Pamela Price wants to take second look at two of DA O'Malley's acclaimed policies; Alameda Election Preview: Progressives in Peril

Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor on the East Bay Insiders Podcast. Plus, daily campaign finance data.

Pamela Price, left, at a candidate forum during her unsuccessful run against Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley. PHOTO/Steve Tavares

ELECTION 2022

Days until Election Day: 7.

ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY

—A SECOND LOOK—In a lengthy piece in The Nation, Alameda County District Attorney candidate Pamela Price says, if elected next month, she will take a second look at two of outgoing Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley’s pet projects—the Alameda County Family Justice Center and the Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) unit.

—The comments will surely upset O’Malley, who has received national attention for both policies, especially, for her office’s work on fighting human trafficking in Oakland, and the rest of the county.

—PRICE PREVIEW?—When Pamela Price asserts the status quo at the Alameda County DA’s office is a reason why reform is needed there is push back from the establishment. Whether a part of the political establishment or a member of the law enforcement, there is a sense among local politicos that Price, if elected, will face enormous resistance.

—Across the country, the move by Republican in the Pennsylvania to impeach progressive Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner may provide a preview of what Price could face as Alameda County DA.

—Pennsylvania state Republicans believe Krasner’s progressive law enforcement policies are driving rising crime in Philadelphia, including an increase in violent crime and carjackings. Like Krasner did in Philadelphia, Price has vowed to replace a number of prosecutors at the Alameda County DA’s office.

—The main difference between a push in some states to remove progressive DAs is that it’s coming from conservatives. Any future pushback in Alameda County, a deep blue region, would be resistance from the left of center.

—WILEY’S PRICE— On Tuesday, Price noted the obvious, at least to readers of the East Bay Insiders Newsletter, that her opponent, Alameda County Assistant DA Terry Wiley has received an inordinate amount of campaign contributions from his co-workers at the DA’s office. Nearly every day we’ve seen $1,000 donations from local prosecutors.

Pamela Price 帕梅拉·帕麗斯 @PPriceCares

Not really an October surprise, but my opponent @VoteTerryWiley has raised $250,000+ from his employees and co-workers - with an average donation of $2000 per employee. It seems the plate is being passed in the office and they don't want a boss that will hold them accountable.

—There’s no evidence of impropriety on Wiley’s behalf. The large number of DA contributions is likely because Price rhetoric during this campaign and her bid in 2018 to replace Nancy O’Malley, has asserted that she will clean house at the DA’s office, if elected.

PODCAST

—EPISODE 54—With a week until Election Day, Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor joins the podcast in East Oakland to discuss his campaign, ideas for combating homelessness, the A's and Howard Terminal, his relationship with labor, ranked-choice voting, all the while earning from passerby at least four votes.

—Subscribe to the podcast for free and download Episode 54 HERE or wherever you get your podcasts.

ALAMEDA ELECTION PREVIEW

—PROGRESSIVES IN PERIL?—The fate of the Alameda City Council’s slim 3-2 progressive majority is at stake on Nov. 8. Alameda Councilmember Tony Daysog is up for re-election and John Knox White is leaving the council after one term. Meanwhile, Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer, with a safe seat this election year, is running for mayor in a rematch of the 2018 race with Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft. In addition, those serving on the next council, could be up for a pay raise. Voters will be asked to approve Measure E, a charter amendment to boost council salaries. Their salary has not increased since the early 1970s and is currently $50 per meeting.

—There’s a lot of moving parts in Alameda’s election this year. Five council candidates are seeking two at-large seats. Just two of the five can be considered progressives—former Alameda Councilmember Jim Oddie and newcomer Hannah Groce. The rest of the field mostly emanates from the island city’s moderate, slow-growth movement.

—The general consensus is Ashcraft wins re-election, as does Councilmember Daysog, along with a return to the dais for Oddie. This prediction would maintain the progressive’s slim council majority. But the question here is whether the slow-growth candidates—some might call them Alameda NIMBYs—will cannibalize their support? Daysog has run a good campaign. He appears more at ease than past elections and has a natural ability to express unpopular stances to Alamedans without eliciting angry responses.

—If Daysog is successful on Election Day, how much of the vote is left for like-minded candidates Paul Beusterien, a newcomer from Bay Farm Island, or even Bill Pai, who suspended his campaign last August after being arrested for domestic violence? Pai, however is still on the November ballot and may grab votes that would have gone to Daysog, Beusterien, and even Tracy Jensen, an Alameda Healthcare District boardmember, who has done a good job of straddling support on the center of the political spectrum. Jensen was able to garner the endorsement of the Alameda Firefighters Union. Oddie grabbed the other endorsement from fire.

—In recent Alameda elections, the emergence of moderates on Bay Farm Island has been a change in the city’s electoral landscape worth watching. But with so many Bay Farm candidates, the growing power of these voters may be diminished this fall. But Bay Farm voters could potentially boost Spencer’s bid to win back the mayor’s seat. Spencer, despite the criticism she receives from Alameda progressives, is an astute populist politician. However, Spencer’s natural base typically tops out at 40 percent.

—In addition, there’s really not a specific gripe against Ashcraft following four years in office. A third candidate named Barack D. Obama Shaw might receive under five percent of the vote. It’s a tally that probably hurts Spencer’s vote column more than Ashcraft’s. At the end of the day, Alameda is still a progressive town and loss of political power will only mean they didn’t vote, while moderates turned out to be more energized at the ballot box.

---

MORE INSIDE:

• Daily campaign finance data—SD10 sees 6 more IE mailers (3 against Mei)