Sacramento County Criminal Justice Employees' Union (Formerly SCALE) 

Randy Bickel was born in Woodland, California and raised in San Francisco. Randy attended Archbishop Riordan High School and then went on to earn an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice at the College of San Mateo and a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice at San Francisco State University. Randy Graduated the San Francisco Regional Police Academy in 1989, and worked as a police officer for the City of Colma and the District of Broadmoor, before he went on to serve for over 28 years at the San Mateo Police Department before retiring in 2018.

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After retirement from San Mateo Police in 2018, Randy continued his career with the County of Sacramento as a Sergeant for the Sacramento County Regional Park Rangers; where he lead one of the Ranger Park Resource Teams focused primarily on dealing with the large homeless population that resides along the American River Parkway. In 2022, Randy left the Park Rangers and accepted the position of Criminal Investigator II with the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office. 

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While at the San Mateo Police Department, Randy served as: a patrol officer, street crimes detective, community police officer, Police Activities League (PAL) founder and Executive Director, field training officer, motor officer, and was assigned as a detective to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Gang Intelligence Unit/Gang Task Force. Randy was also a range master, rifle instructor, armorer, hostage negotiator, peer support team member, crisis intervention team member, and member of the critical incident response team. Randy Served over 10 years on the San Mateo Police Officers’ Association (SMPOA) board of directors, where he held the positions of board member, treasurer, and President. Randy was involved with the contract negotiations team and negotiated four contracts with the city. Randy has received many awards and commendations, including the Lion’s award for heroism. 

Randy was elected as SCALE’s Board President in 2019.  Randy has also served on the Mid-Peninsula Boys and Girls Club board of directors in San Mateo for 10 years.  Randy was a member of the City of San Mateo’s Goal Directed Action Team of the North Central Neighborhood.  Randy has been a member of the Elks Lodge for over 25 years in both San Mateo and Placerville. He has coached youth soccer, youth baseball, youth softball, and youth trap shooting.  He has volunteered with the Boy Scouts and served as the Committee Chair. Randy is also very involved in his church and his council of the Knights of Columbus.

Randy has also been then president of two different homeowners associations, and has created three non-profit organizations.

Randy brings a lifetime of experience and knowledge to the SCALE Board, and leads with an “all-inclusive” attitude.  Randy is married with three children.

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My name is Arla Graeff. I am currently serving as SCALE’s vice president and the current SCALE representative for the Child Support Officers of Department of Child Support Services. I started with the county of Sacramento and the department of Child Support in April 2019. I choose to serve on the board of SCALE to make sure that the voices of Child Support Officers were heard. Throughout the past couple years, we have reached uncharted territory with the pandemic of Covid-19 and it has been an honor to be that bridge between the County of Sacramento and Child Support officers.

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Jonathan Charron is currently employed as a criminalist at the Sacramento District Attorney’s Laboratory of Forensic Services. He was initially assigned to the Chemistry unit of the laboratory prior to moving over to the Firearm and Toolmark section of the Laboratory where he is still currently assigned. During his career at the laboratory, Jonathan attended and graduated from the year-long National Firearms Examiner Academy in Maryland which is offered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He is also currently instructing a firearms related course for the California Department of Justice through the California Criminalistics Institute. Along with teaching at CCI, he also teaches a portion of the POST ICI Homicide Investigation Course for detectives offered by the Northern California Regional Public Safety Training Authority. He is an active member of the California Association of Criminalists where he serves on the board as the Editorial Secretary and is also an active member of the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners. He has served on the SCALE board as the crime lab representative and board Secretary for nearly 4 years.

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Becky Williams has been a Deputy Coroner with the Sacramento County Coroner's Office since May of 2020. Prior to that she worked as a paramedic in Southern California. In her free time she enjoys reading, scuba diving, travelling, and attending live theater.

Daniel Ming was born and raised in San Francisco, where he attended the infamous Lowell High School. He went on to UC Berkeley where he majored in Political Science. He started as a sworn Firefighter/EMT, before becoming a Police Officer. He is married with four children.

