Samantha Lim [00:01:49] No. I don’t think so.
Samantha Lim [00:01:52] By early January, the board took a vote and selected seven of the most promising of those to move forward in the process. And those candidates were publicly interviewed during a special board meeting on January 21st. And the final decision was made the following week on January 28th.
Alan Montecillo [00:02:14] Who made it to the final round. You know, there are seven finalists, right? What was the range of candidates who were up for the job?
Samantha Lim [00:02:22] So there were obviously very experienced candidates. Some of them had experience working as prosecutors and D.A. was under more conservative offices than Price. On the other hand, you had people who have been pushing for those more progressive justice reforms. And so there was a really wide range of people. But one thing that is notable is that a lot of these people base their platforms on how similar or dissimilar they were to Price’s term, and that was a major thing for all of the candidates.
Alan Montecillo [00:02:58] And so one of these candidates was Ursula Jones Dickson. What was she saying to the board, to the public? What was her pitch for the job?
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:03:09] Good evening. Thank you for this opportunity. It is a judge’s job to be fair and impartial. And it makes me sad to kind of listen to all the political stuff, because this job as D.A. needs to be outside of us.
Samantha Lim [00:03:23] So when she spoke to the Board of Supervisors, Jones Dickson emphasized her commitment to supporting victims of violent crime. That was always a major part of her platform.
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:03:34] At the beginning and at the end, the Alpha and Omega is to do what’s right for the community, protect the public public safety and lift up the victims.
Samantha Lim [00:03:45] There’s been a lot of public outcry, obviously, around the issue of crime rates in Alameda County and in Oakland in particular. And Jones Dickson was really vocal during that speech about getting justice for people who have been affected and about reviving some of the victim support systems that have gone neglected.
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:04:05] Well, what the people in the courtroom will tell you is that I lift up the community at all times, that as much as I know that this is difficult for people and they really want their candidate, the D.A. has a specific job to do.
Samantha Lim [00:04:20] She also talked about politics and her frustration with political decisions impeding on the DA’s office.
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:04:30] Because I’m a judge. I’m not involved in political things. I can’t be. So as much as we’re all talking politics, I’m not.
Samantha Lim [00:04:38] Interesting because one of her biggest supporters was SAFE, which is the organization that led the recall campaign. But she did say she has no affiliations and has no intention on allowing anyone to influence her time in office.
Alan Montecillo [00:04:56] We’re talking now because the board ultimately voted to select Ursula Jones Dixon. Tell me a bit about her. Like, what’s her background?
Samantha Lim [00:05:06] Jones Dickson was definitely a frontrunner in the race from the beginning. She’s been a superior court judge in the county for over a decade. And before that, she was a deputy D.A. in the Alameda County DA’s office for nearly 15 years. She’s handled a wide range of prosecutorial issues ranging from misdemeanors to juvenile cases. So she’s coming in with a lot of prior experience. And that’s something that was reiterated throughout her time running for it.
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:05:38] The job I have now is amazing. I get to touch families day after day one on one. But I started thinking a little bit about how you could do that throughout the community.
Samantha Lim [00:05:48] In an interview that she had with KQED last week, she referred to Price as an activist and has been super vocal about addressing crime in the county above all else.
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:06:00] I’m in Oakland all the time. I live in Oakland. You know, I’m not a victim of crime every day, but the concern about it from the community is real. We’re all experiencing some level of fear about our surroundings.
Samantha Lim [00:06:12] I will say one thing that’s tricky about Jones Dickson compared to some of the other candidates, is that she was really careful during her speeches to the Board of Supervisors and to the public about her stances on certain issues. And she attributes a lot of that to being an acting judge. But in contrast to Price, who is known for being a vocally progressive prosecutor, she definitely strays away from that a bit.
Alan Montecillo [00:06:40] Yeah. Tell me a little bit more about that, because Pamela Price was elected as this progressive prosecutor who made no bones about saying, you know, I’m coming from outside the system, I’m coming to reform the system, shake things up. Ultimately recalled, of course. How different is Ursula Jones Dickson, like what clues do we have about how she’ll approach the job?
Samantha Lim [00:07:02] So like I said before, Jones Dickson hasn’t been super explicit necessarily about where she lies on that spectrum. But Alameda County residents can expect her to most likely stray away from some of Price’s more progressive stances and policies.
