2015 Annual Chapter Conference

Human Resources Director, Los Angeles World Airports

Paula Adams is the Director of Human Resources for the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the Los Angeles City department that owns and operates three Southern California Airports: Los Angeles International (LAX), LA/Ontario International (ONT), and Van Nuys (VNY). Ms. Adams is responsible for managing LAWA’s Human Resources Division which covers the key areas of employee relations, equal employment opportunity, labor relations, training and development, staffing and compensation, records management, and rideshare. The division provides human resources services to over 3,500 Los Angeles City employees at LAWA. Since receiving this appointment in 2007, Ms. Adams goal has always been to create a truly empowered Human Resources Division and facilitate the personal interaction among HR staff and all of LAWA employees. Ms. Adams has held increasingly responsible administrative positions within three Los Angeles city departments – LAWA, Department of Water and Power (DWP), and the Department of General Services. Prior to her appointment to Director of Human Resources at LAWA, she served as a utility administrator at DWP where she conducted internal investigations. From 1999 to 2007, Ms. Adams also served in various positions within LAWA including labor relations manager, senior personnel analyst, and management analyst. She also held dual roles at LAWA in which she served as both the Labor Relations Manager and the Equal Employment Opportunity Manager. Ms. Adams has studied as an exchange student in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara; a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills; and a Certificate in Corporate Litigation from the University of California, Los Angeles Extension. Ms. Adams is a Los Angeles resident and has two daughters, Meghan and Peyton.

Director of Human Resources, City of South San Francisco

LaTanya Bellow is currently the Human Resources Director for the City of South San Francisco where she has responsibility for 430 employees and 6 labor groups including Police and Fire.

She has over 15 years of experience in Human Resources with a mix of special districts and public sector agencies. She is a strategic leader adept at moving HR staff from administrative and tactical to that of internal change agents and strategic business partners. Her experience and areas of expertise in the field of Human Resources is well respected amongst her colleagues and those who have worked with LaTanya. She was a n Executive Panelist for the 2015 Women’s Leadership Summit hosted by Municipal Management Association, speaking on the role of “Credibility in Building a Successful Career”, specifically how to address biases in perception about credibility for women in the workplace.

LaTanya served the City of San Leandro as the Human Resources Manager where she won the distinguished 2015 Award of Excellence from the Northern California Chapter of International Public Management Association (NCCIPMA) for innovation and implementation of Human Resources Technology. She served the City of Hayward as its Human Resources Manager. In that position she was responsible for assisting in the management and oversight of the comprehensive human resources programs of the City, including employee and labor relations, recruitment and selection, classification, workers’ compensation and safety program management. Bellow’s previous human resources experience includes three years employment with the Alameda County Superior Court as a Principal Analyst and eight years employment with the California State University, East Bay Foundation as the Human Resources Manager.

Bellow has a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) degree (concentration in Human Resources Management), and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration both from California State University, East Bay. She is also certified as a Professional in Human Resources (P.H.R.) and serves on the 2016 California League of Cities Community Service Committee and the 2016 California Public Employers Labor Relations Association Program Committee.

Director of Human Resources, Port of Oakland

Christopher Boucher is the Director of Human Resources for the Port of Oakland.  Christopher is responsible for the full range of the Port’s human resources functions, including employee/labor relations, recruitment and selection, staffing, classification and compensation, benefits administration, organizational development, workers’ compensation, and equal employment opportunity. 

Christopher currently serves as the Vice President of the Northern California Chapter of the International Public Management Association – Human Resources (NCCIPMA-HR).  Prior to joining the Port of Oakland, he has worked for public entities covering the areas of municipalities, public utilities, and higher education. 

Christopher holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a human resources management certificate from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.  In addition, Christopher is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), an IPMA-Certified Professional (IPMA-CP), and a Certified Labor Relations Master (CLRM).
 

Associate, Donahue Fitzgerald LLP

Mr. Delgado is an associate and member of the firm’s Employment Practice Group. His practice focuses on management-side employment litigation and counseling in all areas of employment law, including wage and hour, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and discrimination and harassment. Mr. Delgado represents both public and private employers in administrative proceedings, class actions, single and multi-plaintiff cases, mediations and arbitrations, and federal and state appeals. Mr. Delgado also advises clients on issues pertaining to the management and discovery of electronically stored information.

