Governor Newsom announces appointments 5.20.25

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:

Matthew Read, of Sacramento, has been appointed Chief Counsel at the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. Read has been Acting Chief Counsel at the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation since 2025. He held multiple roles at the California Strategic Growth Council from 2021 to 2024, including Acting Executive Director and Staff Counsel. He served as Policy Director and Chief of Staff in the Office of Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen from 2016 to 2020. Read was an Attorney in the Law Office of Matt Read from 2016 to 2018. He was Director of Government Relations at Breathe California from 2015 to 2016. Read earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and Bachelor of Science degrees in Politics and Rhetoric and Media Studies from Willamette University. This position does not require Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $173,844. Read is a Democrat.

Ross Szabo, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being. Szabo has been the Wellness Director of Geffen Academy at University of California, Los Angeles since 2016 and the Chief Executive Officer at Human Power Project since 2013. He was an NGO Capacity Builder in the Peace Corps from 2010 to 2012. Szabo was Director of Outreach at the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign from 2002 to 2010. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Educational Psychology at Ball State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from American University. This position does not require Senate confirmation, and there is no compensation. Szabo is registered with no party preference. 

Richard Stein, of San Juan Capistrano, has been appointed to the California Arts Council. Stein was President and Chief Executive Officer of Arts Orange County from 2008 to 2025. He was Executive Director of the Laguna Playhouse from 1990 to 2007. Stein is a member of the Dean’s Arts Board at University of California, Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. He earned a Master of Arts degree in English from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Columbia University. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $100 per diem. Stein is a Democrat.