Residents of Alameda County on Tuesday could get a better sense of who will be the permanent district attorney after Pamela Price was recalled in November.
The county Board of Supervisors has scheduled a special meeting Tuesday afternoon to publicly interview the seven finalists vying for the job.
In November, voters recalled District Attorney Pamela Price over criticism that she wasn’t tough on crime. Since then, Chief Assistant District Attorney Royl Roberts has been running the office while the board searches for a new DA.
The seven finalists for the permanent position:
- Elgin Lowe, Alameda County senior deputy district attorney;
- Jimmie Wilson, Alameda County deputy district attorney;
- Venus Johnson, chief deputy attorney general with the California Justice Department;
- Judge Ursula Jones Dickson, Alameda County Superior Court;
- Annie Esposito, Contra Costa County assistant district attorney;
- Latricia Louis, deputy counsel for Alameda County;
- Yibin Shen, city attorney for Alameda
Lowe and Wilson are the only internal candidates; Johnson has been endorsed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Earlier Tuesday, SAFE, the group responsible for recall efforts against Price, rallied to make sure everyone knows what they want to see in the next district attorney. The group and the families of several crime victims are endorsing two of the seven candidates, Dickson, and Esposito.
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“Number one, they are experienced, they have to be able to be a leader who can make changes and also to revitalize the DA office, so that we can regain trust,” said Carl Chan, cofounder of the SAFE recall group.
Virginia Nishita, whose husband was shot and killed in 2021 while working as security for a Bay Area news crew, believes both candidates will fight for the victims.
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“They have been in all aspects of the court area, they have helped community, they have helped internally, they have helped themselves going out to the community to help. They are well rounded,” she said.
After the Tuesday interviews, the board makes its selection next week. The new DA will take office early next month and serve through 2026.