When state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, was suspended from the legislature in late March after his arrest on federal corruption and arms trafficking charges, it was unclear exactly how the sudden exit of a perennial political adversary of the University of California would impact higher education in the state.
Yee represented a consistent and formidable thorn in the side of the UC system for years, frequently positioning himself at odds with the university’s publicly stated legislative priorities. His outspoken criticisms of UC policies and tendency to push the envelope on legislative sway over the UC system aligned him with labor unions but often isolated him from his colleagues and contemporaries. Now, some stakeholders in California public higher education are saying Yee’s lengthy quarrels with the university actually diminished his influence on UC-related issues...
Full story at http://www.dailycal.org/2014/04/30/history-opposition-yee-uc/
Yee wasn't always wrong in his criticisms. But then again, a stopped clock is right twice a day. At one point he pushed for a bill that would have undermined the governance of the UC pension system. As subsequent revelations suggest, it is doubtful that Yee was much concerned about UC. It was more a matter of getting attention to himself and donations from AFSCME during a contract dispute. He won't be getting more donations now, but he will be getting lots of attention.
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