At the Oakland Police Dept., he served as a Field Training Officer before becoming the Asian Liaison Officer, then promoted to Sergeant of Police.

His past experiences include: the Executive Board of the Oakland Asian Peace Officers Association (Secretary and Treasurer), Advisor for the Asian Advisory Committee on Crime, and Advisor for the Asian Youth Services Committee. He also served as an Inspector for the California Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Association, before going on to compete and win via end of 2nd round TKO. He also competes in boxing and is the UCA Master’s Middle Weight Champion.

Notable accomplishments include Presidential awards from Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barrack Obama; as well as recognition from the US Congress/Senate. He is currently the appointed Chairman of the Elk Grove Historic Preservation Committee.

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Hi! My name is Dwaynitta Parker and I am your Law Enforcement Support Unit Representative (LESU) for the Sacramento County Criminal Justice Employees’ Union (SCCJEU) effective January 2024. In addition to my Union service, I am currently employed as a Child Support Officer with Sacramento County Department of Child Support Services (DCSS). I am a San Diego, CA native, co-parent to four one-of-a-kind children and a spouse to one unique individual. While living in San Diego, CA, I earned and received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Resource Management in 2015 from Ashford University, now known as University of Arizona Global Campus. After 35 years of living in San Diego, we decided to uproot our family to Sacramento, CA in August 2018 for a reset, recharge, and restart.

My professional background in San Diego, CA is comprised of working in banking as a Senior Account Manager with Union Bank, N.A., in education as an Enrollment Advisor with Ashford University, and in public services as a Human Service Specialist with San Diego County Department of Health and Human Services. I also served as the Secretary and Operations Coordinator board member for a non-profit organization known as ABC Children’s Foundation Inc. My professional background in Sacramento, CA is comprised of working temporary assignments through Apple One Staffing Agency as a Senior Office Specialist with Sacramento County In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Public Authority and a short-term assignment as an Account Clerk with Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance. I began my journey with Sacramento County DCSS in July 2019 as a Child Support Officer. During my time with DCSS, I have actively participated and contributed in various committees and projects within our office. This has allowed me to build collaborative relationships with diverse groups of individuals.

Personally, I enjoy participating in activities and reading any materials that promote personal growth and professional development. I am currently one of the writing contributors for our DCSS News Journal for our personal growth and development corner of the journal. I strive to promote positive energy and mindsets, I believe in judgment free spaces, I appreciate diversity and collaboration, I believe in teamwork makes it all work, and I value integrity, transparency, fairness, respect, growth, and change for the better. As your LESU Representative, my goals are to be proactive in learning and embracing my role, to be resourceful, provide important updates, openly receive, communicate, and/or address your concerns or ideas, actively be involved wherever I am needed, and give strong levels of support to all members of SCCJEU. During my term as the LESU Representative, I genuinely hope to be a valuable contributor to viable change and positive developments. I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve you all in this role and I look forward to working together for the better. Together We Can Thrive!

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Joaquin Farinha was born and raised in Lincoln, Ca. Graduated from Lincoln High School and later attended Sierra College. In 1996, Joaquin attended and graduated from the Los Angeles Police Department academy and worked in various parts of Los Angeles which included South Central LA (Newton Division) and San Fernando Valley (Foothill Division). After working several years for LAPD, Joaquin moved back to Northern California to work for the Stockton Police Department and helped form the new Elk Grove Police Department in 2006. Joaquin went on to graduate from the University of San Diego and received a master’s degree in criminal justice public safety before retiring as a sergeant in December of 2022. Joaquin continued his career in law enforcement as a criminal investigator for the Department of Human Assistance, Program Integrity Division in December of 2022.

During his law enforcement career, Joaquin has worked various assignments that included: patrol officer, field training officer, community police officer, problem-oriented police officer (POP), public information officer (PIO), property crimes detective, narcotics detective. Joaquin was also a firearms instructor, crisis intervention instructor, procedural justice instructor, and was an adjunct professor at Delta College in Stockton.

