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London Breed is a native San Franciscan. However, she's also a Willie Brown protégé. Willie Brown was/is the Donald Trump of San Francisco. Of course, when Ed L

London Breed is a native San Franciscan. However, she's also a Willie Brown protégé. Willie Brown was/is the Donald Trump of San Francisco. Of course, when Ed Lee was elected many said it was Brown's third term.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> Willie Brown was/is the Donald Trump of San Francisco. Wait, what? How is that analogy supposed to work? Willie Brown : San Francisco :: Donald Trump : ??? Donald Trump is a born-wealthy real estate developer that eventually entered electoral politics, first holding office at an age when people are more likely to retire from electoral politics than begin a career. Willie Lewis Brown, Jr., was born in segregated Texas, first worked as a shoe-shine boy, became a lawyer, and shortly went into politics, serving 30+ years in the Assembly, about half of it as Speaker. (And a while as kingmaker when the Republicans held a slim majority.) Trump is perceived as an anti-establishment political figure, Brown was the California political establishment, even when other people held higher offices in the State (and even in the interruption in his time as Speaker.) Other than both being men, I can't see much that they have in common that would justify the analogy you suggest. They are more opposites than analogs.
- tptacek 9y ago
  I lived in San Francisco during the Willie Brown era, and the rap on him was that he was the closest thing to a Chicago-style politician you'd find anywhere outside of Chicago. I got caught up in a towing scam run by people connected to his administration; I'm inclined to believe that reputation was earned.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    Sure, there's at least a sound basis for accusing Brown of being a big city machine politician (in style, at least, SF isn't really a big city, despite what it thinks of itself.) But even that hardly supports an analogy to Trump: there are lots of things you can say about Trump, but machine politician isn't one of them.
    - tptacek 9y ago
      I think it's a comparison in terms of a ratio to public gregariousness and profile over personal ethics.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  SF city politics are petty, to put it very mildly. Brown is regarded as an operator in that he did a lot of development deals and tended to broker deals in 'smoke filled rooms' rather than being a creature of procedure. Otherwise I agree that comparing him to Trump is absurd.
  - CalChris 9y ago
    The direct comparison is that anyone but Brown or Trump would never overcome their scandals. But SF voters just said, Oh that's just Willie being Willie and national Republicans just said Oh that's just Trump being Trump.
    - dragonwriter 9y ago
      > The direct comparison is that anyone but Brown or Trump would never overcome their scandals. Brown is unique in many ways, but bouncing back from scandals in SF politics isn't one of them.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
- CalChris 9y ago
  > Trump is perceived as an anti-establishment political figure He may embarrass establishment types and he may use populism in his appeal but Cheeto is very establishment. Brown is a power broker. I'm not sure what his legacy is beyond that. He said before he got elected mayor that he would pave San Francisco and he's pretty much done that. He also referred to himself as a pimp and the board of supervisors as his whores. A colorful figure (as is Trump) but basically a broker for development deals. I know San Francisco well and I even took dance classes from his 'wife' Blanch Brown at Dance Mission. But again, I don't know what his legacy will be. I couldn't say what he's done, outside of deals, and I lived in San Francisco 25+ years. He sure pissed me off when he called in favors to literally line the street with cops, sheriffs and CHP during Critical Mass a month or so before his re-election. Previously, SFPD bike patrol rode CM themselves. Nope, I don't like the guy. And I'd never call him any sort of liberal.
butterfi 9y ago
WOAH there... Brown might be a lot of things, but he's no Donald Trump. Friends and foe alike describe Brown as "the smartest guy in the room." Brown is an intellectual powerhouse compared to Trump and way more politically savvy then Trumps ever been.
- CalChris 9y ago
  Smart solves problems. Least principled gets deals done. Brown got a shit ton of deals done. Still, you would think that after a certain level of success that he wouldn't care about the next deal. But that appears to be all there is to the man. Witty, I'll give you. But you'll have to give me an example of him being smart.
  - butterfi 9y ago
    granted, my information is second-hand, but one of the smartest people I know (very accomplished) had worked with Brown personally over several years and remarked that Brown was the "smartest person in the room" and frequently could get to the core issues of a given problem quickly.
    - CalChris 9y ago
      I'm sure he could. I'm not calling Brown an idiot. But he's no genius either. Bluntly, we're mostly talking about real estate deals where he had the ability to block and unblock progress at will. If he unblocked progress (UCSF Mission Bay) I'm sure he looked like a genius. But what does he have to show for it all? The replacement of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge was $6.5 billion, at least a decade late, up from $250M original, and then he wanted it named after himself. Really. I'm supposed to call that smart? It used Chinese steel (Rose Pak thanks you) that was delayed every time there was a price fluctuation. Really. The guy was a power broker. But he wasn't an effective politician. He just cut deals.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Willie Brown was/is the Donald Trump of San Francisco. Wait, what? How is that analogy supposed to work? Willie Brown : San Francisco :: Donald Trump : ??? Donald Trump is a born-wealthy real estate developer that eventually entered electoral politics, first holding office at an age when people are more likely to retire from electoral politics than begin a career. Willie Lewis Brown, Jr., was born in segregated Texas, first worked as a shoe-shine boy, became a lawyer, and shortly went into politics, serving 30+ years in the Assembly, about half of it as Speaker. (And a while as kingmaker when the Republicans held a slim majority.) Trump is perceived as an anti-establishment political figure, Brown was the California political establishment, even when other people held higher offices in the State (and even in the interruption in his time as Speaker.) Other than both being men, I can't see much that they have in common that would justify the analogy you suggest. They are more opposites than analogs.

