Maureen F. Gorsen, Esq.
In December 2005, Ms. Gorsen was appointed Director of California’s
Department of Toxic Substances Control by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
She also served as Deputy Secretary for Law Enforcement and General Counsel
at the California Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for policies
regarding implementation and enforcement of air, water, toxics, pesticides,
and other environmental laws. Previously, Ms. Gorsen was a partner at Weston,
Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & MacCuish, LLP, where she represented
school districts, public agencies, and private developers with a focus
on environmental compliance and land use counseling. Prior to that, Ms.
Gorsen served as General Counsel for the California Resources Agency where,
among other duties, she was responsible for reform and revisions of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, issues relating
to the California Endangered Species Act, the Williamson Act, and the Coastal
Act.
Ms. Gorsen is a frequent speaker and author of articles on CEQA,
environmental, and land use laws. Ms. Gorsen holds a B.A. from the University
of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in international environmental policy from the
Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law
Center.
Kevin Wilkeson, AIA
Kevin Wilkeson is an architect with more than 20 years’ experience
planning, designing, and constructing a wide variety of California education
facilities. He is a Managing Principal and Board Chairman at HMC Architects,
a full-service architecture practice that specializes in the planning and
design of education facilities. Kevin has been actively involved in all
phases of the project delivery process for many school districts, colleges,
and universities. Some of his projects include the California Academy of
Math and Science in Carson, Martin Luther King High School in Riverside,
John Burroughs High School in Burbank, and the Bronco Student Union at
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Mr. Wilkeson is a frequent speaker on topics such as avoiding construction
claims, modernizing schools, building technology into learning environments,
and the facilities impacts of education reform. Mr. Wilkeson attended U.C.
Irvine and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the California State University,
Pomona.
Thomas Cavanagh
Mr. Cavanagh is the managing director of School Advisors, a subsidiary
company to HMC Architects. For the past ten years he has assisted school
districts throughout the State of California in the planning, justification,
and financing of Capitol Development projects totaling over $2 billion
in construction. Mr. Cavanagh is also very active in organizations dealing
with school facilities, such as the Coalition for Adequate School Housing
(CASH), the California Association of School Business Officials, and the
Community Colleges Facility Coalition.
Tom is a frequent presenter at many CASH conferences and an instructor
for the University of California, Riverside extension program on school
facilities entitlements. He holds a B.A. degree in Accounting from California
State University in Fullerton.
G. Christian Roux, Esq.
Mr. Roux is a Partner at Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & MacCuish,
LLP and represents public owners, including school districts, in connection
with substantial capital improvement projects. In particular, Mr. Roux
is familiar with all applicable statutory requirements governing both new
school construction and school renovation in California. He regularly provides
construction counseling to clients on the myriad of issues that arise in
connection with construction projects, including project planning and procurement,
drafting and negotiating contracts, claims avoidance, and the resolution
of legal issues that commonly arise on school construction projects. He
has substantial experience both prosecuting and defending multi-million
dollar public and private extra work, delay, and disruption claims in all
forums, including state and federal courts, administrative hearings, and
arbitrations. Mr. Roux also has considerable experience litigating construction
defect claims.
Mr. Roux regularly speaks on public contracting issues such as bid
protests, project start-up and close-out, claims, mitigation strategies
and False Claims Act liability. He also recently completed a chapter on
the subject of Construction Contract Pass-through Clauses which was published
in the 1999 Edition of BLI’s "Construction Contracts Desk
book." Mr. Roux holds a BA Degree (with honors) from the University
of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.
Dennis L. Dunston, AIA, REFP
Mr. Dunston is a California licensed architect and principal with
HMC Architects. He has more than 22 years of experience in architecture,
the last 18 of which have been dedicated to the design and construction
of educational facilities in California. His experience ranges from the
development of educational specifications for all types of school facilities
to the design of new campuses. Mr. Dunston is also very active in organizations
related to school facilities.
He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Coalition of Adequate
School Housing (CASH) and serves on the Implementation Committee for the
State Allocation Board. He is also a member of the advisory committee to
the University of California Extension program in Educational Facility
Planning; an instructor for the course “Site Selection, Educational
Specifications, and Facility Design”; a former member of the California
Department of Education’s Task Force on the Facility Implications
of the Restructured Curriculum resulting in the CDE document The Form of
Reform; and active in the Council of Educational Facility Planners International
(CEFPI), serving as president of the Southwest Region in 1996. Mr. Dunston
earned a B.S. in Architecture and Masters of Architecture with a Minor
in Energy Systems Engineering from Iowa State University.
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