Sacramento Current and Joe Yee

Joe Yee, candidate City Council in Sacramento’s 4th district, sat down for an interview with the Current team during the last leg of the campaign. Take a listen.

Listen at the Sacramento Current

Hansen, Yee vie in tight race to
represent redrawn District 4

Sacramento’s newly drawn City Council District 4 is like a city unto itself.

It covers the high-rises of downtown and the boutiques of midtown, the leafy streets of Land Park and the new subdivisions of River Oaks in South Natomas. And the two men vying to represent the area at City Hall come from very different parts of that landscape.

One is Steve Hansen, a 33-year-old manager in a biotech firm who lives in Alkali Flat, a historic and somewhat gritty section of downtown. Hansen admits to being perhaps too outspoken about his views and, if elected, would be Sacramento’s first openly gay council member.

The other is Joe Yee, who is 62 and has lived in Land Park since before his opponent was born. Yee is an architect and former planning commissioner who exudes a deliberate approach to policy and business. While Hansen portrays himself as the outsider, Yee touts his own experience.

“One representative is going to be overseeing waterfront development, Downtown Plaza and the neighborhoods,” said Wendy Hoyt, who chaired a Downtown Sacramento Partnership redistricting committee. “It’s the highest-profile (district), most dynamic, maybe the most challenging. There is so much to take into account.”

Read more at the Sacramento Bee

Yee: City Council needs
leadership and experience

Photo by: Melissa Corker

Sacramento is more than a place my family and I call home; it is a community to which I have dedicated my career and my public service. As a lifelong Sacramentan, a small business owner, and the former Chair of the City’s Planning Commission, I haven’t spent my career tweeting about how to grow a more walkable, bikeable, liveable city, I made it happen.

My childhood was spent in a modest home in the Newton Booth neighborhood of Midtown. My high school sweetheart Daphne and I both graduated from C.K. McClatchy High School. We’ve been married for almost 40 years and raised our two children in District 4.

As an architect for over two decades, my small business helped shape Sacramento to become an example of how to grow smart, sustainable neighborhoods. Working with the community, we designed the Belle Cooledge Library and renovated local landmarks like the Memorial Auditorium, Crocker Riverside and William Land Elementary Schools.

As a planning commissioner for fourteen years, I have worked on projects like the R Street Corridor, the River Walk by the Tower Bridge, and the New Helvetia Brewing Company. These projects added to the rich cultural fabric of our city because of hard work, experience, and leadership – plain and simple. No hotlines, emergency teams, or slush funds were necessary.

Read more at Sacramento Press

Citizen Architect Joe Yee, AIA
in the Running for City Council, District 4

The American Institute of Architects Central Valley is pleased to share that longtime Chapter member Joe Yee, AIA is in the runoff race for the Sacramento City Council, District 4 seat being left vacant by Councilman Rob Fong.

Joe brings the insights and expertise of his chosen profession of architecture into the complex decision-making of the civic realm. Having served as Chair of the Planning Commission and the 2030 General Plan, Joe has the institutional memory to enable him to make wise decisions in a historical context.

In December 2008, the AIA National Board of Directors passed the Citizen Architect Resolution. This resolution recognizes and commends architects who civically engage and serve their communities through public office. Joe Yee, AIA has been officially recognized nationally by the AIA as a Citizen Architect.

Read more at AIA Central Valley

Joe Yee running to return
to Sacramento City Council

Another former councilman is making a run to reclaim his seat a decade after leaving office.

Joe Yee, who served on the council for seven months in 2000, announced this week that he will enter the race for the District 4 seat being left vacant by Councilman Rob Fong.

Read more at the Sacramento Bee

Planning Commission chair Yee
joins District 4 council race

Local architect and Planning Commission chairman Joe Yee announced his run for the District 4 City Council seat Monday, bringing the number of candidates vying for current City Councilman Rob Fong’s seat to three.

Yee, 61, said he decided to run for City Council because he feels he can help the city move forward.

Read more at the Sacramento Press