In addition, Mr. Delgado provides employment counseling services to both large and small public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations. He advises his clients on the creation and implementation of human resource policies and procedures, workplace safety, employee privacy, harassment investigations, recruiting and hiring, performance management and appraisals, corrective actions and terminations, and record retention and document management.

Mr. Delgado conducts employment-related seminars and trainings for all levels of management, human resource professionals, in-house counsel, supervisors, and employees.

Since 2005, Mr. Delgado has volunteered as a Panel Attorney for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) and in 2006 was selected to serve on the ALRP’s Board of Directors. In 2010 and 2011, he served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of ALRP.

Counsel, Benefits Compliance, NFP Corp.

Lori is a Counsel of Benefits Compliance at NF, where she works closely with advisors to provide assistance with benefit-related compliance issues.  Prior to joining NFP in January 2015, Lori worked at Aetna, Inc. where she managed claim disputes involving members, providers and health plans.  In that capacity she monitored regulatory and legislative developments related to the ACA to better understand the law’s impact on the industry.  Additionally, she managed regulatory investigations and instituted internal compliance related processes to address recent health care reforms.  Lori also worked as a healthcare attorney at Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP, a private firm located in New York and clerked for the Honorable Severiano Lisboa of the New Jersey Superior Court in Hudson County, NJ.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and is a member of the State Bars of New York and California.

Risk Manager, City of Oakland

Biography to be provided.

Co-Founder/President, Careers in Government

As Careers In Government’s Co-founder/President, Michael Hurwitz is responsible for day-to-day operations, as well as leading the company’s social media and marketing efforts.  Since 1996, Careers In Government, Inc. (CIG) has been an industry leader and innovator in Local Government Job Listings and Career Resources. It counts among its clients, thousands of government and education organizations, as well as executive headhunters, who wish to utilize a niche job board to recruit and hire the best suited and qualified employees. Careers In Government, Inc. was distinguished multiple times by Forbes as the best site on the web dedicated to the public sector.  The feature-rich Job Board and Career Resource services provided by Careers In Government were two reasons why IPMA-HR and NACo both chose to partner exclusively with Careers In Government to deliver our Job Board services and expertise to their members.  Prior to Careers In Government, Michael Hurwitz was Vice President of Marketing and Advertising for USA Today/Gannett Digital Media Properties.

Attorney, Wiley Price & Radulovich, LLP

Ms. Pugh Newman has represented public agency employers in their labor and employment law matters for over 20 years.   In addition to representing employers in employment  litigation, she routinely advises employers regarding employee relations and compliance with employment laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Federal and State discrimination laws; helps clients prepare and revise their personnel policies so they are clear and comply with developments in the law; responds to charges of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and represents clients in investigations by these agencies; gives supervisory training on such topics as leaves of absence, discipline, reasonable accommodation, and sexual harassment; and conducts workplace misconduct investigations  Ms. Pugh Newman graduated with distinction from Stanford University in 1981, and she received her law degree in 1990 from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law.

Human Resources Manager, Port of Oakland

Farbod Pirouzmand is the Human Resources Manager and a deputy to the Director of Human Resources at the Port of Oakland.  He was formerly the Human Resources Supervisor in charge of Labor Relations at the Port. Mr. Pirouzmand has over 13 years of experience in public sector labor relations.  Prior to joining the Human Resources team at the Port of Oakland, he was a labor relations representative at the Employee Relations Division of the Department of Human Resources at the City and County of San Francisco.  He was a member of a team of five negotiators for over 30 contracts covering 20,000 employees.   

Prior to his tenure at the Employee Relations Division, he was a labor relations representative at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.  He was part of a team of representatives that dealt with labor relations issues for a unionized work force of approximately 5,000 employees.  Mr. Pirouzmand also has experience as a public sector union representative.  He has, in the past, represented municipal employees in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. 

Mr. Pirouzmand has a Master’s degree in Finance from University of San Francisco, a Master’s degree in Political Science from University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from San Jose State University.  
 

