California Gov. Jerry Brown has made three appointments to the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, including Melanie Ramil, the deputy state director for U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, the Daily Democrat reports.
Ramil, 35, the youngest of the three appointees, previously serving as a field representative for California state Assemblyman Dave Jones from 2006 to 2011, special assistant to the insurance commissioner from 2011 to 2013, and the chief of external affairs at the Community Programs and Policy Institute Branch at the California Department of Insurance from 2013 to 2017 before joining Harris’ staff.
Ricardo DeLaCruz was appointed by Brown as the assistant chief of administration for the agency; he has served as Department of Consumer Affairs’ human resource chief since 2015. From 2014 to 2015, DeLaCruz held the position of personnel officer for the state Department of Rehabilitation, and from 2006 to 2014 held several human resources positions at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Brown also appointed Andre Jones to the bureau, who served as labor organizer and recruiter for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations from 1993 and 1994, before moving to Progressive Campaigns as their Bay Area campaign director from 1994 to 1996. From 1996 to 1997, Jones served as a campaign consultant for the San Francisco 49ers and was a senior associate at Martin and Glantz from 1997 to 1999. From 2004 to 2007 he led the Hearts and Minds Alliance as executive director before moving into the public sector as Oakland Mayor Rebecca Kaplan’s chief of staff from 2008 to 2016. Since 2016, Jones has been a regional director for the Charter Schools Association.
Ramil and Jones are both Democrats, while DeLaCruz is registered without a party preference.