SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Dec. 27 announced the reappointment of Elaine Yamaguchi, 54, of Woodland to the 40th District Agricultural Association, Yolo County Fair Board of Directors, where she has served since 2011.
The state is divided into 54 District Agricultural Associations. The Yolo County Fairgrounds, established in 1935, are operated by the 40th District on behalf of the state under the Department of Food and Agriculture (Fairs and Expositions Unit). The fairgrounds are made self-supporting through year-round facility rentals and contributions from the horse racing industry, and do not receive state general funds.
The 40th DAA is governed by a nine-member board, with Yamaguchi as vice president. Each member is appointed by the governor and serves a two-year term.
Yamaguchi has been executive officer of the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians since 2018. She was a projects and communications manager at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System from 2007 to 2017 and director of the California State Library’s California Civil Liberties Public Education Program — which focuses on the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans — from 2005 to 2006.
She served as a special assistant in the California State Assembly Speaker’s Office from 1998 to 2005, and held several positions at the Center for Asian American Media (formerly National Asian American Telecommunications Association) in San Francisco from 1993 to 1997, including managing director.
This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Yamaguchi is a Democrat.