Announcements regarding key staffing changes of importance to California's rural counties.
Francesca Negri, of West Sacramento, has been reappointed Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, where she has served in that position since 2016. Negri was Chief at the California Department of Transportation, Division of Procurement and Contracts from 2010 to 2016. She was Chief of Human Resources at the California Department of Motor Vehicles from 2009 to 2010 and held several positions at the California Department of Transportation from 1998 to 2009, including Assistant Chief of the Division of Human Resources, Office Chief of Classification and Hiring, Branch Chief of Return to Work and the Workers’ Compensation Program, and Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $184,488. Negri is a Democrat.
Kelly X. Ranasinghe, of El Centro, has been reappointed to the Board of Behavioral Sciences, where he has served since 2020. Ranasinghe has served as a Deputy County Counsel in the Imperial County Counsel’s Office since 2020. He was Managing Partner at Henderson and Ranasinghe LLP from 2017 to 2020 and Senior Program Attorney at the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges from 2014 to 2017. Ranasinghe served as a Deputy Public Defender at the Imperial County Public Defender’s Office from 2011 to 2014 and at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office from 2008 to 2010. He is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the National Association of Counsel for Children. Ranasinghe earned a Juris Doctor degree in criminal justice: prosecution and defense practice from the California Western School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Ranasinghe is a Democrat.