Ex-Sen. Block Appointed to State Appeals Board

SAN DIEGO COUNTY -- On the same day that his tenure as an elected official ended, former state Sen. Marty Block (D-San Diego) has been named to a state appeals board.

On Dec. 5, Block was appointed chair of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board by Gov. Jerry Brown. The agency is an independent administrative court system for workers and employers seeking to challenge decisions made by the state Employment Development Department.

Block, 66, represented the Senate's 39th District for four years, including most of San Diego, as well as Coronado, Del Mar and Solana Beach.

He decided not to run for re-election this year and was succeeded by former Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, a fellow Democrat. She was sworn in Dec. 5.

Block previously served in the state Assembly from 2008 to 2012, and before that, was president of the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees and also served on the faculty and administration of San Diego State University.

The position requires Senate confirmation, with compensation of $146,609.

Separately, the governor re-appointed San Diegan Nancy Casady to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.

Casady, 72, is general manager at Ocean Beach People's Organic Food Co-op, and was co-owner at Casady Whole Foods Market.

Casady, a Democrat, does not have to be confirmed by the Senate, and there is no compensation for her post.

City News Service contributed to the report/Image via California State Senate