SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments.
David Thomas, 54, of Modesto, has been appointed chair of the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, where he has served since 2010. Thomas has been a business representative at the Northern California District Council of Laborers since 2009, a position he also held from 1994 to 2001. Thomas worked at Laborers Local Union 73 as a business agent from 2001 to 2009 and a business representative from 1987 to 1994. He has served as secretary-treasurer of the San Joaquin Building Trades Council since 2004. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Thomas is a Democrat.
Patricia Quinlan, 61, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. Quinlan has been deputy director at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley since 2011. She has held multiple positions at the University of California, San Francisco since 1987, including academic coordinator, industrial hygienist and clinical professor of nursing. Quinlan is a member of the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene, American Industrial Hygiene Association, American Public Health Association and American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Quinlan is a Democrat.
James “Russ” Heimerich, 53, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director of communications at the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Heimerich was chief of the office of public affairs at the California Department of Consumer Affairs from 2005 to 2013. He was an analyst on the customer service team at the California Performance Review from 2004 to 2005, information officer II at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2000 to 2005 and government and community relations manager at Comcast from 1999 to 2000. Heimerich was an information officer at the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair from 1997 to 1999, part-time instructor with California State University, Sacramento from 1996 to 1998 and a freelance writer and public relations consultant from 1995 to 1997. He served as morning edition host and producer at Capital Public Radio from 1986 to 1995, editor and reporter at KGNR-AM from 1983 to 1985 and weekend editor and anchor at WOSU AM & FM in 1983. He was a graduate teaching associate at Ohio State University from 1982 to 1983 and news director at WRTL AM/FM from 1981 to 1982. Heimerich earned a Master of Arts degree in journalism from Ohio State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $87,132. Heimerich is registered decline-to-state.
Doreathea Johnson, 61, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy director, legal affairs division at the California Department of Consumer Affairs, where she has served since 2000. Johnson was senior staff counsel at the California Employment Development Department from 1994 to 2000 and administrative law judge for the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Central Office of Appeals from 1992 to 1994. She worked at the California Employment Development Department as staff counsel and later staff counsel III from 1980 to 1992. Johnson earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $137,196. Johnson is a Democrat.
Mark Oldfield, 52, of Sacramento, has been appointed communications director, office of public affairs at the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). Oldfield has held multiple positions at CalRecycle since 2010, including acting assistant public affairs director and communications manager. He served as information officer at the California Department of Conservation from 1994 to 2009 and served in multiple positions at the Sacramento Union Newspaper from 1981 to 1994, including editor and reporter. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $80,760. Oldfield is a Democrat.