Sacramento — The New Motor Vehicle Board unanimously elected Robert T. (Tom) Flesh, as the Board’s President during the February 2009 meeting of the NMVB Board. Flesh was reappointed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005, and previously served as Board President in 2000 and 2001, and Board Vice President in 1999, 2007, and 2008.
Flesh has a vast background on the Board having previously served as chair and member of the Board Development Committee, chair and member of the Executive Committee, chair of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee, and chair of the Corrective Action Plan Committee. Mr. Flesh is President of Safety Investment Company and Community Asset Management, multifaceted national real estate acquisition, management, and development companies.
Ramon Alvarez C., a Dealer Member, was unanimously elected to serve as the Board’s Vice President. Mr. Alvarez C. has been on the Board since March 2007 and served as a member of the Administration Committee, and chair and member of the Fiscal Committee. He founded the Alvarez Lincoln Mercury dealership at the Riverside Auto Center in October 1995 and added Jaguar in October 2001. He is also the first Hispanic to own a Jaguar dealership in California. Mr. Alvarez C. is widely recognized as one of the leading Hispanic entrepreneurs in the Inland Empire.
Robert Branzuela — Dealer Member
Robert Branzuela, Dealer Member, has served on the Board since August 7, 2002 and is chair of the Board Development Committee. He previously served as chair of the Administration Committee. Mr. Branzuela is the Managing partner and a founder of Veracom Automotive Group, a dealer of luxury automobiles since 1984. In 1995, Veracom acquired a Lamborghini franchise, and June of 2000, Veracom opened a Mitsubishi franchise on the San Francisco Peninsula, which has grown into a successful automobile dealership serving the Bay Area and Northern California.
In addition to his business, Mr. Branzuela was appointed to the Board of Directors for the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers. He earned a bachelor of science degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and he currently resides in the Bay Area Peninsula, California. Mr. Branzuela was appointed to the Board by former Governor Gray Davis and his term will expire on January 15, 2007.
Ryan L. Brooks — Public Member
Ryan L. Brooks, Public Member, was nominated by Senator Don Perata in April 2006, and was appointed to the Board by the Senate Rules Committee. Mr. Brooks is chair of the Board Development Committee, a member of the Fiscal Committee, and previously served as chair of the Fiscal Committee and as member of the Board Development Committee. He is Vice President of Government Affairs for CBS Outdoors' Western Region, a leading global media company with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, and outdoor advertising.
Mr. Brooks is a member of the California International Relations Foundation and was appointed by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Jr. to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and re-appointed to the post by Mayor Gavin Newsom in September 2004. He also served as the Director of Administrative Services for the City and County of San Francisco and was a member of the Geographic Information Systems (G.I.S.) executive committee. Mr. Brooks is a past member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), a San Francisco public-policy think tank.
Mr. Brooks, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from San Diego State University. He has over ten years of experience in the field of environmental justice, environmental sciences, community relations and public policy. He held the position of Director of Community and Public Relations for the United States Navy from 1996 to 1998, and was a Pentagon Advisor to the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Securities. He is an active member in the Democratic Leadership Council and also served on the executive board of "Speak to Children," a non-profit agency which provides education and support to parents, teachers and children. His term will expire on January 15, 2010.
David Lizarraga — Public Member
David C. Lizárraga, Pubic Member, was reappointed on March 28, 2008, by Speaker of the California State Assembly, Fabian Nunez. Mr. Lizárraga has served on the Board since January 2003, appointed by then Speaker, Herb J. Wesson, Jr. He has served as a member of the Policy and Procedure Committee, and as chair and member of the Administration Committee. Mr. Lizárraga is internationally recognized as one of the country’s top Hispanic leaders. He is sought after as a resource for his guidance on issues involving the Hispanic community, business and civic affairs, inner-city lending and real estate development. For the past 28 years, he has overseen the growth and expansion of The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU).
A non-profit community development corporation founded in 1968, TELACU is self-sustained by TELACU industries, a for-profit family of companies that provides the economic means to fulfill TELACU's mission. Through its businesses, services and partnership, TELACU creates dynamic opportunities to rebuild and enhance the communities it serves.