tptacek 9y ago
I lived in San Francisco during the Willie Brown era, and the rap on him was that he was the closest thing to a Chicago-style politician you'd find anywhere outside of Chicago. I got caught up in a towing scam run by people connected to his administration; I'm inclined to believe that reputation was earned.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  Sure, there's at least a sound basis for accusing Brown of being a big city machine politician (in style, at least, SF isn't really a big city, despite what it thinks of itself.) But even that hardly supports an analogy to Trump: there are lots of things you can say about Trump, but machine politician isn't one of them.
  - tptacek 9y ago
    I think it's a comparison in terms of a ratio to public gregariousness and profile over personal ethics.
anigbrowl 9y ago
SF city politics are petty, to put it very mildly. Brown is regarded as an operator in that he did a lot of development deals and tended to broker deals in 'smoke filled rooms' rather than being a creature of procedure. Otherwise I agree that comparing him to Trump is absurd.
- CalChris 9y ago
  The direct comparison is that anyone but Brown or Trump would never overcome their scandals. But SF voters just said, Oh that's just Willie being Willie and national Republicans just said Oh that's just Trump being Trump.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > The direct comparison is that anyone but Brown or Trump would never overcome their scandals. Brown is unique in many ways, but bouncing back from scandals in SF politics isn't one of them.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
CalChris 9y ago
> Trump is perceived as an anti-establishment political figure He may embarrass establishment types and he may use populism in his appeal but Cheeto is very establishment. Brown is a power broker. I'm not sure what his legacy is beyond that. He said before he got elected mayor that he would pave San Francisco and he's pretty much done that. He also referred to himself as a pimp and the board of supervisors as his whores. A colorful figure (as is Trump) but basically a broker for development deals. I know San Francisco well and I even took dance classes from his 'wife' Blanch Brown at Dance Mission. But again, I don't know what his legacy will be. I couldn't say what he's done, outside of deals, and I lived in San Francisco 25+ years. He sure pissed me off when he called in favors to literally line the street with cops, sheriffs and CHP during Critical Mass a month or so before his re-election. Previously, SFPD bike patrol rode CM themselves. Nope, I don't like the guy. And I'd never call him any sort of liberal.

butterfi 9y ago

WOAH there... Brown might be a lot of things, but he's no Donald Trump. Friends and foe alike describe Brown as "the smartest guy in the room." Brown is an intellectual powerhouse compared to Trump and way more politically savvy then Trumps ever been.

CalChris 9y ago
Smart solves problems. Least principled gets deals done. Brown got a shit ton of deals done. Still, you would think that after a certain level of success that he wouldn't care about the next deal. But that appears to be all there is to the man. Witty, I'll give you. But you'll have to give me an example of him being smart.
- butterfi 9y ago
  granted, my information is second-hand, but one of the smartest people I know (very accomplished) had worked with Brown personally over several years and remarked that Brown was the "smartest person in the room" and frequently could get to the core issues of a given problem quickly.
  - CalChris 9y ago
    I'm sure he could. I'm not calling Brown an idiot. But he's no genius either. Bluntly, we're mostly talking about real estate deals where he had the ability to block and unblock progress at will. If he unblocked progress (UCSF Mission Bay) I'm sure he looked like a genius. But what does he have to show for it all? The replacement of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge was $6.5 billion, at least a decade late, up from $250M original, and then he wanted it named after himself. Really. I'm supposed to call that smart? It used Chinese steel (Rose Pak thanks you) that was delayed every time there was a price fluctuation. Really. The guy was a power broker. But he wasn't an effective politician. He just cut deals.