Brown Appoints Democrats To Employment, Environmental Posts

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Jerry Brown is naming a handful of people to lead his administration's employment and environmental departments.

Brown announced Wednesday that he is retaining Mary Nichols as head of the California Air Resources Board, where she has served since 2007 under Schwarzenegger.

He also appointed former state Assemblyman John Laird of Santa Cruz as secretary of the California Resources Agency.

Brown named Marty Morgenstern, a longtime labor activist who worked under Brown in the 1970s, as secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

Ronald Yank, a retired labor attorney who has represented California's powerful prison guards union, was named director of the Department of Personnel Administration. All are Democrats.

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