Lee P. Brown
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Dr. Lee P. Brown 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, a teacher in the Houston Independent School District.
Lee Brown also served on the national scene as the "Drug Czar" for the Clinton administration. He was confirmed by the U.S. 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.
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2001 Campaign=
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.
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 Latin 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.
Career
- 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).
Awards
- 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
Education
- Doctorate in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970
- Masters in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1968
- Masters in Sociology from San Jose State University in 1964
- Bachelors in Criminology from Fresno State University in 1961.
Publications
- 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
| Preceded by: Bob Lanier | Mayor of Houston, Texas 1998-2004 | Succeeded by: Bill White |