Executive Committee and Staff

Cathie Bustos
CCBE President Region 10: Madera COE

Cathie Bustos has been a member of the Madera County Board of Education since 1998 and is currently serving as President. Mrs. Bustos has served as Vice President and President-Elect of CCBE. She is also currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the Madera County Committee on School Dist. Organization. She is the California School Boards Association delegate for Region 10 and currently chairs the Federal Government Relations Committee for Congressman George Radanovich and Senator Jeff Denham.

Also active in her local community, Mrs. Bustos was appointed to serve on the oversight committee for Madera Unified School District’s Measure “T” transportation bond initiative. She was part of the Measure “U” bond oversight committee that funded completion of Madera South High School campus.

Cathie and her husband, David, have 3 children attending Madera schools.

 Ray Peterson
CCBE President - Elect
Region 3: Sonoma COE

Ray has been a member of the Sonoma County Board of Education since 1994 and has served twice as Board President. Past activities in CCBE include being a member of the legislative committee, awards committee, and serving as both the CCBE Secretary/Treasurer and Vice President. Ray was recently elected CCBE President-Elect at the California School Boards Association Annual Education Conference held in San Diego on December 3 through December 5, 2009. Active in political advocacy for education and youth, Ray also serves CSBA as a member of the Delegate Assembly and as a legislative chair.

Ray received a BS from Cal State Hayward and an MBA from Golden Gate University. Ray served on the adjunct faculty of Golden Gate University conducting seminars on Accounting and Management information systems. Ray retired after a 30 year career in fiancé and information systems.

He and wife, Ettamarie live on their family farm outside Petaluma, Ca where their three children and 7 grandchildren attended public schools

Bessie Hironimus
CCBE Vice President
Region 4: Butte COE

Bessie R. Hironimus is a member of the Butte County Board of Education since 1985. Currently she is serving as its president. She is also a member of the CSBA Delegate Assembly, representing Region 4, which includes the counties of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Sutter, Tehama and Yolo.

Bessie was recently elected CCBE Vice President at the California School Boards Association Annual Education Conference held in San Diego on December 3 through December 5, 2009. For over 20 years, Bessie has chaired or served in most all of the CCBE committees. In addition, she has also served as its Secretary, Vice President, President Elect and Parliamentarian, she designed and published the CCBE directory for about 8 years, and is an advocate for the Organization. Bessie has also served CSBA on the Nominating and Legislation committees, the English Language Learners and the Leadership and Diversity Task Forces, Golden Bell evaluator, and was appointed to the California Forum on the Civic Mission of Education.

Bessie's involvement in educational activities expands to several other organizations, having served on the California Health Leadership Program on Children Obesity, the National and the International Federations of Business and Professional Women, Soroptimists International, the Chamber of Commerce Youth and Education Committee, among others. Currently Bessie is serving as National President of the Enterprising and Professional Women, EPW-USA.

Bessie and her husband Dave have been married for 40 years, they have two children and a grandson.

 Lynne Craig
CCBE Immediate Past President
Region 18: Riverside COE

Lynne and her husband, Robert, are both Californian’s, “born and raised”. They have been married for 27 years and have four children. Lynne and her husband work together as directors of a senior community center and are very active in preserving the dignity of senior citizens.

Lynne has been a member of the Riverside County Board of Education for seven years, serving as Vice-President and Board President. Lynne served 17 years as a volunteer for PTA including Vice-President of 23^rd District PTA. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the First Five Riverside, Riverside Child Care Consortium, and a CSBA delegate for county boards in Region 18. Lynne’s experience with CCBE includes chairing the By-Laws committee, serving on the Legislative committee, serving as a member of the Board of Directors, Vice-President, President-Elect and President of CCBE, and is now serving as CCBE’s Immediate Past President.

“I feel blessed to serve the children of California and the County Boards of Education.”

Dr. Jack Bedell
CCBE Secretary-Treasurer
Region 15: Orange COE

Jack was born in the state of New York. He is married with two children and three grandchildren. Jack received his Bachelor’s Degree from Franklin and Marshall College and his MA and Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University. Jack is currently a professor of Sociology at the University of Fullerton. Jack’s career includes Chair of several academic departments; Associate Vice Chancellor of the CSU; Associate Vice President, Cal State Fullerton (CSUF); Director of Faculty Development (CSUF); Chairman of the Academic Senate CSU and Chair of Academic Senate at CSUF for five terms.

He has been President of Fullerton School District Board of Trustees (K-8) and is currently the President of the Orange County Board of Education. Jack is also President of the Fullerton Civil Light Opera Board of Directors. Recently, he was selected as Outstanding Faculty member, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CSUF).

His positions with CCBE include Vice-President, President-Elect, President and Immediate Past President. Jack is now the Secretary/Treasurer of CCBE.

Sara Wilkins
CSBA Director-At-Large, County
Region 10: Madera COE

Sara’s experience as an elected board member dates back to 1974. She has been a member of the Coarsegold Elementary Board of Trustees, Yosemite High School Board of Trustees, and is currently a member of the Madera County Board of Education. Sara has been a member of the CSBA Delegate Assembly since 1998 and is currently serving County Boards as the CSBA Director-at-Large.

Sara is also recognized as an active community member. She is a Commissioner with the First Five Commission. She has been active in the American Hearth Association, the Eastern Madera Chamber of Commerce, Coarsegold 4H Club, Soroptimist International and the Community Hospital Foundation Board. She was also the recipient of the Madera Chamber of Commerce Educational Leadership Award. In her spare time, she composes personalized pieces for retirements, etc.

Naomi O'Rear
CCBE Executive Assistant

Naomi has worked for CSBA for over two years in various departments including Human Resources, Building Services and the Governance Institute. Her responsibilities in these departments included high level administrative support for department managers. She is highly skilled in MS Office, is attentive to details and very organized.

She came to CCBE in June of 2008; taking over for CCBE Director, Diana Narvaez.