Senator Leland Yee Named “Legislator of the Year” by ASUCD and then comes to Davis and Shows Us Why

On Thursday night, California State Senator Leland Yee came to UCD to receive the “Legislator of the Year” award from ASUCD. During the course of his awards reception, we got a small glimpse as to why he received this award.
Senator Yee:

“I am honored to receive this award from UC Davis students. UC Davis students were essential in helping pass the Higher Education Governance Accountability Act. I look forward to continuing our work to improve educational opportunities for all, bring transparency to the institution’s governance, and make UC affordable for all qualified students.”

Derick Lennox, ASUCD Lobby Corps Director:

“Senator Yee is an ideal recipient for this award, not only for his leadership on pro-student legislation, but also for his willingness to partner with students in the state capital.”

Specifically, SB 190 (Chapter 523) requires all executive compensation packages to be voted on in an open session of a subcommittee and the full board. The law also requires full disclosure of the compensation package with accompanying rationale, allows the public to comment on such action items, and makes public advisory group meetings that deal with compensation matters.

Senator Yee:

“The Legislature and the Governor sent a very clear message to the UC and CSU: it is time to end the culture of secrecy and arrogance. No longer should the students, faculty and staff – the backbone of our public universities – be left to bear the burden, while top execs live high on the hog. As a graduate of both the UC and CSU, I want to make sure our higher education systems succeed by investing in instruction, not creating a get-rich factory for executives. SB 190 brings much needed sunshine to executive compensation discussions, provide members of the media the democratic access they deserve, and help restore the public’s trust.”

Senator Yee then severely criticized the discrepancy between the plush contracts of those who run UC with the continued soaking of students through tuition hikes.

“People at the top of UC are living high on the hog, while students are living hand to hand, mouth to mouth. Students are having to work more in order to pay their tuition. Students are working rather than studying, and then are also not able to participate in campus life.”

“We need to shed light on the secret backroom deals at UC.”


And then Senator Yee criticized the outsourcing of Sodexho workers, the failure to provide them with a livable wage and benefits.

“The battle is not over. There are workers on this campus who are denied the living wages and health care benefits they deserve. It is not right that there are some people on this campus who enjoy benefits and good salaries, while others don’t.”

After his speech, people asked questions and made statements, including Lidia Uribe, a cook at Segundo, who told Senator Yee:

“Thank you for your support. We really need support because our work has been really hard and there is a lot of discrimination and racism. My co-workers and I want to be part of the University and the Union so we can receive the protection at our work that we need.”

Senator Yee indicated a willingness to take on Sodexho and outsourcing of UC Food Service jobs by cutting money to UC Davis–one of the few powers that the state legislature has.

This follows a lobbying effort last week from a group of concerned citizens went to Sacramento to lobby four legislators on behalf of the Sodexho Workers. These legislators included Senator Mike Machado, Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, Assemblyman Dave Jones, and Senator Darrell Steinberg.

They delivered a letter to those legislators which in conclusion read:

“We ask our elected officials to help us end this policy of discrimination by withholding public funds until UC Davis is in parity with the rest of the UC System.”

The Sodexho workers have a powerful ally in Sacramento who is willing to take the fight to them.

This follows on the heels of President Clinton on Tuesday night, agreeing to join the fight as well, supporting the efforts of outsourced Sodexho workers to become UC Employees.

—Doug Paul Davis reporting

About The Author

David Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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44 Comments

  1. Doug Paul Davis

    Here’s some of the reference, as posted by Surf Putah:

    LOS ANGELES – The University of California Board of Regents got a gloomy list of options on Thursday to cover a projected $417 million gap in state funding next year, but they smiled brightly on their top administrative aide by awarding her a 26 percent pay increase of $61,000.

    The raise boosted the annual salary of Secretary/Chief of Staff Diane Griffiths to $295,000 and came less than a year after she was hired.

    Minutes later, the board received a dire budget report that included possible student fee increases of up to 10 percent, freezing faculty salaries and turning away as many as 5,000 eligible students this fall.

  2. Doug Paul Davis

    Here’s some of the reference, as posted by Surf Putah:

    LOS ANGELES – The University of California Board of Regents got a gloomy list of options on Thursday to cover a projected $417 million gap in state funding next year, but they smiled brightly on their top administrative aide by awarding her a 26 percent pay increase of $61,000.

