Alameda supes to decide date for DA recall vote
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is set to face a recall vote, but it remains unclear when.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday scheduled a special meeting to settle on a date for the election. In a unanimous vote, the board also accepted the Registrar of Voters’ determination that the campaign that seeks to oust Price collected enough signatures to force a recall vote.
At the May 14 meeting, the Board of Supervisors will consider two options: call for a special election for sometime between Aug. 10 and Sept. 16 or consolidate it with the general election on Nov. 5. Registrar Tim Dupris said his office recommends a consolidation, in part to save costs. He said a special election would cost the county $15 million to $20 million, compared to $4 million for a consolidated election.
Tuesday’s outcome — which delays a decision on the election date — came after about 100 community members spoke for or against the recall effort. Several speakers called on the board to set a date and hold the special election as soon as possible. They blamed Price for an increase in crime. Others demanded that the county not move forward with the election. They said the registrar of voters failed to comply with county rules when it counted the signatures.
The matter went before the board after the Registrar of Voters’ office two weeks ago announced that the recall campaign collected enough signatures to force an election. The office said it tallied 74,757 valid signatures — 1,562 more than the minimum required.
Price, a former civil rights attorney, won her seat with 53% of the vote in 2022 on a platform that promised to reduce mass incarceration, lighten sentences for defendants and hold police accountable for misconduct.
Her critics view her progressive policies as too lenient. Some blame her for an increase in crime, especially in Oakland. In July, less than seven months into her term, her critics formed a committee that kick-started the recall effort.
Her supporters say crime in many ways is outside of the control of a district attorney, and they criticize the recall campaign as an effort largely funded by a hedge fund partner and real estate stakeholders.
The two sides came face to face during opposing rallies outside the Alameda County Administration Building before the supervisors’ meeting. One group shouted, “Recall Price,” while the other chanted, “Stop scapegoating Price.”
Carl Chan, an organizer with Save Alameda For Everyone, a group behind the recall effort, criticized Price’s reform-driven policies, which he said go too far.
“The reform should not be a destruction of the legal and justice system,” Chan said, adding that he believes serious criminals and repeat offenders are not being held accountable.
Brenda Grisham, another organizer with Save Alameda for Everyone, said filing criminal charges does not equate to accountability. Grisham criticized Price’s office for not making public data on the outcomes of prosecutions under her leadership.
“We don’t see anything on paper that the district attorney has done to make this county safer,” Grisham said.
Among the crowd was Brenda Angulo, whose 15-year-old old son, Erick Portillo, was killed outside their Hayward home last year. Angulo said Price’s office didn’t contact her to offer victim services after her son’s killing.
Under Price’s leadership, families of victims “feel like we did something wrong,” Angulo said.
Misty Cross, a passer-by who joined the anti-recall side, said voters elected Price fairly, and that she deserves a chance to do her job.
“If we give her enough time to really do her job, then I think we will see change,” Cross said.
Another recall critic, Yoana Tchoukleva, said that while crime is a concern for her, she doesn’t believe the recall would make Alameda County safer. She called the recall effort a disingenuous campaign that “has been very successful at convincing the public that D.A. Price is at fault for the rise in violent crime,” which started before Price’s term. “In order to prevent crime you have to address the root causes of crime,” such as unemployment, she said.
Jim Sutton, an attorney who represents the anti-recall campaign, said he believes the registrar of voters failed to comply with county charter rules that require the office to disqualify signatures collected by noncounty residents and review the signatures within 10 days.
“We believe that the recall is illegal,” Sutton said.
The registrar of voters completed a review using a “random sample” of signatures within 10 days, but results were inconclusive, so the office reviewed every signature in accordance with state law, according to the office.
Earlier in the day, the campaign that seeks to keep Price in office said the state Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating whether Reviving the Bay Area, a committee that funds Save Alameda for Everyone, violated finance disclosure requirements. Save Alameda for Everyone organizers say they have operated by the books.