While as a police officer, Joaquin served the Elk Grove Police Officers Association for ten (10) years, holding various titles such as President, Sergeant at Arms, and Sergeant Representative. During those years, Joaquin served as the EGPOA representative on the city’s retirement committee and helped negotiate three contracts. Joaquin also has experience representing employees during an Internal Affairs investigations.

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Kirsten Alvarez is the current rep for the district attorney’s office. She began her law enforcement career in 1994 with the San Mateo Police Department where she worked as a patrol officer and a detective. She also held the ancillary roles of hostage negotiator and defensive tactics instructor. After 12 years with SMPD, Kirsten accepted a job as a District Attorney Investigator with San Bernardino County where she worked for 11 years. She retired in 2017 and returned to law enforcement in 2019 as a Park Ranger for the Sacramento County Regional Parks Department. In 2021, Kirsten began working as a Criminal Investigator for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. She is grateful to be able to work in a capacity that allows her to help vulnerable victims attain justice.

Mark Bardosh was born in Ukraine where he lived until he was 10 years old. In 1998 he immigrated to the United States with his family. Mark grew up in the greater Sacramento area where he attended school, ultimately graduating from the Sacramento State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.

Mark is proud to serve as the Park Ranger Representative to the Sacramento County Regional Parks Department in the Sacramento County Criminal Justice Employees’ Union (SCCJEU). Mark started his journey with the County of Sacramento and the Department of Regional Parks in July of 2018, later he chose to serve on the board of SCCJEU to make sure that the Rangers and Ranger Sergeants have access to equitable pay, benefits and representation. He is proud to be a part of a full-service law enforcement agency and looks forward to seeing the Rangers at the Sacramento County Regional Parks Department gain equity within local law enforcement agencies.

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My name is Michelle Chao. I am a Supervising Criminalist at the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Laboratory of Forensic Services, where I have dedicated 23 years of service. Outside of work, I enjoy traveling and spending time at the beach. I wanted to serve on the board because I have experienced firsthand the invaluable support and guidance provided by our union throughout my career. I am passionate about paying it forward and ensuring that every member receives the same level of assistance and representation.

I was born in Susanville, a small community in northern CA. I have two children and three grandchildren. We moved to Roseville in 1986 to pursue a business opportunity in electronics. I have a BA in Business Administration and MA in Psychology. My background in banking and years of business experience while meeting the right person at the right time led me to this wonderful opportunity to work for SCALE. Since October 2011 I have managed the office for the Union. I am proud to serve the 400 members of now SCCJEU and support the board as the organization continues to evolve.

Dan began his legal career in 2000, when he founded his own paralegal services company providing legal support to solo practitioners on a contract basis in a wide variety of cases.

He joined the Goyette, Ruano & Thompson team in 2007, and since, Dan’s primary focus has been to understand each individual client’s personal and legal situation and then customizing a compassionate and successful solution.

​As the Managing Partner for the Labor and Employment Division of Goyette, Ruano & Thompson, Daniel Thompson oversees the attorneys and labor representatives who daily serve the firm’s valued clients. His philosophy is simple – provide the highest level of customer service to each client. He believes that the relationship with the client (win or lose) is paramount and you can only do that if you put the client (and their case) first. Dan works closely with his team to make sure that each client’s needs are met, any concerns are promptly addressed, and that each client has the best possible experience. Let’s face it – no one wants to have an attorney, but when you need one – we want to be the best.

He has always believed in the concept of “big picture” representation understanding that each client comes to him with an immediate problem but many other factors in their life must also be considered. Employing this approach, Dan has been successfully representing employees across the State of California for more than a decade.

Dan was born in Portland Oregon and grew up just outside of the city in the town of Tigard, where he lived until the age of 25 when he relocated to Sacramento, California.

​He and his wife Angela (also an attorney) live in the east Sacramento neighborhood of River Park where they are raising their three children, Liam (15) Luke (12) and Elliana (9). When they aren’t running between football and cheer practice, homework and other after-school activities, they enjoy spending time together and taking walks along their tree-covered streets.