    The raise boosted the annual salary of Secretary/Chief of Staff Diane Griffiths to $295,000 and came less than a year after she was hired.

    Minutes later, the board received a dire budget report that included possible student fee increases of up to 10 percent, freezing faculty salaries and turning away as many as 5,000 eligible students this fall.

  3. Doug Paul Davis

    Here’s some of the reference, as posted by Surf Putah:

    LOS ANGELES – The University of California Board of Regents got a gloomy list of options on Thursday to cover a projected $417 million gap in state funding next year, but they smiled brightly on their top administrative aide by awarding her a 26 percent pay increase of $61,000.

    The raise boosted the annual salary of Secretary/Chief of Staff Diane Griffiths to $295,000 and came less than a year after she was hired.

    Minutes later, the board received a dire budget report that included possible student fee increases of up to 10 percent, freezing faculty salaries and turning away as many as 5,000 eligible students this fall.

  4. Doug Paul Davis

    Here’s some of the reference, as posted by Surf Putah:

    LOS ANGELES – The University of California Board of Regents got a gloomy list of options on Thursday to cover a projected $417 million gap in state funding next year, but they smiled brightly on their top administrative aide by awarding her a 26 percent pay increase of $61,000.

    The raise boosted the annual salary of Secretary/Chief of Staff Diane Griffiths to $295,000 and came less than a year after she was hired.

    Minutes later, the board received a dire budget report that included possible student fee increases of up to 10 percent, freezing faculty salaries and turning away as many as 5,000 eligible students this fall.

  5. SODAite

    Does the reference to opendiscussion of execsalaries discussed in the story about Sen Lee apply to the 26% increase? Aren’t they searching for a new UC Pres and wouldn’t you think the issue of raise wait for the new appointment?
    What could possibly be the explanation for 295K ???

  6. SODAite

    Does the reference to opendiscussion of execsalaries discussed in the story about Sen Lee apply to the 26% increase? Aren’t they searching for a new UC Pres and wouldn’t you think the issue of raise wait for the new appointment?
    What could possibly be the explanation for 295K ???

  7. SODAite

    Does the reference to opendiscussion of execsalaries discussed in the story about Sen Lee apply to the 26% increase? Aren’t they searching for a new UC Pres and wouldn’t you think the issue of raise wait for the new appointment?
    What could possibly be the explanation for 295K ???

  8. SODAite

    Does the reference to opendiscussion of execsalaries discussed in the story about Sen Lee apply to the 26% increase? Aren’t they searching for a new UC Pres and wouldn’t you think the issue of raise wait for the new appointment?
    What could possibly be the explanation for 295K ???

  9. UC Alum

    It’s good to see that there is a member of the legislature that has the courage to speak up on the need to keep tuition at UC affordable for students while keeping UC admin. costs under control.

  10. UC Alum

    It’s good to see that there is a member of the legislature that has the courage to speak up on the need to keep tuition at UC affordable for students while keeping UC admin. costs under control.

  11. UC Alum

    It’s good to see that there is a member of the legislature that has the courage to speak up on the need to keep tuition at UC affordable for students while keeping UC admin. costs under control.

  12. UC Alum

    It’s good to see that there is a member of the legislature that has the courage to speak up on the need to keep tuition at UC affordable for students while keeping UC admin. costs under control.

  13. Michael

    I never heard of this guy Yee before this article. I looked up his information on the Wiki. I’m sure he has some good things going for him, but a lot of bad, too. Should the UCD students pick a role model whose been arrested for cruising prostitutes multiple times and arrested for shoplifting when he was 44 years old? The Wiki also pointed out that Yee tried to cover up this information by erasing all the negative stuff on him on the Wiki, but he was caught when they traced the IP address to his office in Sacramento. It also said on Wiki that Yee was involved with someone called Ed Jew, who was thrown out of office in San Francisco for extortion. I would hope the UCD students could pick someone better than this in the future.

