Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) reappoints Chairperson Rebecca Cameron Valcq for another two-year term as chairperson and commissioner, Public Service Commission, and taps Tyler Huebner for six-year term as PSC commissioner; Valcq’s six-year term as commissioner ends in 2025 and Evers named Huebner in March 2020 for rest of term of former Commissioner Michael Huebsch, who retired in February 2020; Valcq doesn't need Senate OK for chairperson slot and Huebner needs Senate nod for his six-year term and "can perform his duties before confirmation," PSC spokesperson emailed us.
Venable hires Yardly Pollas-Kimble, who has been chief of staff to Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., as partner, Legislative and Government Affairs Practice ... Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, hires Lee Lonsberry of KSL NewsRadio as communications director, effective in early April ... Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) names Arthur D'Andrea as chair, Public Utility Commission; D’Andrea was appointed to the PUC in 2017 for a term ending Sept. 1, 2023; he replaces Chairman DeAnn Walker, who resigned after power outages during a massive winter storm (see here) ... Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) appoints Keith Kurber, ex-Harvest Church pastor, to Regulatory Commission of Alaska for six-year term, a job needing legislative OK, replacing Commissioner Stephen McAlpine, term just ended.
At Shearman & Sterling, ex-DOJ Associate Deputy Attorney General and Senior Adviser-Technology Industries Ryan Shores rejoins as Antitrust and Litigation partner ... Andrew Smith, ex-FTC Consumer Protection Bureau, rejoins Covington & Burling as partner, Advertising and Consumer Protection, Data Privacy and Cybersecurity, and Financial Services practices ... U.S. Department of Agriculture appoints Dewayne Goldmon from National Black Growers Council as senior adviser-racial equity to USDA secretary and Andy Green, ex-Center for American Progress, as senior adviser-fair and competitive markets.
Gibson Dunn partnership elects Barbara Becker as chair and managing partner, effective May 1 and succeeding Ken Doran, who remains a partner; Becker will leave post of co-chair, Mergers and Acquisitions Practice and has represented News Corp., VMware and others ... Precision hires David Plouffe, ex-Uber and who helped start Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, as of counsel ... Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology appoints Antonio Martinez, ex-U.S. State Department, as executive director, Colorado Broadband Office.
Twitter hires Neema Guliani from American Civil Liberties Union as head-national security, democracy and civil rights public policy, Americas, and Elizabeth Busby, ex-aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for policy communications team, focused on U.S. public policy, safety policy and elections ... TechNet names Sacramento economic development and public affairs consultant Lia Nitake as deputy executive director-California and Southwest.
BakerHostetler hires broadcast lawyer Daniel Kirkpatrick from Fletcher Heald as partner, and broadcast, inmate calling service and broadband attorney Davina Sashkin as counsel; Fletcher Heald partner Tony Lee replaces Kirkpatrick as that firm's co-managing partner ... Microsoft hires C.J. Mahoney from Office of U.S. Trade Representative as deputy general counsel-U.S. international trade and Azure cloud computing service.
ACA Connects promotes John Higginbotham to executive vice president-chief operating officer, Caroline Persinger to manager-grassroots, and Tomeika Slappy to assistant to President-CEO Matt Polka ... Jenner & Block advances partner Rebekah Goodheart to co-chair, Communications, Internet and Technology Practice ... Latham & Watkins hires ex-FTC Competition Bureau Director Ian Conner as partner, Litigation and Trial Department and member, Antitrust and Competition Practice.
Department of Commerce leadership (see this section, Jan. 27) expands to include Deputy Director, Office of Policy and Strategic Planning Nell Abernathy; White House Liaison Cynthia Aragon; Counselor to the Secretary Matthew Bucci; Director-Public Affairs Gabriela Castillo; Director-Oversight, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Rachit Choksi; Deputy Assistant Secretary-Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Christopher Day; Senior Adviser-Upskilling and Broadband Kevin Gallagher; Deputy White House Liaison Calynn Jenkins; Deputy Chiefs of Staff Luis Jimenez and Kim Peyser; Director-Intergovernmental Affairs Stephanie Sykes; and Deputy Director-Public Affairs and Director-Digital Strategy and Engagement Bradley Williams; at Bureau of Industry and Security, Chief of Staff Steven Emme and Senior Adviser Sahar Hafeez; at International Trade Administration, Deputy Assistant Secretary-Services Christopher Hoff; and at NOAA, Chief of Staff Karen Hyun; Senior Adviser Letise LaFeir and General Counsel Walker Smith.
Jon Sallet, special assistant to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D), registers William Cavanaugh, Patterson Belknap senior litigation partner, with U.S. District Court in Washington to represent Colorado and Nebraska in their case against Google; Cavanaugh becomes co-lead counsel with Sallet and lead trial counsel for the state attorneys general lawsuit, Weiser's spokesperson tells us ... Jenner & Block hires from Boeing Paul Alp, rejoining law firm as partner, Aviation and Aerospace Practice and advising on aircraft communications and other issues.
Electronic Privacy Information Center board advances interim Executive Director Alan Butler to executive director ... TechNet taps Steve Kidera from CompTIA as director-communications and Evan Gillissie from Brownstein Hyatt as government relations and communications coordinator ... Computer & Communications Industry Association adds ex-State Department Deputy Chief Economist Trevor Wagener as director-research and economics and Alyssa Doom, ex-Pew Charitable Trusts, as state policy director.