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California State Athletic Commission board gets two new members

By Zach Arnold | March 28, 2013

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To read all CSAC-related articles, dating back to May 2012, CLICK HERE.

The bad news is that Eugene Hernandez, the current Vice Chairman of the commission, had his term expired and the battle was lost to keep his job. That’s what happens when you have nasty politicians in Sacramento who hold grudges (in this case, a smart guess would be that he lost his job because he didn’t go along with Denise Brown’s program in getting George Dodd fired. You either go the DCA way or you get canned.)

This leaves us with John Frierson (CSAC Chairman), Dean Grafilo (SEIU guy from Sacramento), Dr. VanBuren Ross Lemons (Sacramento doctor), and Dr. Christopher Giza (UCLA doctor). Now, you can add two new names to the board.

The two new appointments:

Mary (Alice) Lehman, 49, of Palm Desert, has been appointed to the California State Athletic Commission. Lehman has been a civil appeals attorney at the Law Offices of Mary A. Lehman since 1995. She was an attorney with Gray Cary Ware and Freidenrich LLP from 1991 to 2002. She was a professional boxer from 1999 to 2002, ranking as high as number nine in the world for her weight class. Lehman earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Lehman is a Democrat.

Martha Shen-Urquidez, 50, of Oxnard, has been appointed to the California State Athletic Commission. Shen-Urquidez has been CEO of USAsia since 2007. She was cross-cultural affairs expert for the Beijing Olympics Organization from 2006 to 2008, senior protocol officer with the California South Bay Economic Development Partnership from 1994 to 2001 and court appointed arbitrator at the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles from 1994 to 1999. Shen-Urquidez was a judge pro tem for Los Angeles County from 1994 to 1998, attorney and training expert with multiple police departments in Southern California from 1989 to 2004 and an attorney in private practice from 1986 to 2005. She served as a credentialed boxing judge from 2000 to 2001. Shen-Urquidez earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Whittier Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Shen-Urquidez is a Republican.

All in all, they’re not bad choices. Martha is sharp and will be an ally for Andy Foster. Mary Lehman of Lehman Appeals in Coronado (San Diego) is a former boxer and an attorney. The big question is whether or not they will work with Andy Foster or will they become… pliable… when Sacramento comes calling on a decision and a politician at the Capitol doesn’t want the board members to go along with what’s best for California combat sports.

Regardless of the new appointments, the real problem for the California State Athletic Commission remains the stooges at the Department of Consumer Affairs (Denise Brown, Awet Kidane, legal nitwit Doreathea Johnson, chief athletic inspector Che Guevara) and budgetary issues that arise every year in the California Legislature in regards to who gets what in the Governor’s budget.

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

3 Responses to “California State Athletic Commission board gets two new members”

  1. Chuck says:

    Any relation to Benny “The Jet” Urquidez? Probably not, but that would be pretty swank.

  2. John Lovell says:

    These sound as if they are two very good appointments. When you add these appointments with the unassailable outstanding appointment of Andy Foster, it makes me thin that California boxing is headed in the right direction.

  3. Zack says:

    OXNARD!!!

Comments to Zack

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