SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:

Jessica M. Pitt, 58, of Berkeley, has been appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary of Healthcare Workforce at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Pitt has been Executive Director of HealthPATH at Alameda Health System since 2015. She was Regional Workforce Director at Design It-Build It-Ship-It from 2013 to 2015. Pitt was an Initiative Officer for the Bay Area Workforce Funders Collaborative at the San Francisco Foundation from 2006 to 2013. She is a member of the Homebridge Board of Directors. Pitt earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $159,168. Pitt is a Democrat. 

Carole Vigne, 43, of San Francisco, has been appointed Chief Counsel at the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the California Department of Industrial Relations. Vigne has been General Counsel and Deputy Director at the California Employment Development Department since 2020. Vigne held several positions at Legal Aid at Work from 2014 to 2020, including Program Director of the Wage Protection Program, Senior Staff Attorney and Staff Attorney. She was an Associate at Rukin, Hyland, Doria & Tindall LLP from 2009 to 2011. Vigne was a Skadden Fellow at Legal Aid at Work from 2007 to 2009. She is a member of the Mujeres Unidas y Activas Board of Directors. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $184,332. Vigne is registered without party preference.

Ralph Montano, 55, of Sacramento, has been appointed Assistant Director of External Affairs at the California Department of State Hospitals, where he has been an Information Officer III since 2021 and was Information Officer II from 2013 to 2020. Montano held several positions at the Department of Public Health between 2008 and 2021, including Information Officer II and Information Officer I. He was a Neighborhood Resource Coordinator for the City of Sacramento from 2007 to 2008. Montano was a Reporter for the Sacramento Bee from 1999 to 2007 and a Reporter for the San Bernardino Sun from 1995 to 1999. Montano was a Reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin from 1992 to 1995 and for the Sherman Democrat from 1990 to 1992. Montano is a member of the Girl Scouts Troop 569, Sacramento Buddhist Church. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $118,056. Montano is a Democrat.  

Katherine Warburton, 49, of Napa, has been appointed Statewide Medical Director at the California Department of State Hospitals, where she has served as Deputy Director of Clinical Operations since 2011. Warburton was Senior Psychiatrist Supervisor of Hospital Oversight and Monitoring at the California Department of Mental Health from 2010 to 2011. She held several roles at the California Department of Mental Health, Napa State Hospital between 2006 and 2009, including Chief of Forensic Psychiatry and Staff Psychiatrist. Warburton earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee and the NRI Research Institute Board of Directors. She is a Western Cabinet Member of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors’ Medical Directors Council. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $389,292. Warburton is registered without party preference.  

Malayna B. Babb, 48, of Sacramento, has been appointed Labor Relations Officer at the California Department of Human Resources. Babb has been Labor Relations Manager II at the California Department of Human Resources since 2013. She was a Labor Relations Manager I at the Department of Developmental Services from 2010 to 2013. Babb served in several positions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2005 to 2010, including Labor Relations Manager I and Labor Relations Specialist. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $129,156. Babb is registered without party preference. 

Peter Frangel, 37, of Lincoln, has been appointed Executive Advisor in the Strategic Initiatives Office at the California Department of Rehabilitation. Frangel has been Staff Services Manager I at the Department of Rehabilitation since 2019 and has served in several positions there since 2014, including as Innovation Project Specialist and Associate Governmental Program Analyst. Frangel was a Student Engineering Assistant at the Department of General Services from 2011 to 2014. He was a Senior Consultant and Data Specialist at Hromiko & Associates LLC. from 2007 to 2011. Frangel was a Full-Time Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 2004 to 2006. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $109,812. Frangel is a Republican.