Gov. Jan Brewer on March 18 announced several additions to her staff.

The Governor's Office named Linda Stiles as director of boards and commissions, Rebecca Hecksel as deputy director of legislative affairs, Jeri Kishiyama Auther as policy advisory on regulatory affairs and Jim Marten as deputy director of Brewer's Southern Arizona office.

In a press release, Brewer praised the new staff hires as people with a great deal of familiarity with state government who will assets to her office and to the state.

Stiles comes to the Governor's Office from the Legislature's Office of the Ombudsman, where she served as an investigator and assistant ombudsman. Prior to that, she spent seven years in the Governor's Office as director of community and family programs, director of the Division for Children, special assistant for appointments to boards and commissions, and manager of constituent services.

Hecksel had been a senior associate at the lobbying firm DeMenna & Associates, where she conducted economic analyses of legislative proposals, drafted proposed legislation and represented a wide variety of clients. She has also served as an economist for the City of Phoenix, a campaign financial analyst at the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, and as a fiscal analyst for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

Auther worked as an associate specializing in administrative, natural resources and energy law at the Law Office of Robert S. Lynch & Associates. She began her legal career as an assistant attorney general at the office's insurance defense section, and later worked in the antitrust division. She also served as general counsel to the Department of Health Services, and as a staff attorney for the Governor's Regulatory Review Council.

Marten previously worked for Brewer as manager of her Southern Arizona office when she was secretary of state.

Two days before the announcement, Brewer named Katosha Nakai, an associate at the law firm Lewis & Roca, as her policy advisor for tribal affairs. Nakai focused much of her work with the firm on representing Native American tribes and groups such as the American Indian College Fund. Her legal career also includes time as a clerk for Mary M. Schroeder, chief judge for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Legal Department.