Pamela Price rips opponents after being vindicated by civil grand jury report
Alameda County Civil Grand Jury report highlights impact on services caused by widespread vacant positions
COUNTY NEWS
CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT—EMAIL SCANDAL
—VINDICATION—An Alameda County Civil Grand Jury report released on Friday found that staff under former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley improperly used county resources during the 2018 election to aid their boss’ re-election campaign.
—The report hands current Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price an opportunity to change the subject away from growing anger about a number of high-profile cases under her watch and a potential recall campaign.
—The allegation against O’Malley’s office was a major campaign talking point offered by Price during the 2022 campaign.
—The emails sent by DA staff, including from Price’s main opponent in the 2022 election, Terry Wiley, fueled perceptions repeatedly offered by Price that O’Malley’s office was rife with impropriety.
—The report offers little new angles to the controversy, but does add some color to what has already publicly known from a FPPC complaint made prior to the last year’s election.
The grand jury could not find evidence that, despite knowledge of the emails during the 2018 election, that anybody was reprimanded for their actions.
An “all hands on deck” meeting was called by the DA’s office in September 2021. The meeting, which the grand jury could not corroborate fully, was to remind DA staff to refrain from using public means to send campaign-related emails and material.
—O’Malley won re-election in 2018 against Price. Prior to the 2022 election, O’Malley announced her retirement. Price defeated Wiley, a chief deputy DA under O’Malley, last fall.
—Read the entire report HERE.
—PRICE’S RESPONSE—Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s response to the civil grand jury report was pointed. She called the grand jury’s finding “disturbing” and later slammed the spate of former prosecutors who have offered strong criticisms against Price since leaving the DA’s office .
—The video below, posted on the DA’s office website and social media channels, included slights against former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, former prosecutors, and a declaration that criticism levied by former employees against her office shows a stated vow to “clean house” is working.
—There’s an argument to be made that this video, using public resources, tiptoes around the line the civil grand jury found O’Malley’s office crossed in 2018. It’s a political attack rooted in Price’s campaign rhetoric and clear in its attempt to discredit her opponents and the previous regime’s supporters.
—CHANGING THE SUBJECT—The grand jury report comes at a opportune for Price. There is a gathering storm that could led to a recall campaign fueled by critics of her policy objectives, in particular, a clear edict to avoid special enhancement for violent crimes.
—The findings will do well to steer the public away from a news cycle constantly pumping out news stories suggesting she is soft on crime, and a drumbeat of ex-employees badmouthing her leadership, while allowing Price to refocus the public’s attention on wrongdoing by the previous administration.
—FPPC COMPLAINT—A complaint made to the California Fair Political Practice Commission (FPPC), and referenced in the civil grand jury report, was made against Nancy O’Malley and and Independent Expenditure Committee named Californians United for Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Opposing Pamela Price for District Attorney 2018.
—According to the closure letter dated May 5, the complaint alleged illegal coordination between O’Malley and the IE during the 2018 primary election. The FPPC, however, found insufficient evidence of an violation.
CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT—SANTA RITA JAIL
—A long-proposed, now $81 million expansion of Santa Rita Jail for mental health building has suffered delays in approval because of the county’s General Service Agency, the civil grand just found.
—The grand jury faulted GSA for time-wasting that has lead to cost overruns, not only for the jail expansion project, but other large projects in recent years.
—The cost of Santa Rita Jail expansion when it was first proposed in 2015 was $61 million, the grand jury reported. State funding for the expansion has remained constant at $54.3 million, but the county’s matching contribution has increased to $26.7 million, as of May.
—Staffing shortages that remain an issue across county government have exacerbated the problems at GSA, the grand jury admits. But they also pointed fingers at the Board of Supervisors for failing to keep the public updated on the proposed jail expansion, in addition to failing to audit GSA, as proscribed in a 2019-20 civil grand jury report.
—Expect to hear more about the proposed Santa Rita Jail expansion this week as the Alameda County Board of Supervisors wrap up approval of a $4 billion fiscal year budget.
—Some advocates for the mentally ill want the county to scrap the jail expansion. They argue the jail, which is now roughly half-full, should be reconfigured to add mental health services.
CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT—CHILD WELFARE
—Like the Santa Rita Jail mental health expansion civil grand jury investigation, there’s some timeliness, to the problematic state of the county’s child welfare system.
—The civil grand jury found that overall Alameda County Children and Family Services Department is overworked and while the 24-hour emergency response rate is above 90 percent, non-essential 10-day responses dropped precipitously, starting in 2022.
—“Based on available evidence, the jury concluded that this recent decrease in timely 10-day investigations primarily resulted from a COVID-19 pandemic-driven 36 percent shortage of child welfare workers in the Emergency Response unit,” according to the report.
—Case workers are working twice as hard because of the shortage, roughly doubling the typical number of 15 cases per employee. Unsurprisingly, the department is facing high levels of stress and low morale.
—Last Thursday, the City of Hayward filed a lawsuit against the Alameda County. The complaint’s intent is to force the county to “restore order” at an assessment center for foster children in Hayward.
—In addition, the family of an eight-year-old Hayward girl allegedly killed by her mother’s boyfriend sued the county for failing to act on a number of warning signs that could have saved the girl’s life.
