A new day at the Alameda County DA's office

Alameda County's new DA takes the oath of office today; Barbara Lee expressed surprise at a fundraiser last week that all demographics in Oakland believes public safety is failing

☕️MORNING BUZZ

—Ursula Jones Dickson will be sworn-in this afternoon as Alameda County’s next district attorney. Dickson will take the oath of office at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors meeting at 4 p.m.

Dickson, a now former Alameda County Superior Court judge, was appointed by the board on Jan. 28 after the recall of Alameda County DA Pamela Price in November.

During the appointment process, Dickson pledged to rebuild the DA’s office in addition to boosting its flagging morale. How will she do it? “You get back to doing the work of a district attorney,” she told the Board of Supervisors last month.

“We have to address the division in our office,” she said. “I’m about the x’s and o’s, but also the Jimmy’s and Joe’s.” She also plans to immediately rebuild the office’s consumer division to address retail theft.

Dickson served as a Superior Court judge since 2013, mostly presiding over criminal and juvenile justice cases. Prior to that she served 15 years at the Alameda County DAs office.

Not only does Dickson need to get acquainted with the DA’s office she is inheriting, but also quickly learn the ropes of fundraising and campaigning.

Dickson’s appointment runs through the June 2026 primary. She told the Board of Supervisors last month that she will certainly run in 2026. If successful, Dickson will need to run again in the March 2028 primary.

The reason for two successive campaigns is because Price’s four-year term, which began in 2022, includes an extra two years necessitated by a new state law that sought to line up county sheriff and district attorney races with the presidential primary schedule. Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez’s first term is also six years, instead of four.

—More inside:

• Pamela Price isn’t going away. In fact, she getting a new megaphone.

• Board of Supervisors asked to approve one-time funding to help protect immigrants and refugees.

• Barbara Lee made another round of unfortunate gaffes at a fundraiser last week.

• Fremont councilmember wants the city council to stay focused on local issues, offers referral to make it policy.

• Swalwell blames Trump for plane crashes. Of course, the response from the White House includes a reference to Fang Fang.

—411 ON THE 510—Become an East Bay Insiders subscriber today and get FULL ACCESS to the inside scoop every weekday morning at 6 a.m. It’s what the insiders read.

—The story of the East Bay’s public corruption scandal will be told here. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

—Get your free tickets here today at Eventbrite!