Phil Tagami, the Oakland developer who made headlines by defending his building with a shotgun during Occupy protests last year, has been appointed to the California Lottery Commission, one of three commission appointments Gov. Jerry Brown announced this afternoon.
Brown's recasting of the three-member commission comes a month after his appointment of a new lottery director, former business consultant Robert O'Neill. The lottery does about $3 billion in game sales annually and provides about $1 billion to California schools.
Like Brown, the appointees all are Democrats. Brown and Tagami, 46, know each other from Oakland, where Brown was mayor, and Tagami is a political supporter of his.
The Bay Area News Group reported in November that Tagami guarded his Rotunda Building in Oakland with a shotgun when Occupy protesters tried to force their way in.
"They took a few steps forward, and I racked the shotgun and they left," the newspaper quoted Tagami as saying. "It's sort of the universal 'Don't come any farther' sign."
Also appointed to the commission were Nathaniel Kirtman III, 40, senior vice president of publicity for NBC Universal, and John Smolin, 43, a Los Angeles County firefighter.
Brown was under some pressure to make the appointments. The terms of two of the previous three commissioners expired in November, though they continued to serve. A third commissioner stepped down in December.
The appointments require Senate confirmation and pay a $100 per diem.
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