Willie Brown (politician)

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Willie Brown
41st Mayor of San Francisco
In office January 8, 1996 – January 8, 2004
Preceded by	Frank Jordan
Succeeded by	Gavin Newsom
58th Speaker of the California State Assembly
In office December 2, 1980 – June 5, 1995
Preceded by	Leo McCarthy
Succeeded by	Doris Allen
Born	March 20, 1934 (1934-03-20) (age 74) Mineola, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Blanche Vitero, separated
Profession	Attorney

Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. (born March 20, 1934) is an American political figure who served over 30 years in the California State Assembly and 15 years as its Speaker, after which he became the first and to date only African-American mayor of San Francisco. Under current California term limit law, no Speaker of the California State Assembly will ever have a longer tenure than Brown's record 15 years.^[1] Brown is a member of the Democratic Party. The San Francisco Chronicle called Brown “one of San Francisco’s most notable mayors” that had “celebrity beyond the city’s boundaries.”^[2]

Brown was born in Mineola, Texas and attended a segregated high school. He moved to San Francisco in 1951, attending San Francisco State, graduating in 1955 with a degree in political science. Brown earned a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1958. He spent several years in private practice before gaining election in his second attempt to the California Assembly in 1964. Brown became the Democrats' whip in 1969 and Speaker in 1980. He was known for his ability to manage people and maintain party discipline. According to The New York Times, Brown became one of the country's most powerful state legislators.^[3] Brown maintained control of the majority Republican Assembly in 1994 and 1995 by gaining the vote of several Republicans.

Brown served as San Francisco mayor from January 8, 1996 until January 8, 2004. His tenure as mayor is marked by a significant increase in real estate development, public works, city beautification, and other large-scale city projects. He presided over the dot-com era at a time when San Francisco's economy was rapidly expanding. Brown presided over the city’s most diverse administration with more Asian Americans, women, Latinos, gays, and African Americans than his predecessors.^[2] He increased San Francisco's funding of MUNI by tens of millions of dollars. He ended San Francisco's policy of punishing people for feeding the homeless.

Largely as a reaction against Brown, San Franciscans approved "district elections" to choose its Board of Supervisors by neighborhood rather than in an at-large vote. The Board opposed Brown's agenda and rolled back some of his initiatives, in particular office and housing development.^[4] Brown was restricted by term limits from running for mayor and was succeeded by a political protege, fellow Democrat Gavin Newsom. After being "termed out" of the mayor's office, Brown officially retired from politics, although he is often associated with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[5][6] and participates in fundraising and advising other politicians.^[7]

Contents 1 Early life 2 California State Assembly 2.1 Support for Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple 3 Mayor of San Francisco 3.1 Social policy 3.2 Transportation 3.2.1 Mass Transit 3.2.2 Critical Mass 3.3 Land planning and development 3.4 September 11th and police 4 Favoritism and patronage criticisms, FBI investigations 5 Retinitis Pigmentosa 6 Aesthetic style 7 Brown in the media 8 After Mayorship 9 Quotations 10 Bibliography 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Early life

Brown was born in Mineola, a small segregated town in east Texas marked by racial tensions, to Minnie Collins Boyd and Lewis Brown. Brown was the fourth of five children.^[8] During Brown's childhood, mob violence periodically erupted in Mineola, keeping African Americans from voting.^[9] His first job was as a shoeshine boy in a whites-only barber shop.^[8] He later worked as a janitor, fry cook, and field hand.^[10] He learned his work ethic at a young age from his grandmother.^[8] He graduated from Mineola Colored High School, an all-Black school he later described as substandard, and left for San Francisco in August 1951 to live with his uncle.^[9]

Brown originally wanted to attend Stanford University. His interviewer from Stanford also taught at San Francisco State and was surprised by Brown’s ambition. Brown did not meet the qualifications for San Francisco State, but the professor got him enrolled on probation.^[8] Brown adjusted to college studies after working especially hard to catch up in his first semester.^[11] He joined the Young Democrats and became friends with John L. Burton.^[8] Brown originally wanted to be a math instructor but campus politics changed his ambitions.^[9] He became active in his church and the San Francisco NAACP. Brown worked as a doorman, janitor and shoe salesman to pay for college.^[9] Brown is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.^[11] He also joined the ROTC. Brown earned a bachelor's degree in political science from San Francisco State College in 1955.^[12] Brown later stated that his decision to go to law school was "more upon the avoidance of military service than anything else." He quit the ROTC and joined the National Guard reserve where he was trained as a dental hygienist. Brown attended Hastings College of the Law where he also worked as a janitor to pay for law school. Brown befriended future San Francisco Mayor George Moscone for whom Brown would later manage a campaign.^[11] Brown earned a J.D. in 1958 and was class president at Hastings.^[9]

