California Secretary of State Debra Bowen's husband has a new, six-figure job, thanks to Gov. Jerry Brown.
Mark Nechodom, a senior adviser to the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was appointed by Brown to be director of the state's Department of Conservation, Brown's office announced on Wednesday.
Nechodom, 56, replaces Derek Chernow, the acting director Brown fired last month.
Like Brown, Nechodom is a Democrat. He was previously acting director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Environmental Markets and senior climate policy adviser for the U.S. Forest Service. Nechodom's tenure with the feds included stints in Washington, putting Bowen, California's chief elections officer, in a long-distance relationship at times.
The state position, which requires Senate confirmation, pays $136,156 a year.
Chernow and Elena Miller, who oversaw oil drilling operations in California, were released amid conflict between the agency and oil producers about permitting, especially in Kern County.
>BUDGET WATCH
The California Supreme Court will rule today on a fast-track case with huge implications for the state budget and the future of some 400 local redevelopment agencies. The agencies sued last summer after the budget adopted by lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown allowed agencies to reopen only if they contributed $1.7 billion to schools and $400 million a year thereafter.
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