Jill Yee
Elections and appointments
Personal
Contact
Jill Yee ran for election to the San Francisco Community College Board in California. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Yee completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jill Yee was born in San Francisco, California. She earned an associate degree from City College of San Francisco in 1973. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975. She earned a graduate degree from San Francisco State University in 1977. She also earned a law degree. Yee's career experience includes working as an educator, as a family therapist with the Chinatown Youth Center, and as a supervisor with Central City Day Treatment Center in the Tenderloin.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: City elections in San Francisco, California (2022)
General election
Endorsements
To view Yee's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jill Yee completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Yee's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I was born and raised in San Francisco. My parents were immigrants and City College (CCSF) was my only option for college. I had the honor to return to CCSF teach Psychology, earned tenure and was elected Department Chair, serving 7 years, and served as an Academic Dean for 7 years. I have a deep personal and professional commitment to CCSF. I bring an insider's perspective and deep institutional knowledge. I understand the college culture, the politics and the challenges ahead.
As a Department Chair, I established the Asian American Studies Department and as a Dean, I brought general education classes into the SF County Jails and established New Directions to serve formerly incarcerated students. As a Dean, I supervised the School of Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Ethnic Studies and Social Justice. My School was the only one where no full-time faculty were laid off.
I never imagined myself running for elected office, but felt compelled to do so because CCSF is at an inflection point and needs new leadership to ensure the sustainability of the college for future generations. I have been an outspoken voice urging the college leadership to stop kicking the can down the road, face the reality of declining enrollment and stop deficit spending. I bring leadership that will regain the public trust by learning to live within its means, face reality and stop relying on bailouts. - City College must stop expecting to be bailed out by tax payers for its self-inflicted wounds from fiscal mismanagement.
- City College must learn to live within its means. It received more State and Local funding than any other community college yet continued deficit spending.
- City College is free, yet enrollment continues to decline. If the college is to grow, it must be willing to look objectively at the programs offered and be willing to support those with potential growth and decide what to let go. It must stop making decisions just to maintain the status quo to keep everyone employed.
Social justice and equity are my core values, personally and professionally. I support public policies which increases access to education and targets ensuring historically marginalized students are successful. Too often focus is on access to education, but more effort needs to be made to ensure students are successful. The opportunity gap indicates that our educational system has failed African American and Latinx students. I am passionate about examining how institutional changes must be made to close the gap. At City College better career counseling for students is needed, more internship programs, holding the college accountable for attrition. Students need to have clear career pathways to work towards. No longer can we let students flounder for 4-6 years at a community college and have nothing to show for it.
The Community College Board governs City College of San Francisco, which provides a safety net for historically marginalized students, including immigrants, students of color, and LGBTQ students. Community colleges are crucial in providing educational and economic opportunities that will transform a student's life and provide the spring board for success which extends across generations. Every day community colleges moves the needle towards greater economic and social justice one student at a time.
I recommend Michelle Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow, because she does an excellent job of showing how institutional racism's impact on the African American community and how its legacy transcends generations. I also find Charles Blow's column in the New York Times very enlightening about current political and cultural issues.
Elected officials must make decisions with integrity, not for optics or political expediency. Elected officials need to stand by their principles even if it jeopardizes their re-election or future political aspirations. I also believe elected officials need to be have humility and be willing admit mistakes and admit if they don't know something.
Outspoken, strong leadership and communication skill, willing to listen and willing to speak truth to power.
The core responsibilities is to work towards fulfilling the platform on which they were elected. Elected officials must make concrete changes and achieve measurable goals. I would strive to hear all sides of an issue and seek out opinions and information from all stakeholders and the community, but ultimately I would need to make decisions based on what I felt was best for students and the college. I should be able to defend my decision and be transparent about my process.
I would like to feel that I help direct City College to be sustainable for future generations and it will continue to open new opportunities to students who would otherwise be disenfranchised or marginalized.
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. This was the first book I felt really portrayed Chinese American families accurately and the tension between immigrant mothers and their U.S. born daughters. It was humorous and poignant. It was validating to feel seen and represented.
I would want to be Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. I think addressing the themes of violence, power, and racial injustice from a young girl's perspective is very powerful and effective in deconstructing the racial climate I hope I would have her strong conviction and her ability to stand up to adults.
Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Growing up with immigrant parents who had very little education, I struggled to define myself as an American. As a child, I saw myself as an "other" an outsider. I was always and am still asked "where do you come from"? I was usually one of the only Asians in my school until I reached middle school. How validating it was not be the "only". To me being American meant being white. I think this is a message most children of color receive as furthered evidenced in today's political climate. It's been a real struggle for me to believe I have as much right to be in America and to consider myself American as anyone else. It wasn't until my college education, I came to understand my own minority psychology. I learned about the history and contributions of every ethnic group and how my ancestors built this country. I came to understand how some are more privileged just because of the color of their skin and the hypocrisy and unfulfilled vision of the U.S. Constitution. I came to realized how much my parents sacrificed to come to the U.S. and embrace my identity as both Chinese and American.
A Trustee has the fiduciary to ensure a community college fulfills it mission provide quality higher education to its students and remains accredited and fiscally solvent in order be sustainable to keep its doors open for future generations. In other words, the Board of Trustees hold the future of its students in their hands. A community college education is transformative and lays the foundation for future successes. Community colleges prepares the workforce of tomorrow. Therefore, this is an office which holds a tremendous responsibility in shaping the socio-economic future of the community it serves.
For the Community College Board, I think it's not at all important for an office holder to have previous experience in government or politics, but it crucial to have experience in education. I have seen a parade of Board members who were more interested in their political career than what's best for students and the institution. I have seen Trustees elected and re-elected who have only a superficial understanding of the college at best, and are driven more by optics and concerned about political fall than what's best for the college. I think the Community College Board needs educators, not politicians who use the office as a springboard for higher office.
I believe my deep knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of City College, its students and programs is unmatched by my opponents. I understand the culture, how decisions are made and what's obstructing the college from moving forward. City College is a very complex institution and I can hit the ground running.
I also am outspoken and don't shy away from controversies or unpopular decisions. Being accepted and popular is not important to me. My North Star will always be what's best for students and the college as a whole. I am not beholding to any constituent group, be they faculty, administrators or support staff.
I am skilled in framing issues which present a more nuanced narrative which is informed by my years of experience in the classroom and as an administrator at the City College which is received as balanced, thoughtful and well-reasoned. For example, while the Union and faculty blamed Administration for declining enrollment, I'm the only voice that's willing to challenge that narrative. I pointed out that every community college is experiencing declining enrollment, I cited the demographic and socio-economic changes in SF and the fact that CCSF is free and yet we're still facing declining enrollment. Yet, no one dares to question what's being offered to students. Too often the college allows misinformation to go unchallenged.
I believe I can bring courageous leadership to CCSF and am willing to ask the hard questions needed to move the college forward and hold leaders accountable. An election is a job interview, and if you hire a plumber who tell you he can't fix your toilet, but he'll pray for you, the six inches of shit in your bedroom is what you deserve. --Bill Maher
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See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 9, 2022