In September 1958, Brown married Blanche Vitero, with whom he had three children, Susan, Robin, and Michael. He has four grandchildren, Besia, Matea, Mateo, and Lordes, and a step-granddaughter, Tyler. The couple separated in approximately 1976 but remain married. In succeeding years Brown has been romantically linked to a number of locally prominent women, including San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. He has a daughter, Sydney Brown, by political fund raiser Carolyn Carpeneti.^[13]

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Brown one was of a few African Americans practicing law in San Francisco when he opened his own practice.^[8][9] He practiced criminal defense law, representing pimps, prostitutes, and other clients that more prominent attorneys would not represent.^[9][8] One early case was to defend Mario Savio on his first civil disobedience arrest. He quickly became involved in the civil rights movement, leading a well-orchestrated sit-in to protest housing discrimination after a local real estate office refused to work with him because of his race.^[10] Brown helped organize the public protest and helped attracted media coverage. His role in the protests gave him the notoriety to run for the Assembly.

Brown began his first run for the Assembly by having local African American ministers pass around a hat, collecting US$700.^[8] He lost the election to the California State Assembly in 1962 by 600 votes before winning a second election in 1964.^[14]

[edit] California State Assembly

Brown was one of four African Americans in the Assembly in 1964. He continued to be reelected to the Assembly until 1995. In the 1960s, Brown served as the Chair of the Legislative Representation Committee, a powerful Assembly position that helped Brown climb the Assembly ranks.^[15] He became the Democrat's Assembly whip in 1969.^[15] Brown also served on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.^[14] In 1972, he delivered a speech at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.^[9] He lost his bid for the speakership in 1972. During the 1970s, Brown continued to expand his legal practice that was representing several major developers.^[9] He won the Speakership in 1980 with 28 Republican and 23 Democratic votes.^[9]

Brown was California's first African American Speaker of the Assembly, and served in the office from 1981 to 1995. In 1990, Brown helped negotiate an end to a 64 day budget standoff.^[9] In 1994, Brown gained the vote of a few Republican to maintain the Speakership when the Democrats lost control of the Assembly to the Republicans led by Jim Brulte.^[9] Brown regained control in 1995 by making a deal with Republican defectors Doris Allen and Brian Setencich, both of whom were elected Speaker by the Democratic minority.^[16] During their tenures, Brown was the de facto Speaker.

Brown's long service in the Assembly and political connections, his strong negotiation skills, and the Assembly's tenure system for leadership appointments, combined to give Brown nearly complete control over the California Legislature by the time he became Assembly Speaker. According to The New York Times, Brown became one of the country's most powerful state legislatures.^[3] He nicknamed himself the "Ayatollah of the Assembly".^[17]

Brown was extremely popular in his home of San Francisco, though less so in the rest of the state.^[18] Nevertheless, he wielded great control over statewide legislative affairs and political appointments, making it difficult for his conservative opponents to assail his power. Partially to remove Brown from his leadership position, a state constitutional amendment initiative was proposed and passed by the electorate in 1990, imposing term limits on state legislators.^[19][4] Brown became the focus of the initiative. Brown raised just under US$1 million to defeat the initiative.^[20] The California Legislature challenged the law but it was upheld by the courts.^[20][21] California Proposition 140 also cut the legislature's staff budget by 30 percent, causing Brown to reduce legislative staff by at least 600.^[20] After term limits forced Brown out of office, the Assembly re-structured its rules to give most of the powers formerly held by the Speaker to a leadership committee made up of senior members of both major parties.

