Governance Reform Task Force

Brian Calderón Tabatabai brings a powerful combination of municipal governance experience and deep-rooted social justice advocacy to the Los Angeles County Governance Reform Task Force (GRTF). As a former Mayor in the city of West Covina, Brian led with transparency, equity, and accountability, prioritizing the needs of working families, essential workers, and historically marginalized communities.

During his time in office, Brian advanced housing justice by championing interim supportive housing and pushing for union-built affordable housing for teachers, nurses, and public safety personnel. He also played a pivotal role in infrastructure investment in historically ignored areas of the city and promoting environmental sustainability through community-centered planning. His leadership reflected a commitment to inclusive governance that delivered measurable outcomes.

Brian's dedication to public service is deeply informed by his lived experience and family legacy of activism. A lifelong advocate for equity, he has been at the forefront of movements for educational justice, labor rights, and immigrant dignity. He was one of the authors of El Monte Union High School District’s Ethnic Studies curriculum and remains a vocal advocate for academic freedom and the rights of underserved students.

Appointed by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, Brian joins the GRTF to help guide the implementation of Measure G. His work on the Task Force centers community voice, elevates transparency, and ensures county structures reflect the diversity and dynamism of LA’s 88 cities and unincorporated areas.

With a background in teaching, public policy, and grassroots organizing, Brian Calderón Tabatabai is committed to building a more accountable, participatory, and just county government.

Derek Steele serves as the Executive Director of the Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI), an Inglewood-based nonprofit that advances community well-being through education, health equity, housing justice, and policy advocacy. With a background in electrical engineering and a career rooted in social change, Derek brings a systems-thinking approach to community transformation—centering equity, lived experience, and community leadership.

Under his leadership, SJLI operates in over 30 coalitions and collaboratives across Los Angeles County and serves as an anchor institution in several of them. The organization is a key partner in regional campaigns for racial justice, education reform, youth development, housing and reentry support, and civic power-building. Derek has played an instrumental role in efforts related to Measure J, the Care First Community Investment (CFCI) initiative, and the creation of Sankofa Place—a mixed-use development that will include SJLI’s new headquarters and 120 units of affordable housing.

In addition to leading a robust direct service portfolio, Derek actively supports community-based systems change. SJLI is a core partner in nonprofit sector alignment efforts led by the Center for Nonprofit Management and regularly facilitates civic engagement efforts that mobilize underrepresented residents in budget processes, voter engagement, and participatory planning.

As a representative of the community-based organization sector on the Governance Reform Task Force, Derek brings a deep understanding of how public systems can work more equitably when designed in partnership with community. His work spans grassroots leadership development to high-level policy design, and he is committed to embedding community voice, transparency, and racial equity into the governance infrastructure of Los Angeles County.

Sara Sadhwani is an award-winning political science professor at Pomona College and served on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which successfully redrew congressional and state legislative districts in 2021. On the commission, Sara served as rotating chair and headed Voting Rights Act compliance efforts.

Her research has been widely published in academic journals and examines voting, elections and responsive representation with a focus on Asian American and Latino voting behavior. Her analysis of elections has been featured in The New York Times, the Washington Post, & CNN and she regularly provides commentary for local SoCal outlets. 

 Sara earned her doctorate in political science from the University of Southern California and has held fellowships at Stanford University and the Harvard Kennedy School. Most recently she was involved in the passage of major governance reforms for both the city and county of Los Angeles, including Measure G. Her most important position is as mom to three amazing school-aged kids.

Marcel Rodarte is the Executive Director of the California Contract Cities Association (CCCA), where he has served since July 1, 2016, as the organization’s third executive director. Under his leadership, CCCA—California’s second largest local government association—represents 80 member cities and nearly 8 million residents across Los Angeles County and beyond.

A dedicated public servant with deep roots in local government, Marcel previously served as Mayor and City Councilmember for the City of Norwalk from 2011 to 2016. His tenure was marked by a focus on community engagement, fiscal responsibility, and regional collaboration. He stepped down from elected office to accept his current role, continuing his mission to empower cities through advocacy, education, and partnership.

Marcel brings over two decades of service in the U.S. military, retiring from the Air Force in 2011 following a distinguished 21-year career split between the Navy (4 years) and Air Force (17 years). He also served the federal government in various capacities with the Air Force, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security.

His commitment to civic leadership extends beyond his professional role. He has served as a Los Angeles County Commissioner for both Veterans Affairs and Consumer Affairs and was appointed to the Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness, where he worked to develop actionable solutions to one of the region’s most pressing challenges. Marcel currently serves on the Contract Cities Liability Trust Fund Oversight Committee, helping cities manage risk and improve public safety outcomes.

Marcel holds associate degrees in logistics and electronics, a bachelor’s degree in business management, and a master’s degree in leadership from the University of Southern California.

