Newsmakers.

Banking & Finance

William R. Barrett has been chosen to head up the new West Los Angeles office of U.S. Trust Co N.A. He will be responsible for overseeing the office, which will provide wealth management services including investment management, financial and estate planning, trust services and private banking. The office will serve communities in Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Malibu, the South Bay and parts of the San Fernando Valley. Barrett previously served as a senior vice president and director of private banking. Jay D. Baumgardner, Paul R. Nevans and Kim E. Wilkinson have been promoted to senior vice presidents in the Los Angeles office of U.S. Trust. Baumgardner is a senior portfolio manager, responsible for client portfolio management and business development throughout Southern California. Nevans is a senior financial planner and is responsible for managing financial and retirement planning for high-net-worth clients throughout the West Coast. Wilkinson is a senior trust officer and manages person al trust and estate relationships, in addition to developing wealth management business throughout Los Angeles.

Douglas Bergeron has joined the management team of Gores Technology Group, an acquisition and management company in Los Angeles. He will be a group president, responsible for acquisitions and helping the company maximize value in the businesses it acquires. Bergeron was most recently CEO of Geac Computer Corp.

Roy L. Furman has joined Jefferies & Co. Inc., an institutional brokerage and investment banking firm in Los Angeles, as vice chairman. He will be charged with expanding the company's presence in New York.

Steve E. Kwong has joined Neuberger Berman, an investment management firm in Los Angeles, as a regional vice president of private asset management. In this position, he will market the firm's services to high-networth individuals, trusts, foundations and family offices in Orange and San Diego counties. Kwong was most recently a vice president at Mellon Trust Co.

Entertainment

Bill Borson has been promoted to senior vice president, production/executive producer for Fox Sports Net. He will be responsible for all live event production for more than 4,500 telecasts, including both national and regional broadcasts, while at the same time overseeing the 11 Fox owned-and-operated regional production divisions. Borson has been vice president, production, since 1997.

Kim Hatamiya has been named senior vice president and general manager of JP Kids' Television. She will be responsible for managing the sales and distribution of the IF Kids' television properties in the United States and around the world, as well as overseeing business affairs for the company. Previously, Hatamiya was senior vice president of marketing at Passport New Media Inc.

Frederick D. Huntsberry has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer of Universal Studios in Universal City. He will be responsible for all worldwide financial activities for the Universal Studios Group, which also includes Universal's global recreation business, as well as continue to oversee all financial activities for Universal Pictures. Huntsberry has served as chief financial officer of Universal Pictures since August 1999.

Health Care

Janine Sawaya Eggers has joined Health Net Inc. in Los Angeles as vice president of medical affairs operations. In this role, Eggers will be responsible for identifying "best practices" that improve quality and outcome measurements, as well as overseeing the integration and implementation of a national medical management program for all Health Net plans. Eggers was at Humana Inc. in several executive and management positions for the past four years.

Hospitality

G'Nell Abracosa, Tona Trujillo and Kathy Markarian have all been promoted at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, a part of Millennium Hotels and Resorts. Abracosa, who was formerly national sales manager at the property, has been promoted to director of group sales. Trujillo was named senior national sales manager after serving as national sales manager since 1998. Markarian has been promoted to director of international sales. She has been a member of the Biltmore's sales team since March 2000.

Myron Montgomery and David Hart-Leverton have been hired at SeaCastle, a new Santa Monica beachfront luxury apartment development, to implement the corporate housing program. Montgomery will be serving as the marketing director and will be responsible for coordinating outside marketing among a roster of entertainment and celebrity clients. Previously, he coordinated the corporate leasing programs at other luxury rental projects including the Hillcreste in Century City and Citrus Suites in Santa Monica. Hart-Leverton, a leasing specialist, will be responsible for all in-house leasing activities. He was most recently responsible for leasing conventional and corporate apartments for the Villas of Renaissance in La Jolla.

