Commissioners

Pedro Nava Chairman

Pedro Nava, Chairman
D-Santa Barbara

Reelected to eight consecutive term as chair in March 2021. Government relations advisor. Former State Assemblymember from 2004 to 2010. Former civil litigator, deputy district attorney and member of the California Coastal Commission. Appointed by Assembly Speaker Emeritus John Pérez in April 2013 and reappointed by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in January 2017 and again in January 2021.

Sean Varner Vice Chairman

Sean Varner, Vice Chairman
R-Riverside

Reelected to a fifth consecutive term as vice chair in March 2021. Managing partner at Varner & Brandt LLP where he practices as a transactional attorney focusing on mergers and acquisitions, finance, real estate and general counsel work. Appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in April 2016 and reappointed in January 2018.

Dion Aroner

Dion Aroner
D–Berkeley

Partner of Aroner, Jewel, and Ellis, a government relations firm. Former State Assemblymember from 1996 to 2002. Former chief of staff for Assemblymember Tom Bates, social worker for Alameda County and the first female president of Service Employees International Union 535. Appointed by the Senate Rules Committee in April 2019 and reapppointed in January 2023.

David Beier

David Beier
D-San Francisco

Managing director of Bay City Capital. Former senior officer of Genentech and Amgen. Former counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. Appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in June 2014 and reappointed in January 2018.

Assemblymember Liz Ortega

Assemblymember Liz Ortega
D-San Leandro

Cynthia Buiza

Cynthia Buiza
Decline to State-Los Angeles

Executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. Former policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union, San Diego and policy and advocacy director at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. Appointed by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in October 2018.

Anthony Cannella

Anthony Cannella
R-Ceres

Principal with Northstar Engineering Group, Inc. and former state senator. Previously served on the Ceres City Council and was twice elected mayor of that city. Appointed by the Senate Rules Committee in March 2022.

Assemblymember Phillip Chen

Assemblymember Phillip Chen
R-Yorba Linda

Elected in November 2016 to represent the 55th Assembly District. Small business owner. Former board member for the Walnut Valley Unified School District and California Physical Therapy Board, health policy advisor for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and Adjunct Professor at USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. Appointed by Speaker of the Assembly Rendon in October 2021.

Bill Emmerson

Bill Emmerson
NPP-Redlands

Former senior vice president of state relations and advocacy at the California Hospital Association, State Senator from 2010 to 2013, State Assemblymember from 2004 to 2010 and orthodontist. Appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in December 2018.

Gil Garcetti

Gil Garcetti
D-Los Angeles

Photographer and author of ten books whose work has been featured in exhibitions at the United Nations, UNESCO, the European Union, LACMA, and more. Former Los Angeles County District Attorney, teaching Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, and president of the California Science Center Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Appointed to the Commission by Governor Gavin Newsom in November 2021.

Senator Dave Min

Senator Dave Min
D-Irvine

Elected in November 2020 to represent Senate District 37. Former law professor at UC Irvine, economic policy director for the Center for American Progress, senior economic policy advisor to U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, and also worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Appointed by the Senate Rules Committee in September 2021.

Janna Sidley

Janna Sidley
D-Los Angeles

Partner at Ichor Strategies and appointed to the Board of the Los Angeles City Employee Retirement System (“LACERS”). Former general counsel at the Port of Los Angeles, deputy city attorney at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, vice president of communications at Pallotta Teamworks, and an Assistant United States Attorney of the criminal and civil division at the United States Attorney’s Office. Appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in April 2016.