Brown gained a reputation for knowing what was occurring in the state legislature at all times.^[22] In 1992, he gave 1.18 million to the Democratic Party to help with voter registration and several campaigns, some of which was from contributions from tobacco companies and insurance companies. As Speaker, he worked to defeat the Three Strikes Law. Critics have claimed Brown did not do enough to raise the legislature’s ethical standards or to protect the environment.^[8] During his time in Sacramento, Brown estimates he raised close to US$75 million to help elect and reelect state Democrats.^[23]

Brown lead efforts in the Assembly for state universities to divest from South Africa and to increase AIDS research funding. Brown helped attain state funds for San Francisco, including funding for public health and mental health funds. Brown held the 1992 state budget for 63 days until Governor Pete Wilson added another US$1.1 billion for public schools.^[8]

Brown had a reputation in the Assembly for his ability to manage people. Brown attained the vote of Dorris Allen by treating her with the respect she thought she deserved. Republican State Senator Ken Maddy of Fresno noted Brown’s ability to “size up the situation and create, sometimes on the spot, a winning strategy.” According to Hobson, "He was a brilliant day care operator. ... He knew exactly how to hold the hand of his Assembly members. He dominated California politics like no other politician in the history of the state".^[8]

[edit] Support for Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple

During the mid and late 1970's, Brown was politically associated with Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. He introduced Jim Jones to George Moscone in 1975.^[24] The Peoples Temple's door-to-door operation and votes helped Moscone win election by 4,000 votes in the same year.^[25] In September of 1976, Willie Brown served as master of ceremonies at a large testimonial dinner for Jones.^[26] At that dinner, he introduced Jones stating "Let me present to you what you should see every day when you look in the mirror in the early morning hours ... Let me present to you a combination of Martin King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein ... Chairman Mao."^[27] By mid-1977, Brown had visited the Temple perhaps a dozen times, some by invitation and some on his own.^[28] In August of 1977, after Jones had fled to Guyana following an article alleging criminal wrongdoing, Brown spoke at a rally for Jim Jones the Peoples Temple.^[29] Brown was planning a fundraising dinner for the Temple that was to be held on December 2, 1978 after Congressman Leo Ryan announced that he would investigate Jonestown.^[30] The Peoples Temple committed mass suicide in 1978 at Jonestown. Brown at first stated stated "he has not regrets" over his past association the People's Temple and stated he would not try to dissociate himself from it like so many other politicians. "They all like to say, 'Forgive me, I was wrong', but that's bulls--t. It doesn't mean a thing now, it just isn't relevant." ^[31] Brown later said "If we knew then he was mad, clearly we wouldn't have appeared with him."^[32]

[edit] Mayor of San Francisco

In 1995, Brown ran for Mayor of San Francisco. In his announcement speech, Brown said San Francisco needed a “resurrection” and that he would bring the “risk-taking leadership” the city needed.^[23] Brown placed first in the first round of voting, but because no candidate received 50 percent of the vote, he ran against incumbent Frank Jordan in the December runoff. Brown gained the support of Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg who had placed third in the first round of voting. Brown campaigned on working to address poverty and problems with Muni. He called Jordan the "inept bumbler" and criticized his leadership. Jordan criticized Brown for his relations with special interests during his time in the State Assembly.^[3] Brown easily defeated Jordan in the runoff.

Brown's inaugural celebration included an open invitation party with 10,000 attendees and local restaurants providing 10,000 meals to the homeless.^[33][2] President Bill Clinton called Brown to congratulate him, and the congratulations were broadcast to the crowd. He delivered his inaugural address without notes and led the orchestra in “Stars and Stripes Forever". He arrived at the event in a horse-drawn carriage.^[2] According to the New York Times, Brown was one of the nation’s few liberal big city mayors when he was elected in 1996.

In 1996, more than two thirds of San Franciscans approved of Brown's job performancet.^[34] As mayor, Brown made several appearances on national talk shows.^[2] Brown called for expansions to the San Francisco budget to provide for new employees and programs. In 1999, Brown proposed hiring 1,392 new city workers and proposed a second straight budget with a US$100 million surplus. He helped to oversee the settling of a two-day garbage strike in April 1997.^[22] During Brown's tenure, San Francisco’s budget increased to US$5.2 billion and the city added 4,000 new employees. Brown tried to develop a plan for universal health care, but there wasn’t enough in the budget to do so.^[2] Brown put in long days as mayor, scheduling days of solid meetings and, at times, conducting two meetings at the same time.^[22] Brown opened City Hall on Saturdays to answer questions.^[17] He would later claim of his mayorship that he helped restore the city’s spirit and pride.^[22]

