Commissioners

Pedro Nava is serving his fourth consecutive term as chair of the Little Hoover Commission. He was first elected chair of the Commission on March 27, 2014.

Mr. Nava serves as a government relations adviser. He served in the California Assembly from 2004 to 2010 representing the Ventura and Santa Barbara area. In 2011, he was appointed to the California Department of Fish & Game Blue Ribbon Commission to assist in the development of the Wildlife Strategic Vision. Previously, he worked as a civil litigator after serving as a deputy district attorney in Fresno and Santa Barbara Counties. He also served on the California Coastal Commission.

While in the Legislature, Mr. Nava chaired the Assembly Committees on Transportation, Banking and Finance, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, the Select Committees on California’s Green Economy and the Joint Committee on Emergency Management. He also served on the Assembly Committees on Appropriations, Higher Education, Health, Judiciary, Insurance, Business and Professions, Joint Legislative Audit, the Little Hoover Commission, Ocean Protection Council and California Transportation Commission.

Mr. Nava was appointed to the Commission by the Assembly Speaker Emeritus John Pérez in April 2013, and was reappointed to the Commission in January 2017 by Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon.

Sean Varner was elected vice chair of the Little Hoover Commission on March 23, 2017.

Mr. Varner serves as 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.

He serves on the University of California, Riverside Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics and has served on various non-profit boards, including two-time chairman of the California Inland Empire Chapter of the Young President’s Organization and as vice chair of the Community Foundation Serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

Mr. Varner was appointed to the Commission by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in April 2016 and was reappointed in January 2018.

David Beier serves as managing director of Bay City Capital.

Previously, Mr. Beier served two decades as a senior officer for Genentech and Amgen, the two largest biotechnology companies in the U.S. He also served as Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to former Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton Administration. Additionally, Mr. Beier was a partner at the international law firm Hogan and Hartson and served as counsel to the US House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary.

He serves as a board member for the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and an adviser to the Parker Institute on Cancer Immunotherapy.

Mr. Beier was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in June 2014 and was reappointed in January 2018.

Iveta Brigis has been Open Sourcing People Operations Program lead at Google Inc. since 2014. In this capacity, Ms. Brigis looks after re:Work, Google's initiative to open source data-driven HR practices. Her experience at Google includes design and management in compensation, performance management, manager improvement programs, and education philanthropy. She frequently works with external audiences on augmenting the role People Operations (or HR) plays in creating a productive, happy and healthy workforce, and the growing importance of using science and data to make people-related decisions.

Ms. Brigis was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in April 2017.

Cynthia Buiza is the Executive Director of the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) where she provides the vision for the mission of California’s premiere immigrant rights organization.

Ms. Buiza brings over two decades of experience in nonprofit management and human rights advocacy to CIPC. She worked on international refugee, migration, human rights and civil rights issues in Southeast Asia before working with ACLU as Policy Director for its San Diego regional affiliate. She was also Policy and Advocacy Director at CHIRLA in Los Angeles from 2007-2010. More recently, she worked as a consultant with various immigrant rights and civil rights institutions and social justice organizations in California and the U.S., helping shape their strategic direction and plans for sustainability.

Ms. Buiza earned a Masters in International Affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, with a concentration on human security studies. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from the Philippines, and a Certificate in Refugee and Migration Studies from the Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre in England.

Ms. Buiza was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in October 2018.

Anthony Cannella was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 to represent the 12th Senate District, which includes the counties of Merced and San Benito and portions of Fresno, Madera, Monterey and Stanislaus counties. Senator Cannella serves as vice chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and Transportation and Housing Committee. He also serves on the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and Government Organization Committee.

Previously, Senator Cannella served in his hometown of Ceres on the planning commission, city council and two terms as mayor. He graduated from the University of California, Davis and began his professional career in a civil engineering firm, going on to found two civil engineering businesses. He and his business partners continue to operate Northstar Engineering today.

Senator Cannella was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by the Senate Rules Committee in January 2014.

Chad Mayes was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2016 to represent the 42nd Assembly District, which includes portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Assemblymember Mayes served as the Assembly Minority Leader from January 2016 to September 2017.

Prior to his election to the Assembly, he served for two terms on the Yucca Valley Town Council from 2002-2010, and was twice elected by colleagues to serve as mayor.

Assemblymember Mayes was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by Assembly Speaker Emeritus Toni G. Atkins in September 2015 and was reappointed by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in January 2018.

Don Perata is a policy director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

He served as President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008, representing the 9th district cities of Oakland, Alameda, Piedmont, Berkeley, Richmond, San Pablo, and El Sobrante. Previously, he served in the California State Assembly, as a member of the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County and as a high school English, history and civics teacher.

Mr. Perata was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by the Senate Rules Committee in February 2014 and reappointed in January 2015.

Assemblymember Bill Quirk was elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2014 and 2016 to represent the 20th Assembly District, which consists of Hayward, Union City, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview, Sunol and North Fremont.  Assemblymember Quirk is the chair of the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and also serves on the Assembly Agriculture Committee, Assembly Public Safety Committee, Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee and Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee.

Prior to being elected, Assemblymember Quirk worked as a climate change scientist at NASA and a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He also served for two terms on the Hayward City Council.

Assemblymember Quirk was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by the Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon in August 2017.

Richard Roth was elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 to represent the 31st Senate District, which includes portions of Riverside County. Senator Roth serves on the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Health Committee, Insurance Committee, Transportation and Housing Committee and Veterans Affairs Committee.

Previously, Senator Roth worked as a labor and employment attorney, and during his law career, served in the Air Force Judge Advocate Corps. He retired from the Air Force in 2007 after having risen to the rank of major general.

Senator Roth was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by the Senate Rules Committee in February 2013.

Cathy Schwamberger serves as associate general counsel for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Ms. Schwamberger leads State Farm’s legislative and regulatory affairs in the 10 western states.

At State Farm, Ms. Schwamberger proposed and is now responsible for leading an initiative to continually analyze processes and look for ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of her section of the law department. In addition, she leads the Diversity & Inclusion initiative in the department.

Ms. Schwamberger is on the board of the Personal Insurance Federation of California and was a board member of the Civil Justice Association of California.

She co-chairs Equity California’s board of advisors and served on the board of the Capital Political Action Committee (CAPPAC), a bi-partisan political action committee focused on contributing to local LGBT candidates for office.

Ms. Schwamberger was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by the Senate Rules Committee in April 2018.

Janna Sidley has been general counsel at the Port of Los Angeles since 2013.

Previously, she served as deputy city attorney at the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office from 2003 to 2013. Ms. Sidley was vice president of communications at Pallotta Teamworks in 2002, an assistant United States attorney of the criminal and civil division at the United States Attorney's Office from 1998 to 2002 and deputy director of the violence against women office at the United States Department of Justice from 1997 to 1998.

Additionally, she held several positions at The White House, including deputy director of the office of the press advance from 1995 to 1996 and lead advance of presidential advance from 1993 to 2000. Ms. Sidley also held several positions at the United States Department of Interior including special assistant in the office of the deputy secretary in 1996 and special assistant of congressional and legislative affairs in the bureau of reclamation at the United States Department of Interior from 1993 to 1994.

Ms. Sidley was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in April 2016.