Brown vows to 'kick ass'

The hot dogs, beer and music were long gone when Willie Brown looked into the faces of weary supporters gathered for his election party Tuesday and said he would take San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan's job in a runoff Dec. 12.

At 12:45 a.m. Brown announced in the packed International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union Hall that candidate Roberta Achtenberg would not be in the runoff for the city's mayoral race.

Facing Jordan alone, he said, was the race he'd been looking for.

"We're going to kick his ass," he shouted to the crowd. "I want to stuff this turkey by Thanksgiving."

According to an unofficial count as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, with approximately 20,000 absentee ballots uncounted, Brown led the race, with 34.6 percent of the vote. Jordan trailed closely, with 32.72 percent.

After serving in the state legislature for 30 years, Brown, an SF State alumnus, has been on the campaign trail for mayor since June. He said the next step is to claim Achtenberg's supporters for his own.

"We are going to move to seek the endorsement of every anti-Jordan voter," he said. "We must treat this five weeks like it's sudden death in overtime."

Along with an array of city politicians, former mayor Art Agnos turned out to reaffirm his endorsement of Brown. Agnos was the only past mayor to stand behind Brown.

"I was a mayor in the '90s. I know what it takes to govern this city, and Willie Brown can do it," he said.

Brown promised, if he was elected, to work on the maintenance of parks and recreational programs, support new business formation, improve MUNI safety and management, establish a team including the police and community groups to address homelessness and to have at least 1,000 new units of affordable housing built each year by placing a $100 million bond on next November's ballot.

MUNI driver R.J. Reed finished his 71 line route and rushed to work the phones for the campaign before coming to the party in full uniform.

"If Mayor Jordan wins, my job could be in jeopardy," he said. "Jordan wants the bus system to be run by a private company."

Another volunteer, Terill Cin, 22, who left Mississippi only a month ago, recruited young voters. Cin said he'll step up his efforts for the runoff.

"I'm still going to get young brothers and sisters out to vote, because Willie wants to help young people get jobs," he said.

While some of Brown's advocates are depending on him for job security, others want his emotional guidance.

Tim Downs has lived in the city for 38 years, and first met Brown in 1970 as a student representative from SF State. As a social worker for the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, he said Brown can help the city mend its old wounds.

"He has compassion," he said. "There's a lot of anger in the Tenderloin, and people feel disenfranchised. We need a healing process, and he can lead it."

[ Golden Gater Online November 9, 1995 ]

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