Consultant, Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP

Mr. Rothman provides expert consulting services in the areas of human resources and labor relations. His experience includes labor relations and contract negotiations, classification, compensation, personnel assessment, employee benefits, employment discrimination, training, and strategic and organizational planning. He has testified as a human resources expert and in numerous fact finding and arbitration proceedings.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Rothman served for ten years as the Employee Relations Director for the City and County of San Francisco. He was the City’s chief negotiator for collective bargaining and meet-and-confer proceedings encompassing 28,000 employees under 47 separate contracts covering over 100 bargaining units, including police, fire, nurses, transit workers, building trades, management, professional, technical and service occupations. He also served as the Manager for Classification, Compensation and Labor Relations for the San Francisco Civil Service Commission; Recruitment and Examination Director for the Civil Service Commission; Federal Court appointed consent decree coordinator in the San Francisco Police Department; and led the City’s first Affirmative Action initiatives.

For more than 20 years, Mr. Rothman also had his own consulting organization, Geoffrey L. Rothman and Associates, providing consulting services to public sector organizations in the areas of labor relations, classification, compensation, employee selection, and Equal Employment Opportunity.

Managing Partner, Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP

Charles Sakai is a founding partner of the firm. He practices in the areas of employment and labor law, focusing on traditional labor relations, including unit determinations and modifications, representation and decertification elections, collective bargaining, interest arbitrations, contract grievances and rights arbitration, and unfair labor practice charges.

Charles primarily handles complex negotiations and collective bargaining issues, including multi-party negotiations, interest arbitrations, and collective-bargaining-related litigation.

Charles has extensive experience in addressing difficult fiscal situations, including negotiations under Chapter 9 Bankruptcy protection. Recent negotiations have achieved structural changes in compensation and benefit cost structures as well as furloughs and other temporary solutions.

Charles also has significant experience dealing with pension and retiree-medical issues for both 37 Act and PERS agencies and has assisted agencies in securing significant reductions in GASB liability.

Hanna Brophy MacLean McAleer & Jensen LLP

Greg has been practicing law for more than 25 years and has been part of the Hanna Brophy team since 1998. He is the managing partner of the Oakland office, one of the most influential and successful offices within the Hanna Brophy partnership, and was recently appointed manger of the Santa Rosa office as well. 

Greg's practice encompasses all aspects of Worker's Compensation Defense including public safety, defense of 132a, serious willful petitions and CalPERS industrial disability retirement litigation. Throughout the course of his career he has also successfully tried to verdict both bench and jury trials. He has developed a special interest in representing governmental entities(emphasis on public safety) and self-insured employers.

Director of Human Resources, County of San Mateo

Donna Vaillancourt is the Director of the Department of Human Resources with San Mateo County.  Donna is passionate about pursuing the Department’s mission to position San Mateo County as an employer of choice and maximize individual and organizational potential. To that end, she has spearheaded new workforce planning efforts, leadership development and wellness programs to attract and retain talent in a dynamic organization consisting of over 5,500 employees.

Donna began her career with the County in 1981 after serving overseas for three years in the U.S. Army. She has a BS in Human Resources Management and is a California Credentialed County Senior Executive.  Donna previously held leadership positions in a variety of departments including Community Services and the Department of Public Works.

She was honored with the “Moving Forward Award” for Innovative Leadership by the California Public Employer Labor Relations Association in 2009 and a “Circle of Service Award” from California State Association of Counties (CSAC) in 2011.  Under her leadership, the County Human Resources Department was honored with the “Award of Excellence” in 2012 from IPMA-HR, Western Region.  She has served as a board member for several professional organizations including the County Personnel Administrator’s Association of California, CSAC Institute of Excellence and the California Public Employer and Labor Relations Association.

Donna is also an active community volunteer and is a Board member of San Mateo Credit Union and is currently Advisor to the Key Club of Sequoia High School.

Partner, Wiley Price & Radulovich, LLP

Mr. Joseph Wiley is recognized as an expert at representing public and private sector employers in traditional labor relations and employment law issues. Before his entry into private practice, Mr. Wiley served as a regional representative for the California Public Employment Relations Board and as a field attorney for the Oakland office of the National Labor Relations Board. He currently represents employers before the National Labor Relations Board, the California Public Employment Relations Board and the Department of Labor. He serves as chief spokesperson in labor negotiations in the public and private sectors. He provides ongoing advice regarding contract administration and represents employers in labor arbitrations. Mr. Wiley provides seasoned counsel to employers regarding employee discipline, due process and grievance procedure issues.

He has also successfully represented many of our public and private sector clients in wrongful termination and employment discrimination litigation.

Since 2000, Mr. Wiley has been integrally involved with the statutory developments that now govern the California trial courts as employers. His firm represents many of the California trial courts in their labor and employment law matters.