Appointed Commissioners & Staff

Cindy Silva

Cindy Silva

Chair, Representing: Local Government

Cindy Silva has been a member of the Walnut Creek City Council since 2006 and served as the City’s mayor in 2011 and in 2013. As a city council member, Silva serves on numerous regional and state-level boards and agencies: Director, League of California Cities; director, East Bay Regional Communications Systems Authority; director and past chair, Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority (Recycle Smart); director and past chair, TRANSPAC (regional transportation planning committee); past president, East Bay Division, League of California Cities; chair, Contra Costa County Mayors’ Conference. Professionally, Silva has 40 years of business experience in marketing and communications in industries as diverse as telecommunications, biotech, healthcare, and the non-profit sector. She is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California.

Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez

Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez

Vice Chair, Representing: CA Assembly

Assemblymember Rodriguez was elected to serve in the California State Assembly in 2013 representing the 53rd Assembly District, which includes the cities of Pomona, Ontario, Chino, Upland, and Montclair. Born and raised in the City of Pomona, Freddie has dedicated his life to serving his community. For over 30 years he worked as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in the San Gabriel Valley and was first elected to the Assembly during a 2013 Special Election.

As an EMT, Assemblymember Rodriguez was awarded the California Star of Life award for his outstanding community volunteer contributions and lifesaving rescues. In 2005, he traveled to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to help the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In 2014, Rodriguez was named EMT of the Year by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority.

As a former Pomona City Councilmember, Rodriguez successfully fought to improve public safety, expand Neighborhood Watch programs, help develop the Rio Rancho Towne Center, create new jobs through economic development projects he championed, and deliver balanced budgets while protecting city services during tough economic times. He led the effort to restore public safety positions in Pomona.

A leader in helping jumpstart the local economy, Rodriguez brought together community and business leaders to help revitalize downtown Pomona, generate new economic investment, and create new jobs.

Since joining the State Assembly, Rodriguez has worked hard to improve working conditions for emergency responders, school safety, local transportation needs, and more. As an advocate for the Inland Empire, he has been instrumental in State investment into the community, championing funding for affordable housing, reduction in homelessness, and new green spaces.

He lives in Pomona with his wife Michelle. They have four children, Desirae, Freddie Jr., Vincent, and Selena; and three grandchildren.

Ida A. Clair

Ida A. Clair

Representing: State Architect

Ida A. Clair was appointed as the first female State Architect in April 2021. Ida leads four regional offices and a headquarters office in providing design and construction oversight of public K–12 schools, community colleges, and various other state-owned and leased facilities, and in rulemaking development for accessibility for California’s public accommodations, public buildings, commercial buildings and public housing.

Prior to taking up the mantle as State Architect, Ida was the Principal Architect where she managed the accessibility, sustainability, and fire & life safety programs for public K–12 schools and community colleges, directed CALGreen regulatory development applicable to school facilities, directed Access Code regulatory development for the State of California, and administered the Certified Access Specialist (CASp) Program. From 2013–2016 Ida served as DSA’s first technical administrator of the CASp Program where she established the Program’s professional practice standards, improved regulatory standards and provided examination development and training.

Ida has twenty-six years’ experience in private architectural practice where she specialized in the design and construction of affordable and sustainable multifamily residential facilities and provided accessibility compliance surveys and third-party accessibility plan reviews for a major health care provider. A CASp, Ida was instrumental in the creation of the Certified Access Specialist Institute in 2010

Alegria De La Cruz

Alegria De La Cruz

Representing: Social Services

The Board of Supervisors appointed Alegría as the Interim Director of the Office of Equity in August of 2020. In September of 2020, the Board appointed her as the permanent Director. Previous to her role as the Director of the Office of Equity, Alegría served in the County Counsel’s Office as Deputy County Counsel (2015-2017) and as Chief Deputy (2017-2020). Before joining the County of Sonoma in 2015, Alegría worked in public service and public interest for the State of California, Agricultural Labor Relations Board; the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment; and California Rural Legal Assistance. Alegría holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University, a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, and has been a licensed attorney in California since 2003. Alegría is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, founding Member of SoCo Latinx Employee Resource Network, Santa Rosa City Schools Trustee for Area 3, and the Board Chair of the Sonoma County Secure Families Collaborative. Recent past board service positions include SoCo Rises, Raizes Collective, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency California State Committee.