A resident in Duarte California since 1985, John served as a Duarte City Councilmember from 1987 through 2020, and represented San Gabriel Valley cities as an appointee to the 14-member Los Angeles County Metro Board of Directors from 1993 through 2020.

First elected as a councilmember in 1987, Mr. Fasana represented the people of Duarte and five times served as the city’s mayor. During his tenure, John and his colleagues helped the City of Duarte successfully establish a graffiti abatement program and build a teen center. Mr. Fasana and his colleagues built new parks, a performing arts center, built a senior center, established an effective anti-gang strategy without implementing an injunction, and developed access to regional bicycle trails. These leadership actions reinforced Duarte’s reputation as the “City of Health”. Mr. Fasana is an advocate for youth and worked with City of Hope to establish a summer program for Duarte students, served on the Duarte Education Foundation and local YMCA boards, and with his colleagues adopted the Youth and Family Master Plan consisting of 66 action steps to promote the wellbeing of Duarte youth and families.

John represented the San Gabriel Valley on the Los Angeles County Metro Board since Metro’s inception in 1993 through 2020 and served as Metro Board Chair in 2001-2002 and 2016- 2017. During his tenure on the Metro Board, John tirelessly worked with his colleagues in Sacramento and Washington DC on behalf of Los Angeles County to obtain several billion dollars for critically needed multimodal congestion relief projects, including establishment of Metro Express Lanes. These voter-approved high priority transportation projects have created thousands of jobs within Los Angeles County and improved Los Angeles County’s economic vitality.

Mr. Fasana served on the Board of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (COG) since its inception representing 31 cities and over 2 million residents working together to solve regional issues. As Chair of the COG Transportation Committee, John provided policy direction that led to creation of the Alameda Corridor-East (ACE) Construction Authority that builds rail grade separations in the San Gabriel Valley to facilitate safe freight movement out of the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. Mr. Fasana’s policy direction also led to establishment of the Foothill Extension Construction Authority Board that built the Gold Line light-rail and the extension to Azusa that began serving customers in March 2016. The line will extend to Pomona in 2025. John served as Metro’s representative on the Foothill Extension Board.

In 2015, John retired from his Regulatory Project Manager position with Southern California Edison after 35 years of service. John retired from his position on the Duarte City Council in 2020. In 2021, the California Transportation Foundation recognized John as the 2020 “Elected Official of the Year”. Since leaving office, John has been active in the Rotary Club of Duarte and recently serve as President. He is a graduate of Whittier College.

SEIU 721 President and Executive Director David Green is one of Los Angeles’ most passionate, committed, and effective labor leaders. Throughout his more than 20 years with Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Green has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of working families in California and beyond.

As both a social worker and a longtime member of the SEIU Local 721 Executive Board, Green brings a unique and complete perspective to the challenges facing California’s working families, a perspective informed by his direct experience working with thousands of families, as well as his advocacy in the L.A. County Hall of Administration, the capital in Sacramento, and nationally in D.C.

Having previously served as Vice President of SEIU Local 535 and Treasurer and Vice President of SEIU Local 721, Green became the President of SEIU Local 721 in June of 2021, where he now leads more than 100,000 members. SEIU 721 is one of the largest and most dynamic unions in the country, and Green oversees all daily operations, including a staff of more than 200 and an organizational budget of $50 million.

Green also serves on the International Executive Board of SEIU International as Vice President. In addition to his work as a social worker and union president, Green is an adjunct professor at California State University Los Angeles School of Social Work in their Graduate school and previously served for 12 years on the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association as a Trustee on the Board of Investments.

Derek Hsieh serves in several elected positions and on committees. These include serving as the Chairperson for the Coalition of County Unions (AFL-CIO) representing approximately 15 independent unions and their 35,000 members in common labor agreements with the County of Los Angeles. He is also active as Executive Board Vice President and member of the budget and finance committee with the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, which represents 880,000 members. Derek recently completed service on the Los Angeles Quality and Productivity Committee and has experience with Los Angeles County bodies regulating employee medical benefits, pretax savings and other benefits. 

Derek also serves as the Executive Director of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS). ALADS represents more than 8,000 sworn Deputy Sheriffs and District Attorney Investigators.  

Prior to taking over ALADS in 2024, Derek honorably retired after a two-decade career in law enforcement. There Derek had a wide variety of operational assignments, at the ranks of police officer and sergeant, while also running the local law enforcement union and serving in various regional labor roles. Derek entered law enforcement after serving in the US Army and is a proud graduate of Ranger Class 12-89. 

Derek’s civilian education includes undergraduate degrees in economics and accounting.  Additionally, Derek has completed his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and earned the SHRM-SCP certification. He also enjoys continued formal studies in human resources and organizational management.