Alameda County

Alameda County Supervisors Are One Step Closer to Picking a New District Attorney

The seven candidates were selected from a pool of 15 applicants that the Board narrowed down last Thursday.

Published

3 months ago

January 28, 2025

The Alameda County Supervisors interviewed seven finalist candidates to fill the vacant District Attorney spot at a lengthy special meeting.

By Magaly Muñoz

The Alameda County Supervisors interviewed seven finalist candidates to fill the vacant District Attorney spot at a lengthy special meeting Tuesday afternoon. A new DA will be chosen as early as next week and will be sworn in by February. This vacancy arose following the recall of former DA Pamela Price.

The seven candidates were selected from a pool of 15 applicants that the Board narrowed down last Thursday.

Here is a summary of what each candidate said during their presentations:

Elgin Lowe

Lowe is a Senior Deputy DA for Alameda County with almost 30 years of legal experience, and has worked under three DA’s. He said his vision for the department is “fairness, accountability, and trust.” He wants to make sure all cases are valued and that there is equitable access to services. Lowe said he seeks justice in every case and looks to provide transparency for residents of the ongoing DAO (District Attorney’s Office). He also wants to restore the trust that has eroded within the department over the past few years and is committed to do his best to collaborate with the community. Lowe said wants to “ensure the safety of all Alameda County residents.”

Yiben Shen

Shen has over 20 years of legal experience and is the current City Attorney for Alameda. Shen said he also wants to enhance the work done in housing and consumer justice rights. He’s worked on legislation that has benefited low income renters and has focused on minimum wage rights. Shen has also worked on public programs related to prosecution and public rights, police auditing, and environmental enforcement. His vision for the DA’s office includes collaborations with elected officials, law enforcement, and community; creating public trust; having victim focus and support resources; diversion and restorative justice programs; and reducing barriers to reentry.

Jimmie Wilson

Wilson spoke on his personal background growing up in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco and living in a “tough neighborhood” like the Bayview allowed him to get a wider outlook on life and crime. As an attorney in the DAO, he says he’s tried some of the most cases out of anyone in the office. He has expertise charging homicide, child assault, and rape cases. His priorities are to make sure the community feels safe and also work towards making change in public safety efforts. Wilson previously ran for Alameda DA in 2022 but lost against ousted DA Pamela Price.

Ursula Jones Dickson

Dickson is an Alameda Superior Court Judge and former Deputy District Attorney. She’s spent 11 years as a judge presiding primarily over juvenile and criminal cases. Priorities for Dickson include continuing the streamlining process for attorneys to be able to make decisions quicker and precise, making sure the department’s budget is balanced, and addressing the divisions in the office. She wants to make sure the current team of attorneys are trained to be DA’s, as many of them allegedly do not have the experience. She also intends to work more with families and victim advocates, and look into cold cases that have been sitting in the system for a while.

LaTricia D. Louis

Louis is Deputy County Counsel for Alameda and former Assistant DA. She said she’s already spoken to members of the community and has heard the concerns over not feeling safe in their own cities. Louis said she wants to address the backlog of cases, address retail theft and the effect on businesses, and sustaining victim outreach services. She acknowledged that most problems cannot be solved within one department and wants to work towards more collaboration across the county. She also wants to create new public programs and improve on the ones that already exist. Louis wants “a system that holds people accountable.”

Annie K Esposito

Esposito is an Assistant DA for Contra Costa and a former attorney for the Alameda County DAO. The vision is simple, according to Esposito, “restore public trust, restore public safety.”

She wants to ensure services are readily available to the public, victims, and victim advocates. She created a new unit that audited the police and sheriff’s departments untested sexual assault kits that resulted in over 1,900 results entered into CODIS, or the Combined DNA Index System – a database of DNA profiles that law enforcement agencies use to help identify criminals, missing people, and suspects. Esposito said transparency will be a major element of her administration if selected.

Venus D Johnson

Johnson is Chief Deputy Attorney to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and also worked under former AG and Vice President Kamala Harris. She worked in Oakland under the Ceasefire initiative that helps to decrease gun violence and homicides. Johnson detailed her extensive accomplishments in ensuring public safety including addressing hate crimes; taking down crime rings throughout the state; developing immigration policies at the local and county level to combat the Trump administration; and seizing 13 million fentanyl pills, with over 374 arrests related to distribution of fentanyl. She wants to work regionally with San Francisco and other municipalities to solve related crimes and continue working with victims and their families.

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Barbara Lee Accepts Victory With “Responsibility, Humility and Love”

“I accept your choice with a deep sense of responsibility, humility, and love. Oakland is a deeply divided City,” Lee said in an April 19 statement. “I answered the call to run to unite our community, so that I can represent every voter, and we can all work together as One Oakland to solve our most pressing problems.”

Published

6 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Barbara Lee. File photo.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌,
California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

As a candidate for mayor, former U.S. Representative Barbara Lee released a “10-point plan” last week to reassure residents that she will tackle Oakland’s most pressing challenges.

Now that she has edged out her competitors in the ranked-choice special election with 50% or more of the vote, the former Congresswoman, who represented parts of the Bay Area in the U.S. House of Representatives, can put her vision in motion as the city’s first Black woman mayor.

On Saturday evening, Taylor conceded to Lee. There are still about 300 Vote-by-Mail ballots left to be verified, according to county election officials. The ballots will be processed on April 21 and April 22.

“This morning, I called Congresswoman Barbara Lee to congratulate her on becoming the next Mayor of Oakland,” Taylor said in a statement.

