Announcements regarding key staffing changes of importance to California's rural counties.
Katherine “Kelly” Williams Dodd, of Napa, has been reappointed to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, where she has served since 2018. Dodd served as a Deputy Secretary of Legal Affairs in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. from 2017 to 2018. She was an Assistant General Manager and Corporate Secretary at Frog’s Leap Winery from 2016 to 2017. Dodd held multiple positions at the American Civil Liberties Union, California Legislative Office from 2010 to 2016, including Legislative Advocate from 2013 to 2016 and Legislative Aide from 2010 to 2013. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $180,845. Dodd is a Democrat.
Heather Geldart, of Lincoln, has been appointed Chief Deputy Director of the Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Geldart has been Deputy Director of Disaster Debris Removal Operations at the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery since 2023. She was Integrated Program Manager at Arlington County Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management from 2020 to 2023. Geldart was Senior Managing Associate at Hagerty Consulting from 2019 to 2020. She was Founder and President at 1240 Performance LLC from 2013 to 2019. Geldart was an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2005 to 2013. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Homeland Security from the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $186,696. Geldart is a Republican.
Barnie Gyant, of Vallejo, has been appointed to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Gyant served in several roles for the U.S. Forest Service from 1991 to 2022, including Associate Deputy Chief of the National Forest System, Deputy Regional Forester for Resources of the Pacific Southwest Region, Deputy Regional Director of Ecosystem Management of the Pacific Southwest Region, Forest Supervisor of the Siuslaw National Forest, Deputy Forest Supervisor of the White Mountain National Forest, District Ranger of the Dry River Ranger District of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, District Ranger of the Oconee Ranger District in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, Deputy District Ranger of the Apalachicola National Forest, Forest Fisheries Program Manager of the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests, and District Fisheries Biologist of the Croatan National Forest. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Biology from East Carolina University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Gyant is registered without party preference.