Correction: We missed one. In our hurry to bring you the news about the Governor's appointments to the State Compensation Insurance Fund board of directors, we inadvertently missed one appointee-- James Richardson, president and chief executive officer of The Dentists Insurance Company (TDIC). Richardson also served as chief deputy commissioner for the California Department of Insurance from 2007 to 2009 and was CEO of Golden State Consulting before that. Richardson also served as chief of staff to Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte and held the same position for Assembly Minority Leader Bill Leonard. We regret the oversight.
The State Compensation Insurance Fund should have a full contingent of directors when it meets again in January after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger tapped three new directors and reappointed a fourth to serve on the carrier's board. Today's appointments include at least one face that is very familiar with the inner workings of the state's largest workers' comp carrier.
Those appointed include Don Garcia, president of Pinnacle Financial Group, Lawrence Mulryan, a retired executive director of the California Insurance Guarantee Association, and William Zachry, vice president of risk management for Safeway. Gov. Schwarzenegger also appointed Francis Quinlan, special counsel for the law firm Archer Norris, PLC, to another term on the SCIF board.
The quasi-governmental agency historically had just five members on its board of directors, but the number of seats was expanded to 11 by legislation passed in 2008 designed to increase accountability and oversight at the carrier. Until this point, however, three of those newly added seats remained vacant awaiting action from the governor's office.
The appointment of Mulryan is a homecoming of sorts as he did a stint as interim president at State Fund between the ending of the Tudor regime and the hiring of Jan Frank as president and CEO. Frank has since left State Fund for family obligations and Doug Stewart now holds the title of interim president and CEO. The new appointees will play a pivotal role in selecting the carrier's next president and CEO.
The appointment of Bill Zachry will also add a familiar face to the board. In addition to his work at Safeway, Zachry serves as chairman of the California Fraud Assessment Commission of which SCIF is a permanent member. While Zachry currently runs the workers' comp program for a major self-insured employer, he brings wealth of industry experience to the board. At different points in his career, Zachry was vice president of claims for the Zenith Insurance Company and also worked with C.E. Heath Insurance and Western Employer Insurance.
The primary unknown among the appointees is Dan Garcia, 45, of Tustin. According the governor's office, Garcia has been a financial advisor at Signator Investors, an account executive at Amplicon Financial, and a financial advisor at Advantage Capital Corporation.
The four appointments do not require Senate confirmation. Each appointee will be paid $50,000 for their service on the board.
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Filed by Brad Cain in San Francisco.