Governor Newsom announces appointments

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:

Bryan Byrd, of Folsom, has been appointed Chief of Strategic Communications and External Affairs in the Office of Public and Employee Communications at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Byrd has been Communications Branch Manager at the California Department of Water Resources since 2022. He was Communications and Marketing Manager at the California Earthquake Authority from 2016 to 2022. Byrd was Director of Communications, California at Comcast/NBC Universal from 2006 to 2016. He was Vice President of Public Relations at Sony from 2005 to 2006 and Vice President of Communications at Showtime Networks Inc. from 1995 to 2005. He was Public Relations Manager at Fox Sports Networks from 1990 to 1995. Byrd is a member of the board of directors for the Los Rios Colleges Foundation, the Public Relations Society of America, the California State Information Officers Council, the California Association of Public Information Officials and the Television Academy. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Communications Management from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business from the University of California, Berkeley. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $160,008. Byrd is registered without party preference.

Terri Hardy, of Sacramento, has been appointed Press Secretary of Media Relations in the Office of Public and Employee Communications at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where she has been an Information Officer II since 2018. Hardy was Acting Executive Director of the Little Hoover Commission in 2018, where she was Deputy Executive Director from 2017 to 2018. She was Special Assistant for Program Review at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control from 2014 to 2017. Hardy was Principal Consultant at the California Senate Office of Research from 2008 to 2014. She was a Senior Reporter for the Sacramento Bee from 2000 to 2008. Hardy was Senior Reporter and Sacramento Bureau Chief of the Los Angeles Daily News from 1993 to 2000. She was a Reporter at the Riverside Press-Enterprise from 1989 to 2003. Hardy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Journalism from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $150,000. Hardy is a Democrat.

Jeff Loux, of Truckee, has been appointed to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Loux was Town Manager of the Town of Truckee from 2017 to 2021. He held several roles at the University of California, Davis from 2000 to 2016, including Associate Dean and Department Chair in the School of Continuing and Professional Education and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Design. Loux was a Mediator of water resources disputes at the Center for Collaborative Policy at California State University, Sacramento from 2000 to 2009. He was a Consultant with MIG Inc. from 1998 to 2000. Loux earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Environmental Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Science degree in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Loux is a Democrat.