Brown's opponents in his 1999 reelection were former Mayor Frank Jordan and Clint Reilly. They criticized Brown for spending the city’s US$ 1 billion in budget growth without addressing the city’s major problems and creating an environment in city hall of corruption and patronage.^[22] Tom Ammiano was a late write-in candidate and he faced Brown in the runoff election. Brown won reelection by a 20 percent margin. He was supported by most major developers and business interests. Ammiano campaigned the he would raise the minimum wage to US$ 11 per hour and scrutinize corporate business taxes. Brown repeatedly claimed that Ammiano would raise taxes. President Clinton recorded a telephone message on Brown’s behalf. Brown’s campaign spent US$ 3.1 million to Ammiano’s US$ 300,000.^[35]

[edit] Social policy

Brown ended San Francisco’s policy of punishing people for feeding the homeless. San Francisco continued to enforce its policy regarding the conduct of the homeless in public places.^[36] In 1998, Brown supported forcibly removing homeless people from Golden Gate Park and police crackdowns on the homeless for drunkenness, urinating, defecating, or sleeping on the sidewalk. Brown introduced job training programs and an US$ 11 million drug treatment program. San Francisco, then the United State’s 13th largest city, had the nation's third largest homeless population at a peak of 16,000.^[34] In November 1997, he requested nighttime helicopter searches in Golden Gate Park.^[2] The Brown administration spent hundreds of millions of dollars creating new shelters, supportive housing, and drug treatment centers to address homelessness, but these measures did not end San Francisco’s problem with homelessness.^[2]

In 1996, Brown approved the Equal Benefits Ordinance that required city contractors to provide domestic partner benefits to their employees.^[2] In 1998, Brown wrote a letter to President Clinton urging him to halt a federal lawsuit aimed at closing medical marijuana clubs.^[37]

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Mass Transit

One of Brown’s central campaign promises was his “100-Day Plan for Muni.”^[22] Brown supported the "Peer Pressure" Bus Patrol program, which paid former gang members and troubled youth to patrol Muni buses. Brown claimed the problem helped reduce crime.^[38] He fired Muni chief Phil Adams and replaced him with his chief of staff Emilio Cruz. In 1998, Brown was Mayor during the summer of the Muni meltdown as Muni implemented the new ATC system and Brown promised riders there would be better times ahead. A voter approved initiative in the following year would help improve Muni services. Brown increased Muni's budget by tens of millions of dollars over his tenure.^[2] Brown later said he made a mistake in over promising with his 100 day plan.^[22] Brown helped mediated a settlement to the 1997 BART strike.^[22]

[edit] Critical Mass

Since 1992, cyclists riding in San Francisco's monthly Critical Mass bicycle rides had used the "corking" technique at street intersections to block rush-hour cross-traffic.^{[39][40][41][42]} In 1997, Brown approved San Francisco Police Department Chief Fred Lau's plan to conduct a crackdown on the rides,^[43] calling them "a terrible demonstration of intolerance".^[44] and "an incredible display of arrogance."^[45] Brown said of the crackdown plan "I think we ought to confiscate their bicycles"^[46] and that "a little jail time" would teach Critical Mass riders a lesson.^[47] On the night of the July 25, 1997 ride 115 riders were arrested for unlawful assembly, jailed, and had their bicycles confiscated by the police.^[48][49] By 2002, Brown and the city's relations with Critical Mass had changed. On the 10th anniversary of Critical Mass on September 27, 2002, the city officially closed down four blocks to automobile traffic for the annual Car-Free Day Street Fair. Brown remarked concerning the event: "I'm delighted. A new tradition has been born in our city."^[50]

[edit] Land planning and development

As San Francisco mayor, Brown was criticized for aggregating power, and for favoring certain business interests at the expense of the city as a whole. Supporters point to the many development projects completed or started under his watch, including the restoration of City Hall and historic waterfront buildings; the setting in motion of one of the city's largest ever mixed use development projects in Mission Bay, and the development of a second campus for the University of California, San Francisco. In contrast, critics objected to the construction of many live-work loft buildings in formally working-class neighborhoods that they believed lead to gentrification and displacement of residents and light industry.^[51]

