On Friday, Dec. 13, Gov. Newsom appointed E. Dotson Wilson to the state’s five-member Political Practices Commission. The non-partisan team oversees statewide governmental concerns like campaign finance and conflicts of interest.
Wilson, 65, who announced his retirement in September, was the longest-serving legislative clerk in California’s history (voted to back-to-back two-year terms for 27 years) and the first African American to serve in that role at any legislative body in the United States.
From 1992 to this year, the Berkeley native who now lives in Sacramento, served in the non-partisan role of the 80-member California Assembly.
Before that – from 1988 to 1991 - Wilson, who earned his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, was the deputy Chief of Staff for former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, Jr., while Brown served as Speaker of the California Assembly.
Wilson’s new job does not require Senate confirmation and pays a $100 per diem.
“As African Americans, it is critical to help others grow professionally,” Wilson told California Black Media when he retired. “Be an example. Provide leadership. Share advice.”