Meet the Staff

ALISA BELINKOFF KATZ
Chief Deputy
Responsible for overall staff functions and policy development, office administration, and frequent supervision and management of various special projects affecting all aspects of County government. She joined the staff of then-Los Angeles City Councilmember Yaroslavsky in 1976, becoming Chief Deputy in 1985. A graduate of the Coro Fellows Program, she also holds an M.A. in Urban Studies from Occidental College, as well as a B.A. in History from Brandeis University.

MARIA CHONG-CASTILLO
Assistant Chief Deputy
Responsible for assisting the Chief Deputy in managing the work of Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s staff, Maria also oversees the delivery of county services in the Third District through the Departments of Beaches and Harbors, Parks and Recreation, Public Library, Public Works, and Animal Care and Control. She administers the Supervisor’s capital program, including project conception, architectural design, budgeting, project management and the selection of civic art. Under her supervision, the Third District has successfully completed numerous construction projects, such as the Topanga Library, Sun Valley Community Health Clinic, Tujunga Wash Greenway Project and El Cariso Park Gymnasium. Maria studied at USC and has worked for Supervisor Yaroslavsky for more than 38 years, including during his tenure as a member of the L.A. City Council.

JOEL BELLMAN
Press Deputy
Responsible for all aspects of media relations, including issues research, media strategy, and general writing assignments. Working with other deputies in a variety of policy areas, his other duties include preparing agenda materials and monitoring weekly Board meetings. Prior to joining Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s staff, he served for five years in a similar capacity for then-Third District Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman, following nearly a decade in radio and print journalism in Los Angeles as an editorial writer, columnist and documentary producer. He holds an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California, and a B.Sc. in Communication Arts from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

KIEU-ANH KING
Budget Deputy
Responsible for budget and finance issues. King has extensive experience in city and county budgeting, fiscal management and operations, gained by working for elected and appointed officials in the City of Seattle and the city and county of San Francisco. King recently served as a legislative analyst to the Seattle City Council, focusing on budget management and parks and recreation issues, and served one term on the Seattle-King County HIV/AIDS Planning Council. He previously served as a finance analyst in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Public Policy and Finance, under Mayors Willie L. Brown, Jr. and Gavin Newsom, and as Budget Manager at the San Francisco Department of Aging & Adult Services. King, a native of the Philippines, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

FLORA GIL KRISILOFF
Senior Field Deputy
Responsible for a wide range of constituent issues in Hollywood and the Westside, including the Beverly-Fairfax, Pico-Robertson, Westwood, West L.A., Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Venice communities in the City of Los Angeles. She also serves as Yaroslavsky’s liaison with the incorporated cities of West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Her portfolio also includes policy liaison with several County departments including all aspects of County mental health services and overseeing homelessness issues. Long active in a variety of homeowner, stakeholder and community organizations throughout the Westside, she holds an MBA from UCLA’s Graduate School of Management and degrees in nursing and primary ambulatory health care from UCLA.

LENNIE LAGUIRE
Arts and Culture Deputy/Web Writer
Responsible for 3^rd District arts and cultural issues, including acting as liaison with County venues and institutions including the Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood Bowl and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A former journalist at the Los Angeles Times, she also contributes to Zev’s website as a writer and editor. At The Times, she directed beats including local government, the environment and legal affairs, and served as editor of the newspaper’s Calendar section and magazine. She has a bachelor’s degree in cello performance from the University of Michigan.

LISA MANDEL
Social Services Deputy
Responsible for children and family services and welfare policy. Mandel, a graduate of Loyola Law School and Occidental College in Los Angeles, most recently served as Vice President of Programs for Chrysalis, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating employment opportunities to assist economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals in regaining a measure of self-sufficiency. She previously served with the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles as Legal Director/ Law Firm Director from 1998-2006, and as a Senior Staff Attorney from 1990-1998. This law firm was initially established as “Dependency Court Legal Services” by the Board of Supervisors in 1989, for the purpose of representing abused, neglected and abandoned children under the protection of the Los Angeles County Juvenile Dependency Court system. Prior to joining the Children’s Law Center, she worked as a Deputy Public Defender for four years immediately following her graduation from law school.

VIVIAN RESCALVO
Transportation, Marina del Rey and Education Deputy
Responsible for policy recommendations on Los Angeles County transportation issues, including all matters pertaining to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for which Supervisor Yaroslavsky serves on the Board of Directors. She also oversees policy and development and leasehold interests in Marina del Rey, where the County is the landowner. As the Education Deputy, she oversees the Los Angeles County Board of Education and Countywide education policy issues. She previously served as Planning Deputy on Yaroslavsky’s City Council staff from 1989-93, and as Deputy for Children and Family Services and Public Social Services on his County Supervisor staff from 1993-2000. From 2001-March 2005, she worked in the Government Practice division of the law firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips before rejoining Yaroslavsky’s County staff. She holds a B.A from California State University, San Francisco in Urban Studies and an M.A. in Urban Planning from University of California, Los Angeles.

BEN SALTSMAN
Planning Deputy
Responsible for planning and land-use issues in the unincorporated areas of the Third Supervisorial District and the review of projects outside the Third District. His duties include coordinating policies and programs with homeowner groups, environmental organizations, various governmental entities, developers and other affected constituencies as well as helping property owners navigate the County planning process. He also oversees the Local Agency Formation Commission, the Coliseum Commission, the Community Development Commission and the Los Angeles County Housing Authority, which works to provide safe and decent affordable housing for low-income families, seniors, and disabled persons throughout the County. Saltsman joined Yaroslavsky’s staff in 2002 as Field Deputy, where he was responsible for constituent services in the southwest San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica Mountains areas. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA, where he graduated with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa distinction, and a Masters of Planning degree from the University of Southern California.