Under Brown, San Francisco’s city hall was restored from damages sustained during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Brown insisted on restoring the light courts and having the dome gilded with more than US$ 400,000 in real gold. The Embarcadero was redeveloped and the Mission Bay Development project began. Brown also oversaw the approval of the Catellus Development Corp., US$ 100 million restoration of the century-old Ferry Building, new Main Library, the new Asian Art Museum, the new M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, the expansion of the Moscone Convention Center and San Francisco International Airport's new international terminal.^[2] Brown worked to restructure the Housing Authority.^[22] Brown helped established an AFL-CIO housing trust to build affordable housing and he worked to increase the city’s share of federal and state grants. He oversaw declining crime rates and improvements in the city’s economy, finances, and credit ratings during his first term.^[22]

Brown’s development projects have priced some artists, blue-collar businesses, and the working poor out of some San Francisco neighborhoods. In 2000, voters elected a new group of supervisors that ran on changing the city’s development policy. Voters also passed a measure that weakened the Mayor’s control over the Planning Commission and Board of Appeals. Due to vacancies on the Board of Supervisors, before 2000, Brown was able to appoint 8 of the 11 member bodies. With district based elections in 2000, San Francisco voted for candidates who ran against Brown’s policies. The new majority limited Brown's power over the Elections Department, the Police Commission, and extending SFO runways into the bay to reduce flight delays at San Francisco International Airport.^[2] In July 2001, the Board of Supervisors overrode Brown’s veto for the first time, creating legislation that created the new home ownership option of tenancies in common.

Brown was known for his shrewd and strategic use of the details of the planning process to affect and facilitate development projects on his watch. In regards to a parking garage on Vallejo Street desired by North Beach and Chinatown merchants, Brown circumvented neighborhood resident opponents of the garage by ordering demolition of the site's existing structure to commence on a Friday night and be done by Monday morning, when the group was certain to try to obtain a restraining order. "It was with the demolition permit I outsmarted them," Brown recounts proudly, claiming that as the critics rushed toward court, "someone shouted out to them that the building had disappeared over the weekend. They've never recovered from that little maneuver." ^[52]

During his time as Mayor, Brown hoped to build a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers and worked with the 49ers to create a plan.^[22] No new facility was built for the team during his tenure.^[53] Brown worked with the San Francisco Giants to build a new stadium in the China Basin after previous stadium measures had failed on the ballot.^[2] The stadium gained approval by San Francisco voters in 1996 and opened in 2000.^[22]

Brown was criticized in 1996 for his comments that 49ers backup quarterback Elvis Grbac was "an embarrassment to humankind." He was criticized in 1997 for saying "his boss may have needed choking" in response to Golden State Warriors player Latrell Sprewell choking coach P. J. Carlesimo.^[22]

[edit] September 11th and police

Though he was scheduled on a flight to New York City on 11 September 2001, he received an alert from his SFO security detail and canceled. After learning of the attacks, he ordered the city to close schools and courts, fearing the same fate, and recommended to representatives of the Bank of America tower and Transamerica Pyramid that they should also close.^[54]

Brown oversaw a decline in the crime rates during his tenure as mayor. In February 2003, his appointed Police Chief Earl Sanders and several top officials at the San Francisco Police Department were arrested for conspiring to obstruct the police investigation into an alleged attack involving off-duty officers. The charges were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.^[2]

[edit] Favoritism and patronage criticisms, FBI investigations

Allegations of political patronage followed Brown from the State Legislature through his tenure as San Francisco mayor. Former Orange County GOP Assemblyman Paul Horcher, who voted in 1994 to keep Brown as Speaker, was reassigned to head San Francisco's solid waste management program. Brian Setencich also was appointed to a position by Brown.^[22] Both were hired as special assistants after losing their assembly seats because of their support of Brown. Former San Francisco Supervisor Bill Maher was also hired as a Special Assistant after campaigning for Brown in his first mayoral race.^[55] Brown is also criticized for favoritism to Ms. Carpeneti, the lobbyist with whom he had a child. In 1998 Brown arranged for Carpeneti to obtain a rent-free office in the city-owned Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Between then and 2003, a period that spans the birth of their daughter, Carpeneti was paid an estimated 2.33 million by nonprofit groups and political committees controlled by then Mayor Brown and his friends.^[13][56]

