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 November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

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2 weeks ago

November 28, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

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3 weeks ago

November 24, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

Published

3 weeks ago

November 20, 2025

Oakland Post

William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.