Potential interim Alameda County DAs interviewed by supervisors
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors publicly interviewed district attorney candidates on Tuesday and will select an interim DA who will serve until 2026.
Unlike the Oakland mayor's race, there is no special election this year to fill the job of the county's district attorney.
Virginia Nishita doesn't normally come to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors meetings, but this meeting is different.
She wants to hear from the candidates as the board is one step closer to picking the next district attorney.
"The DA's position is extremely important, not only for victim families but for victims themselves, or for even the people to feel safe. We need to feel safe on our streets," said Nishita.
Her husband Kevin Nishita was a retired police officer who was shot the day before Thanksgiving in 2021 while working private security protecting a TV news crew. He died a few days later.
She said she wanted justice, but didn't find that with recalled District Attorney Pamela Price who took over the case shortly after she entered office.
"Pamela Price's administration comes in and the gun charges are released and all of a sudden the circumstances are dropped and all of a sudden it was almost to a point where two of the suspects were going to be released in December of 2022," said Nishita.
"If you never get held accountable, you keep continuing to do the same thing over and over and over and we see that every single day on the streets of Oakland," said Brenda Grisham, one of the SAFE leaders.
The group SAFE, or Save Alameda for Everyone, is the group that organized the recall of former DA Pamela Price and held a rally outside the county administration building shortly before the candidate interviews started.
"They have to be able to be a leader who can make changes and also to revitalize the DA's office so we can regain trust from the community," said Carl Chan, one of the other leaders of SAFE.
County residents overwhelmingly voted to recall Price with almost 63% of the vote. Nishita said it should be a clear message to the board of supervisors.
"375,000 people spoke in this county. If they do not listen to those voices, and to hear us speak, we're going to have another Pamela Price situation," says Nishita.
The board of supervisors isn't expected to take any action Tuesday, but instead announce the new district attorney at their next meeting on Jan. 28.
Whoever is chosen will lead the office through 2026.