Gov. Christine Gregoire announces appointments to boards and commissions

For Immediate Release: November 4, 2005

Citizens appointed from Olympia, Lakewood, Federal Way, Seattle, Bellevue, Bellingham, Camas, Spokane and Kent

OLYMPIA � November 4, 2005 � Gov. Christine Gregoire today announced appointments to the following boards and commissions:

Executive Ethics Board

Neil Gorrell of Olympia has been appointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending September 30, 2010. Gorrell works for the Office of Administrative Hearings practicing administrative law. Previously he was an Assistant Attorney General representing several agencies including the Department of Labor & Industries, Public Disclosure Commission, Gambling Commission, and the Washington State Lottery. The board enforces state ethics legislation with respect to statewide elected officials and all other officers and employees in the executive branch, boards and commissions, and institutions of higher education.

Human Rights Commission
Katherine Baros Friedt of Olympia has been appointed chair to a term effective November 1, 2005, ending June17, 2010. Friedt is a senior mediator with the Thurston County Dispute Resolution board, working with workplace conflicts and conflict resolution. Friedt retired after 30 years of public sector leadership having worked as Special Assistant on Social Service Policy for Governor Gardner, Assistant Director in the Division of Community Services at Department of Community Development, Deputy Director and Director for the Department of Licensing, Deputy Director for Employment Security and Director of the Human Rights Commission. She is a member of Planning Committee for the recent Latino Youth Summit held for high school youth at South Puget Sound Community College, in conjunction with Centralia College and sponsored by the Hispanic Roundtable. She also volunteers her time with Community Youth Services and the Hispanic Women�s� Network and one was named Business Examiner�s Women of Achievement in Puget Sound in 2003 and one of Thurston County�s outstanding citizens of the year in 1999 as well as numerous other awards and recognition. The Mission of the Washington State Human Rights Commission is to eliminate and prevent discrimination through the fair application of the law, the efficient use of resources, and the establishment of partnerships with the community. The Commission is composed of five members appointed by the Governor. The Commissioners meet monthly at locations around the state providing policy direction for the agency, adopting agency regulations, and make the final determination on all complaints investigated by staff.


Clover Park Technical College Board of Trustees
Robert Lenigan of Lakewood has been appointed to a term effective October 20, 2005, ending September 30, 2010. Lenigan is a staff psychologist at Western State Hospital in the Center Geriatric services providing psychological services, updating the voluntary status and civil commitments evaluations and providing related expert court testimony when needed. He is an executive board member with Pierce County Central Labor Council and area representative for Jobs with Justice. The board is the governing body for the college.
Highline Community College Board of Trustees
Karen Vander Ark of Federal Way has been appointed to a term effective November 1, 2005, ending September 30, 2010. Vander Ark is a freelance graphic designer and is actively involved in several community service groups including, board member for the Federal Way Education Communities in School Foundation, Federal Way Rotary; former board member for the Federal Way Philharmonic and Citizens for Federal Way Schools. The board is the governing body for the college.

Eastern Washington University Board of Trustees

The board is the governing body for the university.

Paul Tanaka of Seattle has been reappointed to a term effective November 1, 2005, ending September 30, 2010. Tanaka is the county administrative office for King County. Previous to that he served as Deputy King County Executive and King County Public Works Director. He also volunteers with the Green Lake Community Council, the Japanese American Chamber of commerce and the Japanese American Citizens League. Tanaka currently serves as the board�s vice chair.

Neil McReynolds of Bellevue has been reappointed to a term effective November 1, 2005, ending September 30, 2011. McReynolds is the president of McReynolds Associates, a Seattle based firm that advises corporations, non-profits and trade association on how to increase the effectiveness of their boards. He teaches part�time at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Washington.

Whatcom Community College Board of Trustees

Charles �Chuck� Robinson of Bellingham has been appointed to a term effective November 10, 2005, ending September 30, 2010. Robinson is the owner of Village Books in Bellingham. Previous to owning the bookstore he was a special education and adult education teacher. He serves as chair of the board of directors for the North Cascades Institute, is a board member of Sustainable Connection, Booksellers Disaster Relief Fund and is a former a member of the Whatcom Mental Health Board. The board is the governing body for the college.


Washington Technology Center Board of Directors

The board of the Washington Technology Center provides a collaborative effort between the state's universities, private industry and government in performing and commercializing research on a statewide basis to benefit the economic vitality of the state.

Jon Clemens of Camas has been reappointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Clemens is the president and chief executive officer of Sharp Laboratories of America. He is also the Chairman of the board of advisors for the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University.

Michael Cockrill of Seattle has been appointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Cockrill is the chief technical strategist for Qpass Inc. Previously he was employed at Microsoft and Money Central.

Jon Eliassen of Spokane has been reappointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Eliassen is the president and chief executive officer of Spokane Area Economic Development Council, which is a regional business recruitment and economic expansion agency. Previous to this he was the senior vice president and chief financial officer of Avista Corporation.

Robin Halliday of Bellingham has been reappointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Halliday serves on the board of Washington Technology Center, is board chair for the United Way of Whatcom county and founding president and board member for the Whatcom County Technology Alliance Group.

Dr. Johannes Koch of Seattle has been appointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Koch is an independent consultant and chief scientific officer of Explore Life, which is a regional effort to promote economic development in life sciences. Formerly he was a partner in Integra Ventures.

Janet Liang of Seattle has been appointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Liang is the executive vice president of Group Health Cooperative, Columbia Region. Previous to becoming vice president, she served in a variety of roles, including executive director of patient support services and primary care administrator for group health.

Arlan Norman of Bellingham has been reappointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Norman is the dean of the College of Sciences and Technology at Western Washington University and is a longtime member of the American Chemical Society. He was a faculty member at the University of Colorado, he maintained a research group comprised of undergraduate and Ph.D students; the program was funded at by several organizations including the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.

John Titus of Kent has been appointed to a term effective October 28, 2005, ending June 11, 2008. Titus is the President and CEO of Aero Controls located in Auburn and Shelton. Titus
is involved in several civil activities including the Local Aviation Advisory Committee and serves on the board of directors of Green River Community College Foundation.