Law

James D. Richman has joined Los Angeles law firm Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP as a partner in the firm's real estate practice. In addition to chairing the real estate practice, Richman will represent tax-exempt organizations, supporting organizations and private foundations engaged in museum, grant making, health care and related activities. He was most recently a partner at Richman, Luna, Kichaven & Glushon.

Christopher A. Vanderlaan has joined the Century City office of Irell & Manella LLP. A member of the firm's intellectual property practice, Vanderlaan will focus on high-technology patent prosecution and litigation. He was formerly a partner at Lyon & Lyon.

Marketing

Peter K. Dang has joined Sargent & Berman, a marketing design firm in Los Angeles, as chief marketing officer. He will be responsible for overseeing the day-today management of the company while at the same time building and expanding the company's marketing services to include strategic marketing and-brand management. Dang most recently worked for Sony Pictures.

Denise Dres has been named vice president of modular systems sales for Display Works, a graphic design and marketing firm in Torrance. She will develop and implement operating plans and training programs for all incoming modular systems exhibit account executives, in addition to leading the company's newest design studio in Los Angeles. Dres has been with the company since 1998, most recently serving as a representative in the sales department.

Coby King has joined CrossPoint Advisors, a strategic communications firm in Los Angeles, as its president and CEO. Prior to joining CrossPoint, King run Coby King Communications, a public affairs consulting firm.

Bill McClinton has joined Global Icons, a Los Angeles licensing agency specializing in promoting celebrity, entertainment and children's properties. As director of licensing, he is responsible for the development, management and implementation of creative merchandising programs. Previously, McClinton was a licensing manager at 20th Century Fox consumer products.

John Otsuki has been promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president, operations at Photobition USA, a provider of graphics and displays in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for direction and oversight of the firm's graphics and display production and offer technical and operational leadership in addition to directing new product development. Joining Otsuki at the firm is Barn R. Brown, who has been named national-marketing manager. She will be responsible for all aspects of the company's marketing, branding and positioning for Photobition's display and graphics business.

Non-Profits

Bob Merlis has been named exhibit development director at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for encouraging celebrity participation in museum projects, as well as assuming a curatorial role and helping to bring historical perspective to the displays. Merlis was formerly senior vice president of worldwide communications for Warner Bros. Records Inc.

Professional Services

Marta Hillgen has been named vice president of business development for the Southern California office of M2 Inc., a broker of independent business consultants. Based in Los Angeles, she will be responsible for developing relationships with commercial accounts in the Los Angeles area, with special emphasis on the entertainment, aerospace and health care industries.

Retail

Claudia Reich has been promoted to senior vice president of marketing and advertising at Sport Chalet Inc. in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for all aspects of advertising, marketing and promotions for the company.

Health Care Lobbyist Takes on Congress

Claudia Peschiutta

THOUGH employed by a Woodland Hills company, Pat Clarey will be focusing most of her efforts on Capitol Hill, as she undertakes her new position as vice president of government relations for Health Net Inc.

Giving up her post as vice president of public affairs for insurance giant Transamerica Corp., where she had worked the past two years, wasn't tough for Clarey.

"Life insurance is dull," the veteran lobbyist said. "The managed health care industry is going into a particularly interesting period and they've got a lot more activity on the state and federal level than the life-insurance side."

Clarey's duties at Health Net, a managed care company, involve tracking health care legislation, including Medicare reform measures and the various versions of the "Patients' Bill of Rights."

Politics have long been a part of Clarey's life.

She lobbied Congress while at the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Reagan and was deputy director of the National Park Service during the administration of President George Bush.

"I'm more interested in government than politics," Clarey said. "Government has such a direct impact over your life. When you work on something, you usually see it come to fruition."

Despite all the criticism that HMOs have gotten, Clarey said she believes managed care makes health insurance available to more people.

"I think people don't understand how managed care works. You tend to hear only the negative stuff," she said. "As health care costs are increasing, I think everybody is looking at the actual costs and that's what managed care does."