Interviews with California and national emergency response leaders who talk about what they've learned from the most challenging moments of their careers.
Episodes
Tuesday Sep 17, 2019
Tuesday Sep 17, 2019
Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Mona Pasquil Rogers as senior advisor at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in June, 2019. Pasquil Rogers has served as appointments secretary in the Office of the Governor since 2011.
• Chief of staff to Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi from 2008 to 2009
• Acting Lieutenant Governor from 2009 to 2010, upon Garamendi’s election to Congress.
• Pasquil Rogers was a business development consultant at IBM from 2003 to 2006.
• Deputy political director for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004,
• Political director for Governor Gray Davis’ gubernatorial campaign in 2002
• California political director for Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000
• Western political director for the White House Office of Political Affairs from 1996 to 2000.
• Pasquil Rogers was deputy chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention in 2000.
• She is president of the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Institute,
• Vice president of California Women Lead and a member of Women in Philanthropy.
Simeona Fortunata "Mona" Pasquil (born April 3, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 47th and Acting Lieutenant Governor of California from November 4, 2009 to April 27, 2010, previously serving as Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi's chief of staff.
On November 3, 2009, California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi was elected to the United States House of Representatives representing California's 10th congressional district, leaving the office of lieutenant governor vacant. On November 4, 2009, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Pasquil, Garamendi's Chief of Staff, as acting lieutenant governor pending the confirmation of Abel Maldonado.
Pasquil's appointment marked several firsts for the position:
• California's first Asian lieutenant governor;
• its first Filipino lieutenant governor;
• its first female lieutenant governor;
• first California acting lieutenant governor not to succeed to the position from the President pro tempore of the California State Senate.
Pasquil served as John Kerry's political director during his 2004 campaign for the United States presidency.
In the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, she served as a superdelegate supporting Hillary Clinton.
In January 2011, California governor Jerry Brown named her appointments secretary.
She made the move to Washington, D.C., to begin her career by working with the Clinton administration in 1995 as the president’s Western political director.
While living in her hometown just outside Sacramento, the chairperson babysat for longtime political couple John and Patricia Garamendi beginning at age 12.
Although women are holding more government positions than ever before, the political arena still remains male dominated. An issue that the organization California Women Lead, which Pasquil chairs, tackles head on.
Links
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
February 4, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) Director Mark Ghilarducci officially swore in Brian Marshall as the new Fire and Rescue Chief. He was appointed to his new position in December.
Chief Marshall spent the previous six years as the fire chief and director of emergency services at the Kern County Fire Department. He served in several positions with the Kern County Fire Department since 1987, including interim fire chief and director of emergency services, deputy fire chief, fire battalion chief, fire captain, fire engineer and firefighter. He is also a member of FIRESCOPE and oversaw numerous disasters throughout central California, including the Erskine Fire in 2016.
Chief Marshall will be replacing Kim Zagaris, who announced his retirement in 2018. Zagaris was appointed as the Fire and Rescue Chief on April 1, 2001.
Prior to his appointment, Chief Zagaris was the Assistant Fire Chief for Cal OES with assignments in Region I, II, III, IV and V since 1987. He started his career as a Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) seasonal firefighter in 1977 and promoted through the ranks of the local, state and federal fire agencies to the State Fire and Rescue Chief. His extensive background in fire service, emergency management, and homeland security included working with local, state, federal and international agencies over the last 40 years.
Upon learning of his appointment, Kern County Fire Chief Brian Marshall said "I’m going to miss Kern County, working with the citizens and working for the citizens of Kern County.”
He will focus on preventing statewide emergencies in his new position. He has worked in the department since 1987, nearly 32 years. “It’s not been 32 years, it’s been a lifetime," he said. “I want to go to Sacramento and protect the state," he said. "I am just so excited about the opportunities that exist in Sacramento right now for me and my family. It’s exciting and scary at the same time.”
Links
Marshall Sworn in as New Cal OES Fire Chief
VIDEO: Cal OES Director Gets First-Hand Look at Erskine Fire in Kern County
RAW VIDEO: Erskine Fire Burns Through Communities Near Lake Isabella
Erskine Fire Podcasts
The Erskine Fire: Beyond the Lines
Sobering Aerial View of Erskine Wildfire Destruction in Kern County