A non-profit community development corporation founded in 1968, TELACU is self-sustained by TELACU Industries, a for-profit family of companies which provides the economic means to fulfill TELACU’s mission. Through its businesses, services and partnerships, TELACU creates dynamic opportunities to rebuild and enhance the communities it serves.
Mr. Lizárraga’s current term will expire January 2011.
Haig Papaian, Jr. — Public Member
Haig Papaian, Jr., Public Member, was appointed in March 2007, by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. Papaian is chair of the Administration Committee. He previously served on the Board from 2003 to 2006, and during that tenure served as a member of the Board Development Committee.
Mr. Papaian is currently the Chairman of the Board at Commerce Casino and had been the Director of the California Commerce Club since 1997. He previously owned Haig’s Disposal Company, a waste hauling and recycling business in Southern California, from 1970 to 1997. Mr. Papaian is a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Youth Foundation and the St. Francis Hospital Board of Trustees. His term will expire on January 15, 2010.
Glenn Stevens — Public Member
Glenn E. Stevens, Public Member, was appointed by Governor Gray Davis in March 2000, and reappointed in May 2003. He was again reappointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in January 2008. Mr. Stevens is chair of the Policy and Procedure Committee and has previously served as the Board's President and Vice President and as a member of the Administration Committee, Government and Industry Affairs Committee, and as chair of the Executive Committee and Policy and Procedure Committee.
Mr. Stevens was formerly a Deputy District Attorney in the County of Los Angeles, where he served with distinction from 1979 through 1986, handling complex litigation, including street gang shootings. Mr. Stevens currently operates the Law Offices of Glenn E. Stevens, specializing in real estate, construction, and real estate title matters. He is Vice President and of counsel to Nelson Shelton & Associates, a real estate brokerage in Beverly Hills.
Mr. Stevens is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the Beverly Hills Board of Realtors, and the National Board of Realtors. He has taught real estate classes to brokers and agents, and writes periodic updates on the changing laws in the real estate profession as they pertain to real estate brokers. While a prosecutor, he authored several Search and Seizure Law Updates and wrote An Overview of the Statute of Limitations — A Working Guide to the Statute of Limitations in Sexual Abuse Cases. Mr. Stevens earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Entomology from the University of California, Davis. His term will expire on January 15, 2011.
David Wilson — Dealer Member
David Wilson, Dealer Member, was appointed by Governor Gray Davis in February 2000 and reappointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in January 2008. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Government and Industry Affairs Committee and the Policy and Procedure Committee. He previously served as the Board’s President from January 2005 to January 2007. He is a 1970 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, and has been involved in the automobile business for over 30 years. Mr. Wilson is the owner and President of numerous automobile dealerships, with several award-winning stores including, Toyota of Orange, Toyota of Huntington Beach, and Toyota of Riverside.
Mr. Wilson is the past President of the Southern California Toyota Dealers Advertising Association. He has been a member of the National Automobile Dealers Association and American International Automobile Dealers Association ("A.I.A.D.A") for the past 15 years, and has served on the National Board of Directors of A.I.A.D.A. Mr. Wilson was the recipient in 1988 of the "Dealer of Distinction Award" from Sports Illustrated magazine and received the Time magazine "Quality Dealer Award" in 1991 and 2005, and was honored to have been elected to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. He was inducted into the Association at the Fifty-Eighth Annual Horatio Alger Awards and Induction Ceremony in Washington, DC in April 2005.
A former Boy Scout, Mr. Wilson serves on the Board of Directors of the Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and is the Chairman of their annual golf tournament, which raises in excess of $100,000 annually for scouting. His term will expire on January 15, 2011.
Flesh and Ramon Alvarez C. will also serve as the Board’s Executive Committee.
For additional questions, please contact William G. Brennan, Executive Director, or the Board staff at (916) 445-1888.
The New Motor Vehicle Board ("Board") is seated within the California Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV") with oversight provided by Business, Transportation & Housing Agency. The Board is a quasi-judicial administrative agency with independent authority to resolve disputes between franchised dealers and manufacturers of new vehicles (includes motorcycles, recreational vehicles, and all-terrain vehicles). The Board also has a Consumer Mediation Services Program that attempts, through informal mediation, to resolve disputes between consumers and new motor vehicle dealers, and/or manufacturers.