JOEL SAPPELL
Special Projects Deputy
Responsible for scrutinizing all aspects of County government operations with an eye toward improving efficiency, accountability and transparency. His duties also include overseeing the development and content of Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s website. Prior to joining Yaroslavsky’s staff, Sappell was an award-winning reporter and editor for the Los Angeles Times for nearly three decades, holding a series of top management jobs that included city editor, investigations editor and executive editor of the paper’s website, LATimes.com. His ground-breaking investigative work led to reforms in numerous local agencies, from law enforcement to children’s services. He also helped guide the paper’s staff to many national awards, among them two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of the 1992 riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Before joining the Times in 1981, Sappell worked as a reporter at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and the New York Daily News.

ELAN SHULTZ
Health Deputy
Responsible for formulating policy on all aspects related to the County’s health and public health services. Prior to joining Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s staff, Elan worked in the Director’s Office at the Department of Public Health, where he managed a variety of special projects and assisted in the Department’s strategic planning and executive administration. Prior to that, he worked for EngenderHealth, an international non-profit health agency based in New York, where he worked with health care providers throughout the U.S. and Africa to increase access to health care services for young men and people living with HIV and AIDS. Elan previously served as Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s Assistant Health Deputy from 1999 to 2001. Elan was born and raised in Los Angeles and received a B.S. in Psychology from UC Berkeley and a M.P.H. from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

SHAWN HUBLER
Website Writer
Responsible for coverage of the environment, social services, public safety and county museums. Hubler has has had a long career in Los Angeles journalism. She worked for 18 years as a writer at The Los Angeles Times, where she shared in three Pulitzer Prizes awarded to the paper’s staff for coverage of the Los Angeles riots, the Northridge earthquake and the North Hollywood shootout. Considered among the paper’s most versatile reporters and talented writers, Hubler went on to work as a Metro columnist, tackling a variety of local, regional and statewide policy issues–from theme park regulation to law enforcement to homelessness. Later, she was assigned to the paper’s San Francisco bureau and became a senior writer for the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Before The Times, Hubler worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the Orange County Register, among other papers. Shawn has a B.A. in journalism from Penn State.

REGINA MARQUEZ
Caseworker
Responsible for constituent services on the West Side of Los Angeles, as well as secretarial support in the downtown office. A fluent Spanish speaker, she joined the County in 1969 and began working for former County Supervisor Ed Edelman in 1976. She joined the staff of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky when he assumed office in December 1994.

IN OUR DISTRICT OFFICES

West Valley/Mountain Communities:

SUSAN PETRULAS NISSMAN
Senior Field Deputy
Responsible for constituent services and outreach in the west San Fernando Valley, the cities of Hidden Hills, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, and Malibu; and the Topanga, Las Virgenes and Santa Monica Mountains unincorporated areas. She is Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s lead deputy for watershed management and water quality efforts in the Santa Monica Mountains and the bay, and for waste management issues including conversion technologies and the plastic bag ban. She oversees emergency management and preparedness policies, as well as traffic safety efforts on Pacific Coast Highway and throughout the unincorporated mountains area. She also represents the Supervisor with various agencies including the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, Caltrans, Santa Monica Mountains Fire Safe Alliance and the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains. Prior to joining the 3rd District staff in 1994, Nissman—a Topanga resident for more than 35 years—was a prominent community leader on environmental, education and social issues.

ZUHEY ESPINOZA
Field Deputy
Responsible for constituent services and outreach to areas covered by the West Valley/Mountain Communities District Office. Prior to joining the 3rd District staff, Espinoza completed a year-long Coro Fellowship in Los Angeles, during which she worked with a variety of organizations and businesses that impact public affairs, including the UCLA Labor Center, Southern California Gas Company, American Diabetes Association, State Senator Carol Liu, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) and the Port of Los Angeles. She sits on the Coro board of directors as its alumni representative. An avid traveler, Espinoza has studied and worked in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Canada. She holds a B.A. in Humanities and Chicano Studies from Loyola Marymount University and an M.A. in Public and International Affairs from the University of Ottawa in Canada. Espinoza is a proud Angeleno.

LOURDES AREVALO
Caseworker
Responsible for constituent cases in the West Valley and the unincorporated areas of the Third District. Lourdes is fluent in Spanish and worked as a temporary employee for Los Angeles County for three years prior to joining Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s staff in October, 2002.

Van Nuys:

LORI GARCIA WHEELER
Senior Field Deputy
Responsible for constituent service, directing day-to-day operations, and community outreach. Lori previously served as a caseworker, office manager, and Sylmar District Office Director for then-Councilmember Richard Alarcon. Born, raised and schooled in the San Fernando Valley, Lori and her husband Dean currently reside in Mission Hills.

BENITA TRUJILLO
Field Deputy
Responsible for constituent services in the east and northwest San Fernando Valley including the City of San Fernando. Fluent in Spanish, Benita joins Yaroslavsky’s field staff after more than a decade of private-sector experience in customer service and administrative office support in banking and insurance. Active in her community, Benita established a Neighborhood Watch program in Mission Hills more than five years ago, and she remains active as a Block Captain.

Support Staff
Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s support staff includes: Lisa Brewer, Blake Clayton, Lisa Garcia and Ann Miller, as well as senior secretaries Liz Rangel, Executive Secretary to the Supervisor, and Yolanda Valadez, Executive Secretary to the Chief Deputy.