  14. Michael

    I never heard of this guy Yee before this article. I looked up his information on the Wiki. I’m sure he has some good things going for him, but a lot of bad, too. Should the UCD students pick a role model whose been arrested for cruising prostitutes multiple times and arrested for shoplifting when he was 44 years old? The Wiki also pointed out that Yee tried to cover up this information by erasing all the negative stuff on him on the Wiki, but he was caught when they traced the IP address to his office in Sacramento. It also said on Wiki that Yee was involved with someone called Ed Jew, who was thrown out of office in San Francisco for extortion. I would hope the UCD students could pick someone better than this in the future.

  15. Michael

    I never heard of this guy Yee before this article. I looked up his information on the Wiki. I’m sure he has some good things going for him, but a lot of bad, too. Should the UCD students pick a role model whose been arrested for cruising prostitutes multiple times and arrested for shoplifting when he was 44 years old? The Wiki also pointed out that Yee tried to cover up this information by erasing all the negative stuff on him on the Wiki, but he was caught when they traced the IP address to his office in Sacramento. It also said on Wiki that Yee was involved with someone called Ed Jew, who was thrown out of office in San Francisco for extortion. I would hope the UCD students could pick someone better than this in the future.

  16. Michael

    I never heard of this guy Yee before this article. I looked up his information on the Wiki. I’m sure he has some good things going for him, but a lot of bad, too. Should the UCD students pick a role model whose been arrested for cruising prostitutes multiple times and arrested for shoplifting when he was 44 years old? The Wiki also pointed out that Yee tried to cover up this information by erasing all the negative stuff on him on the Wiki, but he was caught when they traced the IP address to his office in Sacramento. It also said on Wiki that Yee was involved with someone called Ed Jew, who was thrown out of office in San Francisco for extortion. I would hope the UCD students could pick someone better than this in the future.

  17. UC Alum

    You fail to mention that Senator Yee was “suspected” of those things, but was released. He has seved on the school board, board of supv., Assembly, and now the Senate. As Speaker Pro Tem he did a lot of good things.

    We had former council members and others who have had “indescretions” and have broken the law, but they still served the city of Davis.

  18. UC Alum

    You fail to mention that Senator Yee was “suspected” of those things, but was released. He has seved on the school board, board of supv., Assembly, and now the Senate. As Speaker Pro Tem he did a lot of good things.

    We had former council members and others who have had “indescretions” and have broken the law, but they still served the city of Davis.

  19. UC Alum

    You fail to mention that Senator Yee was “suspected” of those things, but was released. He has seved on the school board, board of supv., Assembly, and now the Senate. As Speaker Pro Tem he did a lot of good things.

    We had former council members and others who have had “indescretions” and have broken the law, but they still served the city of Davis.

  20. UC Alum

    You fail to mention that Senator Yee was “suspected” of those things, but was released. He has seved on the school board, board of supv., Assembly, and now the Senate. As Speaker Pro Tem he did a lot of good things.

    We had former council members and others who have had “indescretions” and have broken the law, but they still served the city of Davis.

  21. Anonymous

    And as it was mentioned before Duane Chamberlain broke the law and was fine $5,000 recently. And Rexraod’s firm is being investigated by the FBI. So everyone has something that people can pick at, though some are worse than others.

    Anyone get a ticket for running a stop sign on their bike while at UCD? The FBI thing is worse.

    And on topic, the Sodexho folks might not want to be UC employees if the amount of budget cuts and layoffs at UCD in fact happen, based on this bleak economic forecast.

  22. Anonymous

    And as it was mentioned before Duane Chamberlain broke the law and was fine $5,000 recently. And Rexraod’s firm is being investigated by the FBI. So everyone has something that people can pick at, though some are worse than others.

    Anyone get a ticket for running a stop sign on their bike while at UCD? The FBI thing is worse.

    And on topic, the Sodexho folks might not want to be UC employees if the amount of budget cuts and layoffs at UCD in fact happen, based on this bleak economic forecast.

  23. Anonymous

    And as it was mentioned before Duane Chamberlain broke the law and was fine $5,000 recently. And Rexraod’s firm is being investigated by the FBI. So everyone has something that people can pick at, though some are worse than others.

    Anyone get a ticket for running a stop sign on their bike while at UCD? The FBI thing is worse.

