Fire Districts Association of California

GOVERNOR’S APPOINTMENTS (DECEMBER 2022 – JANUARY 2023)

Nancy Ward has been appointed as Director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), the first woman to hold the position. Ward has served in several positions at Cal OES since 2014 and brings decades of distinguished leadership in emergency management, including at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Ward has been a Retired Annuitant at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services since 2017, where she was Chief Deputy Director and Department of Homeland Security Advisor from 2014 to 2017. In 2009, she served as the FEMA Acting Administrator within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Ward was Regional Administrator for FEMA Region IX from 2006 to 2014 and served as FEMA Response and Recovery Division Director from 2000 to 2006. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $232,858. Ward is registered without party preference

Katherine Butler, 38, of Redondo Beach, has been appointed Deputy Director of the Hazardous Waste Management Program at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control Butler has served as Senior Health Deputy for Supervisor Janice Hahn, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors since 2021. She was a Program Supervisor at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health from 2015 to 2020 and a Senior Health Scientist at McDaniel Lambert Inc. from 2008 to 2014. Butler is a board-certified toxicologist. She earned a Master of Public Health degree in Environmental Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $189,636. Butler is registered without party preference.

Ashley Williams, 34, of West Sacramento, has been appointed Deputy Director for Legislative and External Affairs at the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Williams has been Office

Chief of Maintenance Strategic Planning at the California Department of Transportation since 2020. She was Staff Services Manager I at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services from 2019 to 2020. She was an Associate Governmental Program Analyst at CalPERS from 2016 to 2019. She was a Manager for Safeway from 2005 to 2017. She earned a Master of Science degree in Communications from Syracuse University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $126,000. Williams is registered without party preference.

James D. Haskin, 44, of Fremont, has been reappointed to the Building Standards Commission, where he has served since 2022. Haskin has been Director of Pre-Construction at All Temperature Service Air Conditioning Inc. since 2005. He was Chief Estimator at Air Systems Inc. from 2001 to 2005. Haskin is a member of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Haskin is a Republican.

Laura Rambin, 53, of Oakland, has been appointed to the Building Standards Commission. Rambin has been Principal at Studio Bondy Architecture since 2013. She was an Architect at Starkweather Bondy Architecture from 2003 to 2013 and at SMWM from 2000 to 2003. Rambin was a Designer at Michael Stanton Architecture from 1996 to 2000. She is a member of the American Institute of Architects. She earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Rambin is a Democrat.

Grant Parks, 47, of Rocklin, has been appointed State Auditor at the California State Auditor’s Office. Parks has been a Principal Manager of Audit Services at the Judicial Council of California since 2016. He held several positions at the California State Auditor’s Office from 1999 to 2016, including Principal Auditor and Audit Team Leader. Parks earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Davis. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $232,858. Parks is registered without party preference.

Walter “Budge” Currier, 55, of Granite Bay, has been appointed Assistant Director, Public Safety Communications at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Currier has been 9-1-1 Branch Manager at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services since 2011. He was Communication Engineer and Project Manager at AECOM from 2007 to 2011. Currier was an Assistant Professor at Liberty University from 2006 to 2007. He served in the U.S. Marines from 1985 to 2006. Currier is President of the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators and a member of the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators, National Emergency Number Association and the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials. He earned a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $168,552. Currier is registered without party preference.

Legislative Update

The Joint Legislative Task Force has already met twice to begin analyzing newly introduced pieces of legislation. The majority of bills will be dropped a day or two before the February 17 deadline for introductions. Some measures already under review include:

Assembly Bill 40 (Rodriguez) would require Cal EMSA to develop a statewide standard of 20 minutes 99% of the time for ambulance patient offload time with a corresponding electronic signature program for capturing the time the ambulance arrives and when transfer of care is executed to the hospital.

Assembly Bill 42 (Ramos) would prohibit a local agency from imposing a sprinkler requirement for “tiny homes”, defined to be any dwelling with a total floor area less than 500 square feet.

Assembly Bill 55 (Rodriguez) would set the MediCal fee for service reimbursement rate for emergency medical transport at $350 per transport.

Assembly Bill 99 (Connolly) would require the Department of Transportation to develop a statewide policy to discontinue roadside spraying of herbicides and synthetic pesticides in counties where the board of supervisors has adopted a resolution opposing their use for vegetation management.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 1 (AguiarCurry) would reduce the vote approval requirement from 66.7% to 55% for local government revenue enhancement measures incurred to fund affordable housing or infrastructure improvements.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 2 (Alanis) would establish the Water and Wildfire Resiliency Fund and would require the Treasurer to annually transfer 3% of all state revenues to the fund.

Senate Bill 35 (Umberg) is the legislative vehicle for making modifications in the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Program that was enacted last year with a delayed effective date.

Senate Bill 57 (Gonzalez) would state intent to enact legislation to prohibit public safety power shutoffs during extreme weather events.

Senate Bill 67 (Seyarto) would require EMS providers who treat a suspected overdose victim to report the incident to Cal EMSA.