In today’s Chip Johnson column in the Chron about Ron Dellums’ bumpy transition from Congressman to Oakland mayor, Jerry Brown drops in to offer a few words of advice to his successor, who has developed a reputation in some quarters as a media-averse mayor running a do-nothing administration. (Johnson points out that Dellums only reluctantly agreed to play the heavy to resolve the garbage lockout, and to boost law enforcement numbers after Oakland had nine murders in two weeks.) Quoth Brown, who is now California’s Attorney General :
“Being mayor is about promoting investment in projects in the city and getting the police to be very focused on reducing crime, especially violent crimes. Those are all measurable things.”
And later:
“A mayor’s job is very specific,” Brown said. “There are identifiable development projects, public works projects and plans to reduce crime. Those are all tangible things. If the mayor doesn’t push, things grind to a halt. It’s not about rhetoric.”
Jeez. Where was this Jerry Brown a few years ago?