This story was updated on Tuesday afternoon to include discussion at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
Now that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters has announced that enough valid signatures have been gathered to call for a recall election of District Attorney Pamela Price, organizers of the recall campaign are urging the Board of Supervisors to “follow the will of the people.”
“Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE) is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in its efforts to ensure accountability and transparency in the District Attorney’s Office,” the group said in a statement sent out Monday evening. “After months of tireless grassroots organizing and community outreach, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters confirmed today that SAFE has successfully gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall election for Pamela Price, Alameda County District Attorney.”
On March 4, the Alameda Registrar of Voters received 123,374 signatures supporting the petition to recall Price. According to the registrar, each signature has been examined and the number of valid signatures was found to be sufficient to call for a recall election. The office said that nearly 50,000 signatures were disqualified, but the required amount of valid signatures has been met.
The registrar will certify its results with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors at the next regular meeting for which an item may be placed on the agenda, which is currently scheduled for April 30.
The proponents needed a minimum of 73,195 valid signatures. The number of valid signatures on the petition is 74,757, and the total number of signatures disqualified was 48,617.
Brenda Grisham, SAFE’s principal officer responded to the registrar’s news on Monday. “Today marks a historic moment for our community,” she said. “The resounding support for this recall petition sends a clear message that the people of Alameda County demand accountability and ethical leadership from their elected officials.”
SAFE said in March that it’s a broad coalition of Alameda County residents, business owners, victims, victims’ families, and concerned citizens who have come together in the face of rising crime and what it says is a “failure by DA Price to hold perpetrators accountable.”
“DA Price is jeopardizing the safety of every resident and business in Alameda County, by failing to enforce the law, prosecute criminals, and keep violent offenders off our streets,” the group said.
During comments before the board Tuesday and at a press conference afterward, representatives of the SAFE said they don’t want the recall election to coincide with the November general election.
“We want to make sure that there will be a special election,” said SAFE spokesperson Carl Chan.
SAFE supporters said the county has told them that a special election will cost between $15 million and $20 million, but say that putting the recall on the November ballot would allow Price to stay in office for too long, assuming she loses the election.
“What’s going on in the District Attorney’s Office is directly affecting crime because they’re not prosecuting to the full extent of the law,” Grisham said.
The supervisors could vote on an election date as early as their April 30 meeting.
District Attorney Price did not immediately release a statement about the registrar’s announcement.