Friday, January 8, 2010
Page 3
Cerrell Firm Restructures, Names Hal Dash Chairman
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The lobbying/consulting firm of Cerrell Associates has restructured, with Hal Dash being named chairman and chief executive officer, the firm said in a release.
Former chairman Joe Cerrell, who in 1978 turned the firm into the first local group to handle judicial campaigns on a regular basis, becomes chairman. Cerrell founded the firm and was its majority owner until a restructuring three years ago that left him as one of seven principals with equal shares, although he remained active in the firm’s day-to-day affairs, as well as being its titular head.
Dash, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, has been the company’s president for 21 years. Current Executive Vice Presidents Matt Klink and Lisa Gritzner each become presidents, and Executive Vice President Kristen Lonner becomes a principal.
Klink, who has worked at Cerrell Associates for 15 years, will continue to run the firm’s Campaign and Issues Management practice, as he has for the past five years, he said in a press release. The firm noted in the release that it “currently represents a number of corporate and trade association clients with high profile, politically charged issues at the federal, state and local levels.”
Gritzner, who has worked at the firm for five years and was chief of staff to then-Los Angeles Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski for seven years, has managed Cerrell’s Local Government practice, which involves extensive lobbying of the Los Angeles city and Los Angeles County governments.
Lonner, who heads the Land Use and Planning practice, was chief planning deputy for Miscikowski for six years. The firm noted that she “scored major wins for two of the region’s most high-profile development projects in 2009 and did so during one of the most challenging development climates in recent memory.”
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