City College Trustees Hire Outside Investigators, Name Acting Chancellor

City College of San Francisco's Governing Board voted 5-0 on Oct. 8, 2026, to retain Oppenheimer Investigations Group, LLP. The board approved the legal services agreement without public discussion after the lone public commenter tied the hire to "this situation with the chancellor." Hours later, trustees announced a closed-session vote naming David Yee as acting chancellor. They spent most of a nearly seven-hour night behind closed doors.

• Board approves outside investigations contract, 5-0, with no trustee discussion on the record

• Public commenter urges unpaid leave for the chancellor if allegations are substantiated

• David Yee appointed acting chancellor in a 5-0 closed-session vote, with no reasons or terms disclosed

• Two closed sessions bracket the night, and only one reportable action emerged

Trustees Hire Investigators, Say Little Publicly

The basics: Item 1.D asked trustees to approve a legal services agreement with Oppenheimer Investigations Group, LLP. The agenda packet includes a signed retainer agreement dated Oct. 6, 2026 and a client intake form. The retainer was signed two days before the board voted on it.

Why it matters: The college has brought in an outside firm for an investigation. The only public speaker linked that investigation to the chancellor. A governance inquiry at the top of the institution would affect students, faculty and the college's credibility with the public. But trustees offered no public explanation of what is being investigated.

Where things stand: Neither the contract's cost nor its scope was discussed in open session. No allegations were described either. Board Chair Aliya Chisti invited colleagues to comment, and none did. Trustee Susan Solomon moved the item, and Trustee Vick Van Chung seconded.

The silence stands out. A contract this sensitive would normally come with at least a staff summary of scope and cost. Instead, the public record consists of the attachments and one speaker's account of what the contract is for.

The other side: Lydia Cantor Hernandez, a public commenter, backed the hire. "I'm glad that we are hiring an investigator to investigate this situation with the chancellor," she said.

She also pressed the board to go further. If the allegations prove true, she said, the chancellor should be moved from paid to unpaid leave. Keeping the chancellor on paid leave, she argued, sends the wrong message to students who faced consequences before their own investigations ended. She cited her removal from a nursing program as an example.

Her comment points to a double standard that student advocates often raise: administrators get due process on full pay, while students can lose their place before any findings. Trustees did not respond to her on the record.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The agreement passed on a roll call. The vote was For: 5 (Student Trustee Wong, Board Chair Chisti, Trustee Chung, Trustee Heather McCarty, Trustee Solomon), Against: 0, Absent: 3 (Trustee Ferguson, Trustee Anita Martinez, Board Vice President Luis Zamora). Whether the student trustee's vote is advisory was not stated.

For students and staff, the vote starts a formal process but sets no public timeline. For the chancellor, the outcome now depends on an outside firm's findings. For taxpayers, the cost of the engagement has not been disclosed publicly.

What's next: No date for findings was announced. Readers can review the retainer agreement for scope and cost. Watch future meetings for any change in the chancellor's leave status.

David Yee Named Acting Chancellor

Why it matters: The college has new interim leadership. The change came the same night trustees hired outside investigators, but the board did not publicly connect the two actions.

Where things stand: When the board returned to open session at 5:05 p.m., it announced its one reportable action from closed session: a 5-0 vote to appoint David Yee as acting chancellor. Individual votes were not reported. A voice in the room answered "That's me," and others welcomed him.

No salary, term or reason for the appointment was discussed in open session. Earlier in the evening, the chair acknowledged a temporary acting vice chancellor identified as Yi. The board did not clarify whether that is the same person as Yee.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The college is moving forward with an acting chief while the investigation proceeds. Faculty, unions and students will want to know how long Yee will serve and what authority he holds. Personnel decisions made in closed session are typically disclosed only as final actions, so the public record here is thin.

What's next: After a second closed session that ended at 10:40 p.m., the board said there were no additional reportable actions. Watch for a contract or terms for the acting chancellor at a future open meeting.

Minor Items

• Zamora absence deferred: The just-cause absence for Board Vice President Luis Zamora will return at a future meeting with revised language.

• Attendance gaps: Trustees Martinez and Zamora were absent. Trustee Ferguson arrived after the first votes.

• Split special meeting: Trustees voted 5-0 to adjourn the meeting and resume it after the Committee of the Whole session in Harry Britt Building, Room 140, Ocean Campus. "This is an adjournment of the same special meeting, not a new meeting," said Board Chair Aliya Chisti.

• Late-night closed session: The board resumed at 9:25 p.m. and voted 5-0 to return to closed session for an estimated 30 minutes. It came back at 10:40 p.m. and adjourned at 10:41 p.m.

Looking Ahead

Watch for three things: the Zamora absence item's return, the scope and cost of the Oppenheimer engagement, and the terms of Yee's appointment as acting chancellor.