John Laird has a forty year public service career, including twenty-three years in elected office. In 1983, he was one of the first openly gay Mayors in the country. His election to the state legislature in 2002 made him one of the first openly gay men elected to the California legislature, where he was author of 82 bills signed into law and was part of leadership as Budget Chair. He was appointed California’s Secretary of Natural Resources on January 5, 2011. Secretary Laird resides in Santa Cruz and Sacramento, with his spouse John Flores.