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:07:20] I just don’t think Ms. Price knew much about how to move forward as a d.A. Other than the activist piece for her. And that made it difficult for her to use the discretion that she had.
Samantha Lim [00:07:36] So one thing that Jones Dickson was really vocal about was getting rid of some of the procedures that slow prosecutors down when they’re trying to bring charges against cases. And the point of putting those procedures in place from Price’s perspective, was to avoid things like aggressive sentencing or charges being brought against juveniles, etc. and Jones Dickson wants to make it so that prosecutors have more leeway to making decisions in those situations. Another thing is you often hear associated with the more traditional prosecutor, that term of justice for victims or supporting victims and their families. And on the one hand, that is the job of the prosecutor is to address those issues. But when you hear terms like that, you can think of that tough on crime policy, that getting people in the courtrooms, getting their sentencing, so on and so forth. And that’s something Dixon has reiterated.
Ursula Jones Dickson [00:08:42] Nobody wants to lock anybody or everybody up in prison. What they do want is to make sure that anybody who comes into contact with the system who’s a victim has some level of resolution. That’s the goal.
Alan Montecillo [00:09:00] All that said, how are people feeling about Jones Dixon being appointed to be d.A.
Alex Hall [00:09:05] Okay, so how are you feeling right now?
Brenda Grisham [00:09:07] Wonderful. It’s great.
Carl Chan [00:09:10] Well, actually, it is quite emotional.
Samantha Lim [00:09:12] He’s been Jones Dickson’s biggest supporter in her bid for D.A. was Save Alameda for Everyone or Save. And they’re the organization that led the recall campaign. Principal officers Carl Chan and Brenda Grisham were there at every board of supervisors meeting, and they were there to give comment when her win was announced.
Carl Chan [00:09:34] We’ve been fighting for the victim’s families and we want to have someone who can do the job and repeal, you know, not only a day office, but building trust in our community.
Samantha Lim [00:09:46] They have been extremely enthusiastic about her appointment.
Brenda Grisham [00:09:50] That was our driving force to people. Despite what everybody said, it was the people, the citizens, the families, the business owners. They was in our ear and, you know, they supported us. And this how we paid them back.
Samantha Lim [00:10:04] Law enforcement unions were also among the groups that recommended Jones Dixon. And she wrote in her application that she’s looking to improve their relationship with the courts. So there’s optimism on that side, too.
Alan Montecillo [00:10:17] And what about from progressives, from people who didn’t want to see Pamela Price recalled after Imagine if the pro recall camp is very excited. Anti recall folks, maybe not so much.
Samantha Lim [00:10:29] There are a lot of groups in the community that have expressed concerns about Jones sticks, and this is especially true for people who engage in activism, pushing for criminal justice reform.
Pamela Drake [00:10:42] Given all that’s happening in D.C., I guess I felt like, can we really take another slap in the face? That’s what this is.
Samantha Lim [00:10:52] Pamela Drake is an organizer for the Wellstone Democratic Club, and they were one of the groups that really pushed against Price’s recall. She said that a lot of community activists are worried that Jones Dickson may not uphold some of the restorative justice policies they made headway in during Price’s term.
Pamela Drake [00:11:14] I do believe that the county needed something, someone who could walk the middle line. And this was a polarizing choice. I don’t have a lot of faith in her making, doing anything innovative and reaching out to the community that supported criminal justice reform.
Samantha Lim [00:11:33] And one of these groups, the Care First Jails Last coalition. They were really active during the board of supervisors meetings in coming and giving comment. And their pick for D.A. was actually chief Deputy Attorney General Venus D. Johnson, because they hope that she would push that reform agenda. And so they’re worried about Jones Dickson’s focus on punitive justice.
Alan Montecillo [00:12:07] This is obviously a very difficult job that Ursula Jones Dickson has stepped into. How long will she be the D.A. for? Does she have to run again soon? What’s what’s the timeline here?
Samantha Lim [00:12:18] So in 2026, during the next general election, Alameda County residents will have a chance to vote on who they want to see be district attorney. Jones Dickson has already said that she’ll be running and several of the other candidates who are being considered by the Board of Supervisors have said the same thing. So whoever is elected in two years will serve through 2028, thereby completing the rest of Price’s term.
Alan Montecillo [00:12:52] It’s been a long road to get to this point in Alameda County. What big questions do you have about the next year or so with this new D.A. with Ursula Jones Dickson?
