It’s 2 Against 1 at 1st Debate
By Janet Dang

From Muni to homelessness to the FBI’s probe into the city’s minority contracts, almost anything was open for debate Tuesday as Mayor Willie Brown and his two challengers met before a packed auditorium for their first public showdown.

Some 200 people squeezed into an auditorium at the Hebrew Academy as candidates Frank Jordan, Clint Reilly and Willie Brown emerged like boxers from different corners of the room to applause from supporters and hisses from enemies. Brown, the incumbent, attracted most of both -- and spent much of the forum deflecting attacks from the challengers by referring to his record.

Each candidate delivered an opening statement, after which moderator and talk-show host Barbara Simpson put out questions that candidates answered and rebutted in turn. Simpson’s KSFO-AM, along with Bay TV, broadcast the hour-long forum live. Besides one impromptu walk-on by an unidentified person who was quickly removed, the event was loud but went off largely without a hitch.

Simpson opened by asking Brown to explain the “stench and filth” that she said represented an overall deterioration of the quality of life in San Francisco, digressing for a bit as she described her disgust at seeing a man’s bare buttocks as he urinated against a wall.

“Why have these problems gotten worse?” she asked the mayor.

Brown said he disagreed with her premise. “In my administration we all give out opportunities for assistance to all of these persons,” he said. “We have done the best job.”

He added: “There is no question the advocates for the homeless and people in that category deride this administration on the basis that we don’t believe homelessness is a lifestyle.”

It was Jordan’s turn to respond. Brown’s predecessor proposed as a solution to homelessness his “Continual Care Program” a three-pronged approach stemming from his 1991-’95 administration.

It is an “excellent plan that talks about the whole person being received and helped on the streets through substance abuse treatment, detoxification, to housing. We have everyone to agree to it,” said Jordan, who during the forum promised to strengthen the city’s Sunshine ordinance and “to ban convicted felons from ever doing business with the city again.”

Several minutes of the forum were invested in answering seven of the many written questions posed by audience members before the debate began. With each candidate receiving only two minutes for a response, every word was crucial.

“Don’t give new loopholes to affordable housing,” said Jordan as he criticized the boom in so-called “live-work units,” which enjoy significant tax breaks, as a solution to the housing crunch. “They should not be put in every single neighborhood,” he said.

To solve the housing crisis, campaign consultant Reilly looked to Treasure Island. “I don’t want to put a theme park” there, he said.

Other topics included Muni (the challengers said they would do a better job with that and congestion, but had few specifics); and public education (Brown said he visited a school a week, to which Jordan said, “You gotta do more than just visit,” and Reilly derided what he said were dilapidated conditions even at Lowell High.)

Moreover, Reilly said that if he were mayor, he’d allocate $50 million of the city’s budget to help schools. At one point, he waved a book he produced for his campaign, saying in it contains some of his ideas on how to resolve some of the city’s woes.

Perhaps the most crucial question of the night, though, was this: “Why is the FBI investigating some city contractors?”

“The FBI has the responsibility to enforce the law...to investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” Brown replied. “The allegations that have been made are serious allegations.”

Brown has announced that he is forming a blue-ribbon panel -- which is to include not only Harry Low, the leader of the embattled Human Rights Commission and retired jurist; but also Roberta Achtenberg, Chamber of Commerce senior vice president and former San Francisco supervisor; and affirmative action advocate Aileen Hernandez -- to ensure that minority rights are protected. He also affirmed his leadership as he has directed city government workers to be “totally and completely cooperative,” adding, “They should not in any circumstances cut any corners. Whoever may have violated the law ought to be dealt with,” he said.

Nonetheless, he offered no solid explanation about why the agency has looked so closely at the Human Rights Commission, though he did say that he concerned about the damage to a program that offers “women and racial minorities the opportunity to participate in the bounty of this economy.”

Jordan derided what he said was the mayor’s silence over a months-long investigation. “This man to my left should have immediately called in an investigation of his own. That’s what leadership is all about,” said Jordan.

For his part, Reilly alluded to a corrupt city government: “I know how City Hall works, and I know it isn’t working. And most important of all, I have the independence and the know how to dismantle the corrupt Brown machine.

“Make no mistake -- it is that Brown machine which operates on patronage and sweetheart deals and perks, and yes intimidation, that threatens the quality of life in our city.”

A defensive Brown responded: “My record now reflects that I heard you. Those things I said will be done have been done.”

That and other comments met from loud jeers from Reilly’s supporters, who nonetheless were badly outnumbered by the mayor’s backers.

“We have the lowest, if not the major, major, major low unemployment rate in this nation,” Brown continued. “We have consistently produced surplus. There are budgetary profits. We have managed to respond to every issue faced by these citizens.”

The debate, sponsored by the Raoul Wallenberg Jewish Democratic Club and the Richmond District Democratic Club, was the first of two scheduled. The second has been tentatively set for Sept. 8 at Mission High School. The League of Women Voters is to sponsor the event.