City Government

Contra Costa County DA Diana Becton Describes Accomplishments in Letter to Voters

Change is hard, but it is necessary to serve and protect our community.

Published

4 years ago

June 30, 2021

Isabelle Price

Diana Becton

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I won’t lie to you. Being a progressive district attorney is a challenging job. I was elected to bring change, and resistance to that change is something I encounter every single day.

But I am not accountable to those who resist. I am accountable to voters like you. And every day I am very clear about why I am here.

First and foremost, my job is to keep our community safe. This requires focusing the resources of the District Attorney’s office on prosecuting serious crimes. It requires exploring opportunities with the potential to reduce future crime by helping individuals become healthy and productive members of our community. It requires an unwavering commitment to the integrity of our work to provide justice for victims of crime.

Change is hard, but it is necessary to serve and protect our community. Here are some of the changes I have made so far:

Established the Office’s first Human Trafficking Unit. This unit is tasked with developing a collaborative, comprehensive approach to combat exploitation of persons for sex or labor, to coordinate victim services, and to raise community awareness of these serious crimes.

Eliminated the backlog of untested sexual assault kits that sat on the shelves of local law enforcement agencies in Contra Costa County.

Proactively dismissed thousands of old marijuana convictions that only served as obstacles to people trying to live as productive members of the community.

Joined a bipartisan statewide district attorney effort to re-sentence and release people whose confinement is no longer in the interest of justice by elevating the use of AB 2942, which allows prosecutors to petition the court for re-sentencing in support of an individual’s successful return to the community.

Created the first stand-alone Conviction Integrity Unit. The unit investigates prior convictions and seeks justice for the wrongly convicted.

Prioritized charging decisions away from low-level nonviolent offenses by diverting individuals to substance abuse treatment and other relevant programs and services.

These changes improve our justice system for every member of our community. Change may be hard, but it is necessary to meet the challenges and changes we face every day as a community.

Isabelle Price

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

4 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

Oakland Post

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.