Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments

ATLANTA, GA - Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the following executive appointments:

Board of Community Health

Kim Gay , 47 , Sandy Springs , GA — Gay is the president and CEO of Medinet of Georgia and Associated Provider Services. She also serves on the board of trustees for Medallion Health Management and Medeasy, Inc. Gay is a member of the Georgia Medicaid Task Force on Wound Care, the Georgia Nursing Home Association, the Georgia Homecare Association, the Healthcare Industry Distributors Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives, the National Association for the Support of Long Term Care, the American Healthcare Association, Women Healthcare Executives and the Atlanta and Gwinnett Chambers of Commerce. She received her bachelor's degree from Georgia College and State University.  Gay also attended advanced classes in the executive education program at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University.

G . Ross Mason, 35, Madison, GA — Mason is the co-founder and CEO of the Jamestown Medical Advisory Group, and is in the process of launching Shield Knight Ventures, a healthcare/nanotechnology venture capital firm.  He volunteers with humanitarian groups such as the Georgia Free Clinic Network, the Mercy Board and the Samaritan's Board, which he founded.  Mason earned his undergraduate degree in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his graduate degree in business administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.  His education also includes summer programs at Oxford University in Oxford, England, and Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.

Board of Public Safety

William Dwayne Orrick, 43, Cordele, GA, Chief of Police Member— Orrick is Chief of Police of the City of Cordele.  He previously served as the Criminal Justice Management Consultant to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.  He serves as vice president of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police and the president of the Cordele Kiwanis Club. He also serves as an advisor/consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice initiative with the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Orrick is a member of the Georgia Police Academy. He earned his undergraduate degree in criminal justice and master's degree in public administration from the University of Georgia. Orrick and his wife, Tina, have two children.

Board of Trustees of the Herty Foundation

James Crisp Gatewood, Jr. , 26, Albany, GA — Gatewood is president of Gatewood Forestry Services, LLC.  He previously worked as a field forester for F&W Forestry Services Inc.  He is registered in Georgia as a forester and prescribe burner, and holds a Georgia real estate license. He is also a member of the Albany Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the Tall Timbers Research Station and Southwest Georgia Prescribed Fire Council. Gatewood received his bachelor of science degree in forest resources from the University of Georgia.

Jacek Piotr Siry, 39, Lawrenceville, GA — Siry is an assistant professor of forest economics for the D.B. Warnell School of Forest Resources at the University of Georgia. He previously served as research assistant professor at North Carolina State University, where he developed a multi-product timber demand model.  Siry is a member of the American Economic Association and received the UGA President's Venture Fund International Travel Award. He also served as guest editor for the Southern Journal of Applied Forestry. Siry earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland and his doctorate in natural resource economics and forest policy from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Beata, have one daughter.

Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Brenda G oodson Hoffmeyer, 51, Dalton, GA, Criminal Justice Victims Assistance Representative — Hoffmeyer is the director of the Conasauga Circuit District Attorney's Victim Witness Assistance Program. She currently serves on the Conasauga Circuit Multidisplinary Team, the Whitfield and Murray County Child Abuse Protocol Committee, the GreenHouse Board of Directors and the Georgians for Victims Justice and the Prosecuting Attorney's Council Crisis Response Team Task Force. Hoffmeyer also serves as supervisor for the Victim Advocate in the District Attorney's Domestic Violence Unit and the GreenHouse Director, Investigator and Therapist, along with three full-time advocates in the Whitfield and Murray county Victim/Witness offices. She received the Director's Award from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council in 2004. Hoffmeyer received her bachelor's degree in Christian education and religion from Presbyterian College and completed one year of graduate work at Columbia Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Donald, have two children.

Board of Trustees of the Sheriffs Retirement Fund

L. Cary Bittick, Jr., 72, Forsyth, GA, Retired Sheriff Representative (REAPPOINTMENT) — Bittick is a former United States Marshal for the Middle District of Georgia.  He is the former executive director of the National Sheriffs' Association and was sheriff of Monroe County for almost twenty years. Bittick is presently a part-time consultant for RE Services. He is a member and past president of the National Sheriff's Association, and a member of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association. Bittick attended Gordon College in Barnesville, Georgia and Tift College in Forsyth, Georgia.  He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, and of numerous law enforcement training programs.  He and his wife, Carolyn, have four children.

Judicial Advisory Council to the Board of Juvenile Justice

Ellen McElyea, 44, Canton, GA, Juvenile Judge — McElyea was appointed to serve as Juvenile Court Judge of the City of Canton Municipal Court in January 2000. She is a member of the Lawyers' Foundation of Georgia, the Executive Council of the Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce. She has also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia, and is past president of the Cherokee County Bar Association.  McElyea earned her undergraduate degree from Furman University and her Juris doctorate degree from the University of Georgia. She and her husband, Bobby, have two children.