The campaign to unseat Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price gained momentum on Monday as local group Save Alameda County For Everyone, also known as SAFE, dumped a heap of signatures at the county's doorstep. The group's effort to recall Price, whom they accuse of being too lax on crime and anti-law enforcement, marked a new phase with the submission of over 123,000 signatures, a quantity well over the threshold required to prompt a recall election.
Supporters of the recall, a mixed bag of Alameda County residents, business owners, and victims' families, claim that public safety has taken a hit under Price's tenure. SAFE's mission, as stated on their website, argues that removing Price is essential "to keep our community safe and restoring public safety in our neighborhoods." The petition to recall requires only 73,000 signatures, but SAFE isn't taking any chances by submitting a surplus in anticipation of invalidated entries.
The Registrar of Voters' office, spearheaded by Tim Dupuis, has the task of sifting through the submitted signatures — a 10-day ordeal that coincides with presiding over this week's elections. This double-duty comes when the ballot includes a proposal to tweak recall election laws, potentially stretching the validation timeline from 10 days to an entire month, as reported by Mercury News.
Price, who took office in January last year, stands as Alameda's first Black woman to hold the position of top prosecutor. She's already encountered stiff resistance, with her critics, including the recall proponents, accusing her of negotiating lenient deals for individuals charged with serious crimes and lessening the number of sentencing enhancements. Conversely, Price has spoken out against what she sees as systemic racism inherent in the criminal justice system, publicly denouncing lengthy prison sentences for the havoc they wreak on communities of color and calling for investigations into police and sheriff’s deputies' misconduct.
Amidst the turmoil, allegations of unscrupulous behavior among signature gatherers for the recall came to light, prompting Price's supporters to call upon the state Attorney General's Office to investigate supposed rampant fraud. However, the entity behind the recall stands firm in its denial of these accusations. Within this chess game of local politics, as recounted by NBC Bay Area, SAFE claims, "DA Price is jeopardizing the safety of every resident and business in Alameda County by failing to enforce the law, prosecute criminals and keep violent offenders off our streets."