When he can, Dan also enjoys a round of golf, fishing, cooking, wine tasting, travel and attempting to maintain his self-proclaimed amateur foodie status. Above all Dan feels that no matter where you are at in life – appreciate it to the fullest.

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Kim Gillingham joined the firm in 2004 as a labor representative after more than 20 years as a public sector employee, serving as an Association Executive Board Member, Association President, and Chief Negotiator throughout her entire career.

Since then, she has served more 25 labor organizations as a negotiator and labor specialist for police, fire, probation officers, schoolteachers, attorneys, management and supervisory staff, maintenance staff and other white- and blue-collar professions across more than 20 public agencies.

She has negotiated over 100 contracts and has also participated in mediations, fact-findings and other administrative hearings regarding MOU interpretation grievances, employee disciplinary appeals, labor negotiation impasses, unfair bargaining practices charges and other contested administrative matters. Kim is passionate about problem solving and enjoys working with clients to identify creative solutions to provide clients with the opportunity to balance their personal and professional lives.

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Brett Sherman, Esq., is a distinguished attorney and a valued member of the Goyette, Ruano & Thompson legal team since 2010. With a focus on the firm’s renowned Labor & Employment Department, Brett demonstrates a wealth of experience in representing public safety employees across a comprehensive spectrum of legal matters.

His practice encompasses adept handling of internal affairs investigations, pre-disciplinary “Skelly” hearings, “White” hearings, grievances, post-disciplinary appeals before administrative bodies, and criminal proceedings. Brett’s commitment to excellence is evident in his track record of delivering exceptional legal counsel to clients in the realm of labor and employment law.

In addition to his role as a dedicated advocate for public safety employees, Brett plays a pivotal role in representing public safety unions during the meeting and confer process, negotiating terms of employment, and addressing working conditions. His extensive familiarity with the Public Safety Officers and Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Acts underscores his comprehensive understanding of the legal landscape.

​Brett’s practice extends to representing law enforcement officers involved in critical incidents and officer-involved shootings. Additionally, as a distinguished member of the RN Guardian Panel, he serves as a legal ally for nurses facing investigations and prosecutions by the California State Attorney General’s Office on behalf of the Board of Registered Nursing (BRN).

​Before joining GRT, Brett garnered valuable experience in a pharmaceutical drug class action law firm. His background as a law clerk on both plaintiff and defense sides of personal injury litigation enhances his nuanced approach to legal challenges. This background seamlessly aligns with GRT’s reputation for handling extensive state and federal wage and hour class actions on behalf of employees.

During his undergraduate studies, Brett distinguished himself as a Member of the Pre-Law Society and Order of Omega Honor Society. He interned for and later directed the Welfare Rights Organization, where he provided crucial legal information to indigent community members and contributed to cases argued before Administrative Law Judges. This multifaceted experience equips Brett with a distinctive edge when navigating the administrative process on behalf of individuals.
Licensed to practice law in the State Courts of California and the United States District Court for the Eastern, Central, and Northern Districts of California, Brett stands as a dedicated legal professional committed to achieving excellence for his clients.

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Jeff D. Carter is a Labor Relations Consultant in the Labor and Employment department at Mastagni, Holstedt, A Professional Corporation.

In his current role, Jeff negotiates labor agreements and represents Private and Public sector employees in labor relations matters.

Jeff comes from a strong labor negotiations background.
Jeff has been involved in many diverse negotiations starting in the 1990’s. He has participated as chief spokesperson in successful negotiations across many industries involving many unique circumstances.

Jeff is a graduate of both the Leadership, Education and Development Institute, (L.E.A.D) and the advanced (L.E.A.D) Program centering around labor negotiations and day to day administration for leaders. In 2010 Jeff became an instructor for the (L.E.A.D) program as well.

Jeff has held several Association positions, including Vice-President, President, and Principal Financial Officer. In addition, he has been Political Director responsible for helping coordinate with National, State and local elected officials to ensure members issues and concerns were understood and addressed.

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