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Critical vote ahead for Alameda County recall rules as DA fights removal effort

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Published  February 29, 2024 7:01pm PST
Crime and Public Safety
KTVU FOX 2

Alameda Co. residents will vote on recall procedure

Alameda County residents are voting to address the rules when it comes to recall procedures. The vote comes just as a recall effort is underway to remove Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price from office.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Alameda County voters are not voting Tuesday on whether to recall District Attorney Pamela Price, but what they will decide is whether to align the county's outdated recall procedures with those of the state.

"It's specifically about a recall procedure, it's not about any one recall at all," said Supervisor Lena Tam.

That means if passed, Measure B would raise the number of signatures needed to put a recall on the ballot, give the registrar more time to count signatures and set up a recall election. 

Tam said as it stands now, the county has a 10-day deadline to verify signatures. State law allows for 30 days.

"We need to be practical in our ability to verify the signatures but also call for the recall election," Tam said.

Tam supports the measure. But critics said now isn't the time to change recall procedures as some recall efforts are underway.

"They were concerned about the timing and the potential for confusion," Tam said.

State law requires signature gatherers to be only 18 or over. As it stands now under the county's charter, those with petitions must live in Alameda County. 

"But the Supreme Court found similar requirements in other jurisdictions for circulating these types of petitions to be unconstitutional," Tam said.

At an event Thursday with local pastors, Price said if Measure B passes - and if she's recalled - then the Board of Supervisors would likely appoint someone to fill the rest of her term. 

Price says not only would those who voted for her be disenfranchised, "the entire electorate, every resident in this county, who's a registered voter, will have lost the right to choose how justice is administered in this county."

A number of pastors spoke on her behalf at Geoffrey's Inner Circle in downtown Oakland.

"Give this dear servant of the Lord, this community servant, give her an opportunity. Let her serve out her term. Let her complete what she's doing, because her agenda can't be accomplished overnight," said Bishop Jerry Macklin of Glad Tidings COGIC in Hayward. 

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan