Alameda County
Alameda County Supervisors Are One Step Closer to Picking a New District Attorney
The seven candidates were selected from a pool of 15 applicants that the Board narrowed down last Thursday.
By Magaly Muñoz
The Alameda County Supervisors interviewed seven finalist candidates to fill the vacant District Attorney spot at a lengthy special meeting Tuesday afternoon. A new DA will be chosen as early as next week and will be sworn in by February. This vacancy arose following the recall of former DA Pamela Price.
The seven candidates were selected from a pool of 15 applicants that the Board narrowed down last Thursday.
Here is a summary of what each candidate said during their presentations:
Elgin Lowe
Lowe is a Senior Deputy DA for Alameda County with almost 30 years of legal experience, and has worked under three DA’s. He said his vision for the department is “fairness, accountability, and trust.” He wants to make sure all cases are valued and that there is equitable access to services. Lowe said he seeks justice in every case and looks to provide transparency for residents of the ongoing DAO (District Attorney’s Office). He also wants to restore the trust that has eroded within the department over the past few years and is committed to do his best to collaborate with the community. Lowe said wants to “ensure the safety of all Alameda County residents.”
Yiben Shen
Shen has over 20 years of legal experience and is the current City Attorney for Alameda. Shen said he also wants to enhance the work done in housing and consumer justice rights. He’s worked on legislation that has benefited low income renters and has focused on minimum wage rights. Shen has also worked on public programs related to prosecution and public rights, police auditing, and environmental enforcement. His vision for the DA’s office includes collaborations with elected officials, law enforcement, and community; creating public trust; having victim focus and support resources; diversion and restorative justice programs; and reducing barriers to reentry.
Jimmie Wilson
Wilson spoke on his personal background growing up in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco and living in a “tough neighborhood” like the Bayview allowed him to get a wider outlook on life and crime. As an attorney in the DAO, he says he’s tried some of the most cases out of anyone in the office. He has expertise charging homicide, child assault, and rape cases. His priorities are to make sure the community feels safe and also work towards making change in public safety efforts. Wilson previously ran for Alameda DA in 2022 but lost against ousted DA Pamela Price.
Ursula Jones Dickson
Dickson is an Alameda Superior Court Judge and former Deputy District Attorney. She’s spent 11 years as a judge presiding primarily over juvenile and criminal cases. Priorities for Dickson include continuing the streamlining process for attorneys to be able to make decisions quicker and precise, making sure the department’s budget is balanced, and addressing the divisions in the office. She wants to make sure the current team of attorneys are trained to be DA’s, as many of them allegedly do not have the experience. She also intends to work more with families and victim advocates, and look into cold cases that have been sitting in the system for a while.
LaTricia D. Louis
Louis is Deputy County Counsel for Alameda and former Assistant DA. She said she’s already spoken to members of the community and has heard the concerns over not feeling safe in their own cities. Louis said she wants to address the backlog of cases, address retail theft and the effect on businesses, and sustaining victim outreach services. She acknowledged that most problems cannot be solved within one department and wants to work towards more collaboration across the county. She also wants to create new public programs and improve on the ones that already exist. Louis wants “a system that holds people accountable.”
Annie K Esposito
Esposito is an Assistant DA for Contra Costa and a former attorney for the Alameda County DAO. The vision is simple, according to Esposito, “restore public trust, restore public safety.”
She wants to ensure services are readily available to the public, victims, and victim advocates. She created a new unit that audited the police and sheriff’s departments untested sexual assault kits that resulted in over 1,900 results entered into CODIS, or the Combined DNA Index System – a database of DNA profiles that law enforcement agencies use to help identify criminals, missing people, and suspects. Esposito said transparency will be a major element of her administration if selected.
Venus D Johnson
Johnson is Chief Deputy Attorney to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and also worked under former AG and Vice President Kamala Harris. She worked in Oakland under the Ceasefire initiative that helps to decrease gun violence and homicides. Johnson detailed her extensive accomplishments in ensuring public safety including addressing hate crimes; taking down crime rings throughout the state; developing immigration policies at the local and county level to combat the Trump administration; and seizing 13 million fentanyl pills, with over 374 arrests related to distribution of fentanyl. She wants to work regionally with San Francisco and other municipalities to solve related crimes and continue working with victims and their families.
