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

5 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

Posts by Isabelle Price

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

Published

1 week ago

July 18, 2026

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

From Disparity Study to Solutions: Oakland Coalition and Mayor Barbara Lee Renew Commitment to Reform City Contracting

She committed to ensuring the coalition has direct access to City leadership by designating Assistant Deputy City Administrator Chuck Baker the primary liaison. Working alongside Deputy City Administrator Sofia Navarro, DWES Director Emylene Aspilla, Race and Equity Director Darlene Flynn, and other City departments, the coalition will continue advancing these priorities while maintaining regular communication with City leadership.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Present at the recent meeting on implementing recommendations on Oakland’s Disparity Study on city work contracts were (first row, l. to r.): Chuck Baker, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Darlene Flynn. Second row, l. to r.) Samuel Adams, Erica Astrella, Chadwick Spell, Cathy Adams, Stanley Cooper, Maria Wagner, Len Turner, Derek Barnes, Paul Cobb. Photo courtesy of Oakland Mayor’s Office.

Special to The Post

On June 30, a coalition of minority business leaders, contractors and others met with Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee to discuss the City’s commitment to implement recommendations outlined in Oakland’s Disparity Study and eliminate barriers that have historically prevented Black and minority-owned businesses from fully participating in public contracting opportunities.

Representatives of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC), National Association of Minority Contractors Northern California (NAMC NorCal), Construction Resource Center (CRC), and the East Bay Rental Housing Association (EBRHA) said the meeting represented an important milestone in a process that has been underway for several months.

On April 21, the Oakland City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee received a progress report from the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES), where Director Emylene Aspilla presented the coalition’s working document and outlined a collaborative implementation plan between the coalition and the City. That report established 30-, 60-, and 90-day objectives focused on five key priorities:

Reforming Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) waiver practices
Strengthening prompt payment compliance
Improving procurement forecasting and transparency
Expanding contractor capacity building and business development
Increasing oversight, accountability, and public reporting

A series of working sessions was scheduled between coalition representatives, DWES, and the City Administrator’s Office to begin implementing those priorities but were temporarily delayed by the resignation of former City Administrator Jestin Johnson.

Rather than allowing that momentum to stall, OAACC President and CEO Cathy Adams requested a meeting with Lee to gain clarity on the City’s direction and reaffirm its commitment to implementing the recommendations contained within the Disparity Study.

Coalition leaders described the meeting as productive, candid, collaborative, and encouraging.

During the meeting, Lee spoke not only from her role as mayor but also from her experience as an 8(a) contractor and business owner, sharing that she understands firsthand what it takes to build and grow a successful company, employ a substantial workforce, compete for public work, and navigate the complexities of municipal contracting.

Mayor Lee also expressed her commitment to personally participate in future working meetings with the coalition.

“This meeting represents a renewed commitment to partnership,” said Adams. “Mayor Lee listened, engaged, and demonstrated that she wants to move beyond conversation and into implementation.”

CRC’s Len Turner said the roadmap is already in place. ““The City already has the evidence. What’s been missing is execution. …Now it’s time to deliver results.”

Mario Wagner, president of NAMC NorCal agreed that the next phase must focus on implementation, funding, and accountability.

“The coalition is ready to get to work. …The next step is ensuring these initiatives receive meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle. Just as important, the City must establish transparent reporting mechanisms that keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and accountability.”

Coalition leaders also acknowledged that while City leadership has indicated it is reviewing Local and Small Local Business Enterprise waiver practices, the community continues to seek a formal response regarding existing long-term waivers, including waivers extending 10 and 25 years. The coalition believes those waivers should be comprehensively reviewed and, where appropriate, rolled back as part of the City’s broader contracting reforms.

The coalition is also calling on the City to include meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle to support implementation of the Disparity Study recommendations and establish better methods and mechanisms to keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and transparent accountability.

The coalition’s immediate next step is to schedule a working meeting with Baker, Aspilla, Lee, and the appropriate City staff to review what has already been accomplished under the implementation framework.