    And on topic, the Sodexho folks might not want to be UC employees if the amount of budget cuts and layoffs at UCD in fact happen, based on this bleak economic forecast.

  24. Anonymous

    And as it was mentioned before Duane Chamberlain broke the law and was fine $5,000 recently. And Rexraod’s firm is being investigated by the FBI. So everyone has something that people can pick at, though some are worse than others.

    Anyone get a ticket for running a stop sign on their bike while at UCD? The FBI thing is worse.

    And on topic, the Sodexho folks might not want to be UC employees if the amount of budget cuts and layoffs at UCD in fact happen, based on this bleak economic forecast.

  25. 無名 - wu ming

    yee actually was involved in the sting that got ed jew. a constituent who owned a “quickly” bubble tea franchise was getting the shakedown by ed jew, and complained to yee.

    yee passed the information on to both the FBI and the state, and jew eventually got nailed on a bribery sting.

    so the whole event reflects fairly well on yee, really.

    i wonder if he’s going to challenge speier for lantos’ congressional seat. there was talk about it before, but i haven’t heard much about it recently.

  26. 無名 - wu ming

    yee actually was involved in the sting that got ed jew. a constituent who owned a “quickly” bubble tea franchise was getting the shakedown by ed jew, and complained to yee.

    yee passed the information on to both the FBI and the state, and jew eventually got nailed on a bribery sting.

    so the whole event reflects fairly well on yee, really.

    i wonder if he’s going to challenge speier for lantos’ congressional seat. there was talk about it before, but i haven’t heard much about it recently.

  27. 無名 - wu ming

    yee actually was involved in the sting that got ed jew. a constituent who owned a “quickly” bubble tea franchise was getting the shakedown by ed jew, and complained to yee.

    yee passed the information on to both the FBI and the state, and jew eventually got nailed on a bribery sting.

    so the whole event reflects fairly well on yee, really.

    i wonder if he’s going to challenge speier for lantos’ congressional seat. there was talk about it before, but i haven’t heard much about it recently.

  28. 無名 - wu ming

    yee actually was involved in the sting that got ed jew. a constituent who owned a “quickly” bubble tea franchise was getting the shakedown by ed jew, and complained to yee.

    yee passed the information on to both the FBI and the state, and jew eventually got nailed on a bribery sting.

    so the whole event reflects fairly well on yee, really.

    i wonder if he’s going to challenge speier for lantos’ congressional seat. there was talk about it before, but i haven’t heard much about it recently.

  29. Anonymous

    Is L. Yee a lawyer? If he is he is guilty of whatever he was investigated for. Yes, I got a ticket for running a stop sign on my bike at UCD. You know Why? Cause I ran it!

  30. Anonymous

    Is L. Yee a lawyer? If he is he is guilty of whatever he was investigated for. Yes, I got a ticket for running a stop sign on my bike at UCD. You know Why? Cause I ran it!

  31. Anonymous

    Is L. Yee a lawyer? If he is he is guilty of whatever he was investigated for. Yes, I got a ticket for running a stop sign on my bike at UCD. You know Why? Cause I ran it!

  32. Anonymous

    Is L. Yee a lawyer? If he is he is guilty of whatever he was investigated for. Yes, I got a ticket for running a stop sign on my bike at UCD. You know Why? Cause I ran it!

  33. Doug Paul Davis

    I’m not sure what your point is Anonymous. It sounds from the information that Wu Ming provided, that there is nothing to report with regards to Yee’s conduct. If you have evidence to the contrary, please report it, otherwise please move on.

  34. Doug Paul Davis

    I’m not sure what your point is Anonymous. It sounds from the information that Wu Ming provided, that there is nothing to report with regards to Yee’s conduct. If you have evidence to the contrary, please report it, otherwise please move on.

  35. Doug Paul Davis

    I’m not sure what your point is Anonymous. It sounds from the information that Wu Ming provided, that there is nothing to report with regards to Yee’s conduct. If you have evidence to the contrary, please report it, otherwise please move on.

  36. Doug Paul Davis

    I’m not sure what your point is Anonymous. It sounds from the information that Wu Ming provided, that there is nothing to report with regards to Yee’s conduct. If you have evidence to the contrary, please report it, otherwise please move on.

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