Gov. Gavin Newsom has demoted a powerful regulator who called an administration decision “bullshit” and attempted to override it through a potentially unlawful vote. Dave Thomas, head of an influential construction union, is no longer chair of the state’s governing board for health and safety standards in workplaces.
Following a chaotic March hearing on a draft indoor heat regulation, Thomas said he did not expect to remain on the board for the next hearing. Yet he returned and eventually apologized for being “a real asshole.” Thomas will continue serving as a labor representative. Joseph Alioto, a trial attorney, is now chair.
Meanwhile: Newsom fired board member Laura Stock, a UC Berkeley public health researcher who backed Thomas in voting for the regulatory proposal after the administration rejected it. Stock had downplayed agriculture’s concerns over the regulation. She has also rejected calls from agtech companies to reconsider the agency’s ban on driverless tractors.
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No schadenfreude here: Michael Miiller, a policy advocate at the California Association of Winegrape Growers, was not eager to celebrate the downfall of board members.
In a statement to Agri-Pulse, Miiller noted that “public service is always to be honored and respected” and that trying to do the right thing on complex issues is often a thankless job, with little compensation for board members. He thanked Stock and lamented that “her passion, energy and expertise will be missed.”
Miiller lauded Alioto as “well-positioned to lead with a vision and a reliance on facts, science and evidence.”
Newsom’s office declined to comment.
