S.F. Parties as Willie Brown Is Sworn In

SAN FRANCISCO —  After a lengthy career in the state capital, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown began his new political life as mayor of San Francisco on Monday with an ebullient swearing-in ceremony that included a phone call from President Clinton.

Brown, typically elegant in a dark suit, white shirt and bright yellow tie, took the oath of office before a crowd of 7,500 at an outdoor plaza, surrounded by his three adult children, a granddaughter and his wife, Blanche, who held the family Bible.

Brown’s swearing in was marked by parties that began over the weekend and continued into Monday night with a public “Soul of the City” bash at a city pier. In town for the celebration were civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Nevada Gov. Bob Miller, Rep. Maxine Waters and several legislators who served with Brown in Sacramento.

Many in the crowd who stood for hours in thick, cold fog to see Brown, 61, sworn in as the city’s first black mayor wore their Sunday finery, sporting fur coats and hats ranging from English bowlers to African turbans. African, Chinese and American Indian drum groups heralded the event.

Pledging to offer the city a diverse administration, Brown announced the appointment of a Chinese American as police chief and an African American as fire chief, saying he had yet to inform them and hoped they would take the jobs.

Brown also announced that the city would spend $2 million for a youth center in a low-income neighborhood, pledged to bring a world conference on AIDS here and promised to build a new baseball stadium, a feat two previous mayors have tried but failed to accomplish.

“We must ensure that every school kid has an opportunity to do exactly what Willie Brown has been able to do and the Willie Browns of yore, and we must make sure that we are never without the compassion. . . ,” said Brown, the son of a maid and a railroad porter. “Our resources must never be so limited that we cannot help the helpless.”

San Franciscans who elected Brown last month are looking for him to bring style and sparkle to City Hall after four years of Mayor Frank Jordan, a former police chief who was seen as steady and sincere but low-key.

Newspapers have lavished praise on Brown for his fashion flair and speculated on what he would wear to his swearing-in ceremony. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, an unabashed Brown admirer in print, has kept citizens abreast of changes in Brown’s romantic life. (Brown has been separated from his wife for many years and recently broke up with a prosecutor he dated during the campaign.)

Charlotte Maillard Swig, a socialite whom Brown subsequently named the city’s chief of protocol, brought dignitaries from Brown’s home town of Mineola, Texas, to join in the inauguration parties. Several San Francisco society figures, corporations and banks, including The Gap, A T & T, Pacific Telesis, Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank, picked up the $300,000 cost of the inauguration.

Monday’s hoopla began solemnly downtown in the gothic, ornate St. Patrick’s Church, located across from the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial where Brown was sworn in. The church, a brick landmark with stained glass windows and religious statues, is now dwarfed by neighboring high-rises.

Brown sat in the first pew as clergy from various religions read prayers and commended him. White candles in glass jars flickered on tables in the aisles and white tulips adorned the altar.

Rev. Amos Brown, a Baptist minister, presided over the ceremony, calling Brown “a prophetic leader, a man endowed with intellect and infused with integrity . . . class, charisma and presence.”

As Brown left the church in an Italian hat and heavy, gray overcoat, he was mobbed by cheering admirers. Police and escorts had to make a path for him, shoving and pushing people aside so that Brown, his expression dazed, could get across the street.

Shortly after the outdoor ceremony began, it was announced that the White House was on the telephone. Brown walked to the podium to take the telephone. “This is Willie Brown,” he said. After a pause, he told the crowd: “They put me on hold. What nerve.”

After another pause, Brown said good-naturedly: “If any of you have ever spoken to me on the telephone, you have never waited this long.” The crowd laughed, and an aide was given the telephone to hold until Clinton finally got on about 10 minutes later.

“You should be here with us today,” Brown told the president. “It is just incredible. There is no snow and no Republicans.”

Clinton, his remarks broadcast to the throngs in the plaza, wished Brown well, commended him for his commitment to diversity and expressed a desire to work with him on behalf of the cities.

Brown returned the political favor. “The cities are desperately in need of Bill Clinton being in the White House,” he told the president before hanging up.

Former mayor Jordan gave a gracious speech, telling Brown: “Enjoy this day Willie Brown because it will never get any better than the day you are sworn in.”

As Brown began his remarks, the bells from St. Patrick’s began to toll. He thanked his family, saying “they have never permitted my ego to get in the way of constantly reminding me that I, too, am human.”

In Sacramento, the longtime Assembly Speaker was known as the king of deal-making and often was criticized for taking money from special interests. As mayor, Brown will hold his first executive position, with a bastion of assistants and department heads to oversee, but he told the crowd that he will not inform aides of his decisions until after he has announced them to the public.

He said Monday that he would offer the job of police chief to Frank Lau, a 24-year veteran of the police department. Lau has strong support among the police rank and file and within the city’s large Asian community. He was strongly supported by a member of Brown’s transition team who helped raise significant sums for the Brown campaign.

Brown also promised to name Bob Demmons, a black assistant fire chief, to head the city’s fire department. Demmons filed the first discrimination suit against the department in 1978, prompting a court-ordered affirmative action program that continues today.

Brown’s inaugural committee provided 10,000 meals to homeless shelters Monday, and more than 50 restaurants donated meals for the evening “Soul of the City” party. A large-scale replica of the Golden Gate Bridge was built for Brown’s entrance.

After his inaugural speech, Brown took up a baton and faced the San Francisco Youth Symphony. To the delight of the crowd, he began conducting “Stars & Stripes Forever,” and the symphony played as Mayor Brown waved his baton.