Lee P. Brown
Lee P. Brown (born
October 4,
1937) had a successful
career in
law enforcement for almost four decades before being
elected as the first African-American mayor of
Houston, Texas on
December 6,
1997. He served the maximum of three
terms from
1998 to
2004 and was succeeded by
Bill White. Brown is married to
Frances Young (his second wife), a
teacher in the
Houston Independent School District.
Lee Brown also served on the national scene as the
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (or "Drug Czar") for the
Clinton administration. He was confirmed by the
Senate with a unanimous vote and was sworn-in to the
cabinet-level post on June 21,
1993.
Prior to his Confirmation as ONDCP Director, Dr. Brown was a
Professor at
Texas Southern University and Director of the university's Black Male Initiative Program.
Brown, to most Houstonians, was the first African American who was appointed as the Police Chief to the City of Houston under Kathy Whitmire's administration, and the first African American mayor in the City of Houston. He was the second African-American to campaign for mayor; Texas State Representative Sylvester Turner campaigned in 1991 until the runoff election - he lost to Bob Lanier in the midst of an investigative report by KTRK-TV (ABC13).
Brown is past President of the
International Association of Chiefs of Police and is involved in a number of professional and community organizations.
Brown's record as a public official has met with criticism over his management style. He was subjected to criticism over his handling of the
Crown Heights riots in
New York City while serving as police commissioner. As mayor of Houston, Brown presided over the construction of the city's controversial
METRORail transit system after initially pledging his opposition to the project during his first campaign. In his last days in office, he increased retirement benefits for himself and other police officers which is said to have caused a mass exodus from the force. This decrease in officers is often blamed for the increase in crime seen in 2004-2006.
Brown's propensity to take frequent and often-critized trips abroad, paid for by taxpayer money, earned him the nickname "Out of Town" Brown. [
1][
2]
Brown is a member of
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate
Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
Heavy roadway reconstruction in Houston's downtown area and accompanying traffic problems typified his term in office and led to allegations that Brown mismanaged the city's infrastructure projects. In
2001 Brown narrowly survived a reelection challenge and runoff against city councilman
Orlando Sanchez, who campaigned against Brown's handling of Houston roadways. Sanchez' supporters made issue of poor street conditions, campaigning that the "P stands for Pothole," referencing Brown's middle initial. Sanchez himself used a
Hummer adorned with the banner "With Brown in Town it's the only way to get around" as his campaign vehicle.
Sanchez used the media publicity where a Houston firefighter's death in the line of duty resulted in endorsements from the fire/emergency medical services sector.
The Brown-Sanchez election produced heated rhetoric and involvement from several national political figures. Brown received the endorsement of former president
Bill Clinton while Sanchez was endorsed by president
George W. Bush. The contest also produced racial undertones as Sanchez, a
Cuban American vying to become the first Hispanic mayor of Houston, challenged Brown, the city's first African American mayor. Brown drafted family members of murder victim
James Byrd Jr. for taped political ads accusing Sanchez of racial insensitivity towards Blacks for failing to support a
hate crimes law. Sanchez, in turn, accused Brown of playing the
race card against Hispanic voters. This latter allegation prompted another Hispanic city councilman, John Castillo, to defect from the Brown camp and endorse Sanchez late in the campaign.
Voting split heavily on racial lines with a majority of Hispanic and Anglo voters supporting Sanchez and a majority of African Americans supporting Brown. Brown narrowly won reelection by a margin of a single percentage point following heavy voter turnout in predominantly Black precincts, compared to relatively light turnout in Hispanic precincts.
Brown's 2001 reelection was one of the last major political campaigns supported by the Houston-based
Enron Corporation, which collapsed in a financial scandal only days after Brown's reelection. Just weeks prior, Enron executives including
Ken Lay had hosted reelection fundraisers for Brown and published their endorsements of his candidacy in print advertisements.
*
1960 patrolman in
San Jose, California.
*
1968 Established the Department of Administration of Justice at
Portland State University in
Portland, Oregon *
1972 Associate Director of the
Institute for Urban Affairs and Research at
Howard University in
Washington, D.C. (held the
academic rank of Professor of
Public Administration and Director of
Criminal Justice Programs)
*
1975 Sheriff,
Multnomah County*
1976 Director of Justice Services, a department comprised of all the county's
criminal justice agencies.
*
1978 -
1982 Public Safety Commissioner,
Atlanta, Georgia*
1982 -
1990 Chief of Police,
Houston, Texas *
1990 -
1992 Police Commissioner,
New York City *
1993 Director of the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
*
1998 -
2004 Mayor of
Houston, Texas*
1993 -
Gallup Hall of Fame by
Gallup, Inc.
*
1992 -
Cartier Pasha Award from
Cartier International*
1991 -
Father of the Year by the
National Father's Day Committee*
Doctorate in
Criminology from the
University of California, Berkeley in
1970*
Masters in
Criminology from the
University of California, Berkeley in
1968*
Masters in
Sociology from
San José State University in
1964 *
Bachelors in
Criminology from
California State University, Fresno in
1961.
*Many articles and papers on
police management,
community policing,
crime and the
criminal justice system*co-author of
Police and Society; An Environment for Collaboration and Confrontation
