term to the State Bar Court in December 2000 by the Senate Rules Committee, which was chaired by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton. The independent court, the only one of its kind in the country, hears cases about attorneys who have been accused of professional misconduct. The Supreme Court appointed her presiding judge of the court in 2006. She was reappointed to the court in 2012.   read more

The next California State Librarian is not a librarian. Governor Jerry Brown announced that Greg Lucas, a longtime Bay Area political writer with deep political connections, will take over the post. “What the hell?” Roy B. Stone, president of the Librarians’ Guild, inquired of a Los Angeles Times reporter. The Guild represents 350 librarians in Los Angeles. “I’m tired of political appointments everywhere you go for everything,” Stone said.   read more

Henning, who has been Brown's chief deputy appointments secretary since 2011, comes from a family with a deep history of involvement in government and labor. Henning's father, Patrick Sr., ran EDD for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2004-2009. Henning's grandfather, Jack, led the state labor federation for 26 years, was ambassador to New Zealand and served as U.S. undersecretary of labor in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.   read more

Governor Jerry Brown’s new director at the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), Joe Xavier, has come a long way from his early days as a nearly-blind immigrant milking cows instead of pursuing a college education. Brown appointed the Azores native with the impressive back story to head the department on February 14. He took over for Anthony Sauer, who had been director since 2007. Sauer was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident when he was 18.   read more