Organizers of Alameda County DA recall effort accuse officials of meddling
Pam Price recall proponents accuse board of supervisors of meddling
Proponents of an effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price from office accuse the countys Board of Supervisors of interfering with their process. At issue are differences in the recall process between state and county law. The supervisors say they will have the voters decide, possibly on both whether Price should be removed and under what procedures. There are also allegations signatures being collected in petitions to recall the D.A. are from out of the county or people not registered to vote.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Organizers of an effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price accused county officials Tuesday of meddling and unnecessary road blocks.
"They have created a mountain of confusion with the community because they have no idea what's going on," said organizer Brenda Grisham. "Just wait until we do recall Pamela Price, and then they can look at the charter to see what parts are unconstitutional."
But the Alameda County Board of Supervisors later voted to have citizens decide in March whether the county's decades-old charter, as it pertains to a recall, should be aligned with state law.
"In response to people saying we're interfering, if your board does this, they're interfering, they're taking away the people's rights, the people still have to vote," County Counsel Donna Ziegler said at a supervisors' meeting.
Still, recall organizers say this won't affect their efforts.
"Her policies are horrible," said Chris Moore, who is part of the recall.
Moore pointed to Saturday's armed robbery of a guard protecting a truck at the 7-Eleven at Grand Avenue and Mandana Boulevard in Oakland. The robbers disarmed the guard and stole cigarettes and tobacco.
"They know that ‘Auntie Pam’ will not prosecute them. They walk up with their fists, it's the same as holding a gun to somebody's head," Moore said.
Patricia Harris blames Price for giving the man who shot and killed her son, Jarin Purvis, a plea deal for manslaughter instead of the original murder charge.
"It's not fair, it's not right, and we don't want these other families to go through this," Harris said. "Our son did not receive justice, and the only justice that we can get for him is to have her recalled."
Jim Sutton, an attorney for Price's campaign said some of those collecting signatures for the recall are from outside Alameda County or not registered voters.
"The registrar has a duty to see whether those circulators are registered voters and, if they're not, the registrar just has to throw away all the signatures on that petition," Sutton said.
The ACLU has come out against the recall, saying in a statement, in part, "To blame DA Price for crime problems that have been decades in the making is blatantly dishonest. We urge voters to educate themselves on the issues and reject the politics of fear which are a cynical effort to roll back criminal justice reforms."
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