Alegría identifies as Chicana and recognizes, embraces, and celebrates her responsibility to contribute meaningfully to public service, social justice, and equity. On the weekends, you can find her in a wetsuit body surfing at Doran Beach, reading fiction, and running slowly through Sonoma County’s beautiful parks.

Debra Garnes

Debra Garnes

Representing: Local Government

Debra L. Garnes was elected to the Rio Dell City Council in November 2014. She is currently serving her second term as Mayor. In her elected capacity she serves on the Humboldt/Del Norte Hazardous Response Authority and President, Redwood Empire Division, League of California Cities. Garnes, retired from Sacramento Municipal Utility District, spent her career in the fields of hazardous waste mitigation, hazardous materials, hazardous materials emergency response and first responder emergency response. Garnes has strong entrepreneurial experience having owned a successful small business in North Sacramento for many years. Garnes was appointed to the Seismic Safety Commission by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2021.

Joone Kim-Lopez

Joone Kim-Lopez

Representing: Public Utility

Joone Kim-Lopez has been General Manager at the Moulton Niguel Water District since 2012. She was General Manager at the Calaveras County Water District from 2010 to 2012. Kim-Lopez was Assistant General Manager at Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company from 2008 to 2010. She was Deputy General Manager at the Central Basin Municipal Water District from 2003 to 2008. Kim-Lopez was a Police Officer and Corporal at the Pasadena Police Department from 1995 to 2003. She was a Grant Administrator at the City of Pasadena from 1994 to 1995. Kim-Lopez earned a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University, Northridge. She is a member of the NAACP California and Hawaii Executive Committee and the CORO Women in Leadership Advisory Board. Kim-Lopez is a board member of the Korean American Coalition, California WateReuse Association, California Water Data Consortium, Southern California Water Coalition, Water UC Irvine Leadership Board, Water Now Alliance, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Tilly’s Life Center, California State University, Fullerton – Center for Real Estate, South Orange County Wastewater Authority, Smart Water Network Forum and the Association of California Water Agencies.

Kevin McGowan

Kevin McGowan

Representing: Emergency Services

Kevin McGowan serves as the Director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management. Leading an all-hazards emergency management program, Mr. McGowan is responsible for countywide emergency management preparedness, planning, coordination, training, response, recovery and mitigation efforts. During his tenure with Los Angeles County and in previous emergency management positions, Mr. McGowan has led preparedness, response and recovery efforts for multiple presidential major disaster declarations and for numerous natural, technological and human caused disasters such as wildland fires, debris flows, severe winter storms, a mass fatality shooting and hazardous materials events.

A native of Southern California, Mr. McGowan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in Public Policy from Pepperdine University. Mr. McGowan has attended a variety of emergency management educational programs, to include FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy, the Naval Post Graduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Executive Leaders Program and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Leadership in Crises.

Dr. H. Kit Miyamoto, CEO, Miyamoto International President, Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief, California Seismic Safety Commissioner

Dr. H. Kit Miyamoto, CEO, Miyamoto International President, Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief, California Seismic Safety Commissioner

Representing: Structural Engineer

Dr. Miyamoto is a world-leading expert in disaster resiliency, response and reconstruction. He provides expert engineering and policy consultation to the World Bank, USAID, UN agencies, governments and private sector. He is a California Seismic Safety Commissioner, a Global CEO of Miyamoto International and a structural engineer.
From the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake to the Ecuador, Nepal, Indonesia, New Zealand, Mexico and 2020 Puerto Rico earthquakes, Dr. Miyamoto has led teams of experts on dozens of response and reconstruction projects around the world. He also led critical seismic risk reduction programs in Turkey, the Philippines, Romania and Bangladesh, as well as disaster risk mitigation policy work in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and El Salvador. He is one of the most respected minds in disaster resiliency and recovery.
Dr. Miyamoto holds advance degrees from the Tokyo Institute of Technology and California State University, where he has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumni. His team won the Engineering News-Record’s “Best Global Project” award four times and the U.S. Presidential “E” award. Major media such as ABC, CNN, LA Times, NY Times and Rolling Stone have profiled him. He was also featured in the “Designing for Disaster” exhibit at the National Building Museum.

 Senator Anthony Portantino

Senator Anthony Portantino

Representing: Senate Member

Senator Anthony Portantino represents California’s 25th State Senate District, which stretches along the 210 Freeway from Sunland/Tujunga to Upland. Supporting public education, mental health, and sensible gun control have been priorities for Senator Portantino during his time in office. He personally negotiated the end of the 710-freeway tunnel with the Brown administration and authored SB 7, which formally ended the threat of the freeway, protected the non-profits in the corridor, and paved the way for Pasadena to develop the dormant freeway stub. Senator Portantino currently serves as the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a Select Committee to foster trade between California, Armenia, and Artsakh. Prior to his years as a representative, he spent many years working in film and television production, served on the California Film Commission, and spent nearly eight years on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council, with two terms as Mayor.  In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Ellis Island Award at a ceremony in the historic island’s great hall. Senator Portantino grew up in New Jersey, where he attended public schools and graduated from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he met his future wife, Ellen, a longtime business executive at Warner Brothers and Disney.  They have two daughters.

David Rabbitt

David Rabbitt

Representing: Local Government

Supervisor David Rabbitt was elected to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in November 2010.  The senior member of the Board is serving his fourth term representing the diverse blend of urban and rural comprising the Second District of Sonoma County. The Supervisor has served as Chair of the Board of Supervisors on three occasions including unprecedented back-to-back terms in 2013 and 2014.  Supervisor Rabbitt also serves as a Director of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway Transportation District, Director of the Association of Bay Area Governments, Commissioner on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Chair of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit and Chair of the North Bay Water Reuse Authority. He was appointed by Governor Brown to the California Seismic Safety Commission in 2013 and again in 2017 and reappointed by Governor Newsom in 2021 representing local government. Supervisor Rabbitt is an architect and resides in Petaluma.

Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward

Representing: California Governor's Office of Emergency Services

Vincent Wells

Vincent Wells

Representing: Fire Protection

Vincent L. Wells of Elk Grove has been appointed to the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission. Wells served as Fire Captain and Paramedic at the Contra Costa Fire Protection District from 1997 to 2020. He was a Firefighter and Paramedic at the Fairfield Fire Department from 1995 to 1997. Wells served in the U.S. Air Force from 1985 to 1992.

Representative for Building Standards Commission

Representative for Building Standards Commission

Representing: Building Standards Commission

Irina Brauzman joined the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) as an Associate Architect in November of 2020 and in January 2024 was promoted to Supervising Architect. Irina is responsible for overseeing a staff of four involved in development of building standards to be including in the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen). Additionally, she will continue to participate in and administer the California Building Standards Code development process, conduct various technical committee meetings and provide training regarding the state code adoption process.

Irina came to CBSC from the private sector, where she worked as an Architect/Technical Director for architectural companies in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, and in Russia. During that time, she designed various complex commercial, industrial and residential buildings, was responsible for developing uniformly refined production standards, and monitored projects to ensure the quality standards were met for all design and contract documents.

Irina was born in Russia and got her Bachelor of Architecture degree there. She moved to the United States of America in 2010 with her husband and son. Since moving to the USA, a daughter was added to the family and Irina completed all the required architect registration examinations and received a California Architect license.

Vacant Insurance Commissioner

Representing: Insurance

Vacant Planning Commissioner

Representing: Planning

Staff Title
Annde Ewertsen Executive Director
Tanya Black Administrative Processes Manager
Jia Wang-Connelly Senior Structural Engineer
Trinity Gleckler Program Analyst
Christopher Lozano Program Analyst