“I pray that Mayor-Elect Lee fulfills her commitment to unify Oakland by authentically engaging the 47% of Oaklanders who voted for me and who want pragmatic, results-driven leadership.”

The influential Oakland Post endorsed Lee’s campaign, commending her leadership on the local, state, and federal levels.

Paul Cobb, The Post’s publisher, told California Black Media that Lee will bring back “respect and accountability” to the mayor’s office.

“She is going to be a collegial leader drawing on the advice of community nonprofit organizations and those who have experience in dealing with various issues,” Cobb said. “She’s going to try to do a consensus-building thing among those who know the present problems that face the city.”

Born in El Paso, Texas, Lee’s family moved to California while she was in high school. At 20 years old, Lee divorced her husband after the birth of her first child. After the split, Lee went through a tough period, becoming homeless and having to apply for public assistance to make ends meet.

But destitution did not deter the young woman.

Lee groomed herself to become an activist and advocate in Oakland and committed to standing up for the most vulnerable citizens in her community.

Lee traveled to Washington, D.C. to work for then U.S. Congressman Ron Dellums after receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland in 1973. Lee later won a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fellowship to attend the School of Social Welfare, and she earned a Master of Social Work from the University of California-Berkeley in 1975.

Lee later served in the California State Assembly and State Senate before she was elected to Congress in 1998.

After serving in the U.S. Congress for more than 25 years, Lee ran unsuccessfully for California’s U.S. Senate in the 2024 primary election.

Lee joins current Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and former San Francisco Mayor London Breed as Black women serving as chief executives of major cities in California over the last few years.

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S.F. Businesswomen Honor Trailblazers at 44th Annual Sojourner Truth Awards and Scholarship Luncheon

This year’s well-deserved award recipients were women who graciously and continuously have served and empowered the Bayview community and beyond.

Published

13 hours ago

April 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Carletta Jackson-Lane, 21st Western District governor of the National Association of the Business and Professional Women’s Club, Inc. sits with honoree Carol E. Tatum the 2025 Sojourner Truth Award recipient of the NAB&PW, Inc. Photo courtesy of Sheryl Smith.

By Rev. Dr. Rochelle Frazier
Special to The Post

On Saturday, April 19, the San Francisco Business and Professional Women’s Club (SFBPWC) held its sold-out 44th Annual Sojourner Truth Awards and Scholarship Luncheon at the Southeast Community Center at 1550 Evans Ave. in San Francisco.

The luncheon’s theme was “Moving Forward with a Purpose: From Trailblazers to Game Changers.”

This year’s well-deserved award recipients were women who graciously and continuously have served and empowered the Bayview community and beyond.

Carol Evora Tatum received the National Sojourner Truth Meritorious Service Award for her decades of leadership and dedicated community service.

Brittany Doyle, founder and CEO of WISE Health SF, was honored as the Businesswoman of the Year because of her insightful and innovative business acumen regarding community-centered health programs.

La Shon A. Walker was recognized as the Professional Woman of the Year for her community empowerment and leadership work as the vice president of Community Affairs at FivePoint.

The luncheon also provides an opportunity to present scholarships to well-deserving students. The scholarship awardees were Jayana Harbor and Zari Moore, both graduating from Immaculate Conception Academy, and London Robinson, who is graduating from Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School.

Harbor plans to attend Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland; Moore will attend Loyola University in New Orleans, and Robinson will attend Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“The 44th Annual Sojourner Truth Awards and Scholarship Luncheon is more than a celebration,” said Cheryl Smith, president of SFBPWC. “It’s a tribute to the legacy of Black women who have paved the way and made a commitment to uplifting future generations. We are proud to honor extraordinary leaders in our community and invest in the bright minds who will carry us into the future.”

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Teachers’ Union Thanks Supt. Johnson-Trammell for Service to Schools and Community

“I speak for our Oakland community and the families OEA serves in thanking Supt. Johnson-Trammell for her service. With public schools and immigrant families under attack nationally from Trump and with budget challenges affecting many California school districts, these are tough times demanding the best of what we all have to offer,” said OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer in a statement released Thursday.

Published

13 hours ago

April 27, 2025

Oakland Post

OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer. Courtesy photo.

The union calls for a community-involvement in search for new superintendent

By Post Staff

While pointing out that Supt. Kayla Johnson-Trammell has been planning to resign for a while, the Oakland Education Association (OEA) thanked her for years of service to the schools and called for community involvement in the search for a new superintendent.

“While we disagreed strongly on a number of issues,” said Taiz-Rancifer, “Dr. Johnson-Trammell is a daughter of Oakland and a product of our public schools. We thank her for her service and wish her the best moving forward.”

She said the schools’ community was aware that the superintendent had been planning to leave well before this week’s announcement.

“The superintendent has spoken publicly throughout the year about her planned departure. In August 2024, the previous school board approved a renewed contract raising her compensation to over $600,000 per year and allowing her to step back from daily responsibilities beginning in the 2025-2026 school year,” said Taiz-Rancifer.

She said the teachers’ union has been raising concerns about the need for stability and financial transparency in the district. “For three of the last four years, the district projected major deficits, only to end with millions in reserve.” This year, she said, the district added $90 million to central office overhead expenses.

“Just last month, a majority of school board directors took action to cap expensive consultant costs and develop alternative budget proposals that align spending with community priorities to keep funding in classrooms,” she said.

Taiz-Rancifer said the union stands behind the leadership of Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Boardmembers Valarie Bachelor, Rachel Latta, and VanCedric Williams.