Former Pleasanton school board trustee Jamie Yee has announced that she will be running for the City Council District 3 seat on the ballot this November.

Yee's goals, if elected, would be to increase transparency in the council and to maintain the quality of life and character of Pleasanton, according to her campaign launch statement.

"Let's pay attention and make certain we have a voice focused on protecting Pleasanton's quality of life, supporting public safety efforts, meaningful collaboration with the school district, supporting local small businesses, fiscal sustainability, and balancing modern city needs while safeguarding the character of Main Street," Yee said in a news release.

The Nov. 8 election will be Pleasanton's first in a district-based format for City Council seats where District 3 will represent the southwestern part of the city. Incumbent Councilmember Julie Testa and challenger Joel Liu, chair of the city's Committee on Energy and the Environment, are the other two candidates who announced their intent to run for the seat.

A Bay Area native, Yee moved to Pleasanton from Berkeley while growing up and attended Alisal Elementary and the old Pleasanton Elementary before graduating from Foothill High School.

She served on the Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees from 2008 to 2020, including twice as board president and once as a clerk, before losing her re-election bid two years ago. Yee said that because she served on the school board during the Great Recession, she is used to making difficult decisions.

"I believe Pleasanton native Jamie Yee is the best person to represent District 3 thanks to her 12 years on the school board, commitment to impartial decision-making, and fervent desire to improve our city," Derek Dressler, former student school board member and Foothill High School ASB President, said in Yee's campaign news release.

Yee was also on the board's audit, facilities, policy committees and interview panels, which she said will help in her goal of instituting a process in the council to procure required legal and audit services for the sake of transparency.

Apart from her time at the board, she was a founding member of Pleasanton Parent Teacher Association and helped organize the first Health and Wellness PTA committee. She has also served eight years on the California State PTA's Board of Managers and is a board member for the Tri-Valley Regional Occupational Program.

Yee is currently a program and communications manager at the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency office where she has been working since 2007. She said her work in public health has led her to work with community-based organizations, neighborhoods, law enforcement, school districts county-wide and other social services to "listen, lead, plan and collaborate."

She also currently serves as a member of the city's Civic Arts Commission and is a co-chair of the Tri-Valley Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association.

"Pleasanton is a wonderful, vibrant and caring community. We deserve a council that works together to benefit the community it serves," Yee said. "The current council is not truly representative of our community, and the dysfunction it represents is harmful to the future of our hometown."

To learn more about Yee and her campaign, visit www.JamieYee.com.