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MY VIEWPOINT - She says it herself, in a nutshell, “I’ll fight to reduce the cost of living, expand opportunities, and protect the rights of all Californians.”
But for Betty Yee, Californians’ twice-elected state Controller, winner of the closest statewide election in history and candidate earning the most votes of anyone in the U.S. in the 2018 election, there is no such thing as a vague promise or empty sound bite. Unique in the field of candidates for Governor, Betty Yee brings receipts to back up any pledge she makes — from 20 years of effective, trustworthy public service and world-class leadership for California.
I first met Betty Yee in the heat of struggle in
2008. She was fighting for marriage equality alongside our beleaguered but proud and mighty LGBTQ+ community. She took personally our quest for the freedom to marry, for the dignity of same-sex couples to gain the full recognition of law beyond our hard-won domestic partnerships. She stood with us in the crosshairs of Prop 8 that year and, as an elected tax-board member, traveled up and down the state to defeat its threat to eliminate marriage equality.
Even when we lost that wrenching ballot-measure battle, Betty never gave up. She worked alongside us for five more years to regain our freedom to marry, in 2013, and to see love, justice, and equal protection of the law vindicated.
I collaborated closely with Betty again in 2014 when she stepped up to run for state Controller. She faced long odds, large campaign war chests by opponents, and smug misjudgment by insiders who pronounced her bid for statewide office doomed. But she won, by 481 votes, garnering the second spot in the top-two runoff. She romped in the general election.
Betty served eight years as the state’s budget expert and fiscal watchdog, from the
aftermath of the Great Recession, amidst horrendous and deadly wildfires, and through the COVID 19 pandemic. She denounced Donald Trump and his attacks on immigrants, women, indigenous people, people with disabilities, and the environment. She showed the courage to call for the ouster of the chair of the state Democratic Party for drunken groping, sexual harassment and assault, and retaliation. She did not flinch from making tough, necessary decisions.
She excelled as executive of the state Controller’s office, with flying colors. Betty focused on stabilizing revenues, investing in public education, securing pensions and public-sector retirements, and protecting the state’s ecosystems and public lands. How is a state Controller a relevant leader for the environment? By chairing the powerful, three-member State Lands Commission. Betty did more than hold the line against polluters and would-be predators of Californians’ water, wilderness, and parks. She pushed them back. That’s one reason we need her know-how and rare expertise to be elevated, as Governor.
Betty is the best-qualified candidate to become California’s next state executive. She consolidates the traits we say we value most in the role. Credentials, including exceptional training, agency management, and leadership of large and diverse teams with a track record of delivering consistent results under scrutiny. Ethics, shown by following the rules of good governance and mentoring others in unconflicted decision-making for the common good. Wisdom, drawn from lived experience like her own working-class, immigrant family as well as independent advice from wide-ranging thinkers, doers, and subject-matter experts such as in labor, small business, academe, and governments around the globe. Progressive priorities, focused on the many, not the few, and seeking to serve ALL residents, while ensuring access and equity for the vulnerable, not just the privileged.
As she breaks out of the pack of Democrats campaigning for the title, Betty builds on a great showing in the endorsement vote by delegates at the state Democratic convention on Feb. 21. Always the underdog, she finished second — a breakthrough success that stunned many observers.
Those who know Betty were not shocked. The hundreds of ballots she earned reflect the hardworking grassroots party leaders whose fervent support and solidarity Betty has built from years of showing up for rallies, fund-raisers, funerals, kickoffs, weddings, protests, picket lines, and get-out-the-vote canvasses.
Betty Yee is everything Californians say we want in a Governor. Unbought and unbossed, she has raised nearly $4 million almost entirely from individual small donors to fuel her campaign. Now it’s up to all of us who vote to use our voices and choose the best-qualified candidate for the job. The truth is that’s Betty Yee.
(Hans Johnson is a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, and public education. His columns have appeared in USA Today and leading newspapers across more than 20 states. Based in Eagle Rock, he serves as president of East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), California’s largest grassroots Democratic club with over 1,100 members. Hans brings decades of organizing and policy experience to his work, advancing equity and accountability in local and national politics.)