Brown increased the city’s special assistants payroll from US$15.6 to US$45.6 million between 1995 and 2001.^[57] Between April 29, 2001 and May 3, 2001, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Lance Williams and Chuck Finnie released a 5 part story concerning Brown and his relations with city contractors, lobbyists, and city appointments and hires he had made during his tenure as Mayor. The report concluded that there was an appearance of favoritism and conflicts of interest in the awarding of city contracts and development deals, a perception that large contracts had an undo influence on city hall, and patronage with the hiring of campaign workers, contributors, legislative colleagues, and friends to government positions.^[58]

The FBI investigated Brown in a series of investigations when he was Speaker. One of those investigations was a sting operation concerning a fake fish company attempting to bribe Brown. Brown was never charged. The FBI investigated Brown from 1998 to 2003. They investigated Brown appointees at the Airport Commission for potential conflicts of interests. Brown friend, contributor, and former law client, Charlie Walker was given a share of city contracts. He had served jail time in 1984 for violating laws concerning miniority contracting. The FBI also investigated Brown’s approval of expansion of the Sutro Tower and SFO. Scott Company, with one prominent Brown backer, was accused of using a phony minority front company to secure an airport construction project. Robert Nurisso was sentenced to house arrest. During Brown’s administration, there were two convictions any tie to Brown. Housing Authority administrator Patricia Williams, a mid level bureaucrat who did no work for city salary, was convicted for collecting bribe money.^[59]

The FBI investigated Brown’s friend Charlie Walker who won several city contracts. Walker had previously thrown several parties for Brown and was among his biggest fundraisers.^[22] Brown reassigned Parking and Traffic chief Bill Maher to an airport job when his critics claim Maher might should have been fired.^[22] Brown put his former girlfriend, Wendy Linka, on the city payroll.^[2] Brown was known for his strong loyalty to his supporters.

[edit] Retinitis Pigmentosa

During his State Assembly Speakership, Brown was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a disease that presently has no cure and that would slowly steal his eyesight. RP is a hereditary disease that causes a continual loss of peripheral vision and often leads to total blindness. Brown’s two sisters were also diagnosed with RP. Brown remarked: "Having RP is a challenge, As Speaker of the Assembly it was very important that I recognize people in the halls of the Legislature. But I couldn’t see people unless they were right in front of me. I needed to have the security people give me notes to tell me who was in the room. Reading is also very difficult so I use larger print notes and memos. Living with RP means having to use more of your brain function—I listen more intently, I memorize vast amounts of information, and I have trained my computer to recognize numerous verbal commands." ^[60] Brown has worked with the Foundation Fighting Blindness to raise awareness of the disease.

[edit] Aesthetic style

Brown had a keen sense of personal style from the beginning that he later parlayed into a political advantage. Even in high school he was fastidious about his appearance.^[61] In office he became famous for Italian suits, sports cars, nightclubbing, and a collection of dressy hats.^[62] He was once called "The Best Dressed Man in San Francisco" by Esquire magazine.^[63]

In his 2008 autobiography, Basic Brown, he described his taste for US$6,000 Brioni suits and his search for the perfect chocolate Corvette to add to his car collection. In one chapter titled: "The Power of Clothes: Don’t Pull a Dukakis,” Brown explains that men should acquire a navy blazer for each season: one with “a hint of green” for springtime, another with more autumnal threading for the fall.^[64] In his 2008 autobiography he remarks: "You really shouldn't try to get through a public day wearing just one thing.... Sometimes, I change clothes four times a day."^[65]

[edit] Brown in the media

As Mayor of San Francisco Brown was often portrayed mockingly but affectionately by political cartoonists and columnists as a vain emperor, presiding in a robe and crown over the inconsequential kingdom of San Francisco.^[66] He enjoyed the attention this brought to his personal life, disarming friends and critics with humor that directed attention away from the policy agendas he was pursuing.^[67]

Brown's flamboyant style made him so well-known as the consummate politician that when an actor playing a party politician in 1990's The Godfather Part III did not understand director Francis Ford Coppola's instruction to model his character after Brown, Coppola fired the actor and hired Brown himself to play the role. Brown later appeared in 2000's Just One Night as a judge. He also played himself in two Disney films, George of the Jungle and The Princess Diaries, and the 2003 Universal release Hulk as the mayor of San Francisco. He appeared as himself, alongside Geraldo Rivera, in an episode of Nash Bridges.

[edit] After Mayorship

Brown considered running for the State Senate but ultimately declined.^[68] From January 2006 through September 2006, Brown co-hosted a morning radio show with comedian Will Durst on a local San Francisco Air America Radio affiliate. He also makes a weekly podcast. The show was canceled in late September 2006. Brown also established the The Willie L. Brown, Jr. Institute on Politics & Public Service, an unaffiliated nonprofit.^[4]

In November 2007, Brown agreed with his San Francisco State to work with them in establishing the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Leadership Center. The center will train for careers in municipal, county and regional governments. The center will be on of the first to focus on local government in the country. Brown will give the center's library a collection of his artifacts, videotapes and legislative papers from his forty years in public office. He is also planning to mentor students, teach a course on leadership, and recruit guest speakers.^[4]

On February 5, 2008, Simon and Schuster released Brown's hardcover auto-biography: Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times with "collaborator" P. J. Corkery. The book release coincided with California's Democratic Presidential Primary on the same day.

[edit] Quotations

• "It was a horror chamber. It got to be a little bit better when…I could work in the fields and make a couple of dollars a day. At 12 years of age, I could actually make six bucks a week shining shoes. Using those dollars, to buy the things that ordinary kids had, relieved the misery a bit, but only a tiny bit."^[69]
• "Being a hedonist is not a disability in San Francisco. That’s what the city is all about. You can get loaded every single night of the week, and as long as you show up crisp and ready for work each morning, that’s what people care about.” (said in February, 2007, of mayor Gavin Newsom)^[70]
• On a meeting he had with S.F. gang leaders: "I sat down with these people and told them, 'You want to do your killings? Do it in Oakland. Do it in Richmond. Do it elsewhere. But don't do killing in San Francisco. It reflects badly on a black mayor.'"^[71]
• "Give me back my delegation!" at the 1972 Democratic Convention.^[72]

[edit] Bibliography

• Clucas, Richard A. (1994). The Speaker's Electoral Connection: Willie Brown and the California Assembly. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0877723613. 
• Green, Robert Lee (1974). Willie L. Brown, Jr: Daring Black Leader. Milwaukee: Franklin Publishers. OCLC 53358667. 
• Richardson, James (1993). Willie Brown: The Early Years. Washington D.C.: Alicia Patterson Foundation. OCLC 28525812. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Will & Willie podcast
• Willie Brown (politician) at the Internet Movie Database
• New York Times - Topics: Willie L Brown, Jr. collected news stories
• Biographer captures mayor in print SF Chronicle, October 14, 1996
• Mayor's patronage army SF Chronicle, April 30, 2001
• Gamed by the System: Wherein Willie Brown details his valiant attempts to conquer homelessness and bring Muni into submission SF Chronicle, January 20, 2008
• "Academy of Achievement" - synopsis biography
• Willie Watch anti-Willie website

Political offices
Preceded by Edward M. Gaffney	California State Assemblyman, 18th District 1965-1974	Succeeded by Leo T. McCarthy
Preceded by John J. Miller	California State Assemblyman, 17th District 1974-1992	Succeeded by Dean Andal
Preceded by Barbara Lee	California State Assemblyman, 13th District 1992-1995	Succeeded by Carole Migden
Preceded by Frank Jordan	Mayor of San Francisco 1996–2004	Succeeded by Gavin Newsom

v • d • e Mayors of San Francisco, California Geary · Brenham · Harris · Brenham · Garrison · Webb · Van Ness · Whelan · Burr · Teschemacher · Coon · McCoppin · Selby · Alvord · Otis · Hewston · Bryant · Kalloch · Blake · Bartlett · Pond · Sanderson · Ellert · Sutro · Phelan · Schmitz · Boxton · Taylor · McCarthy · Rolph · Rossi · Lapham · Robinson · Christopher · Shelley · Alioto · Moscone · Feinstein · Agnos · Jordan · Brown · Newsom

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Persondata
NAME	Brown, Willie Lewis, Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	March 20, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mineola, Texas, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH