Willie Brown

Now that long-reigning Democratic Speaker Willie Brown is safely out of town, it's payback time for conservative Bernie Richter. Literally. Assemblyman Richter (R-Chico) steered a bill through the lower house last week that seeks to spread around to 42 counties a bonanza of $87 million a year by raiding the tax base of one city--San Francisco. The city by the bay, maintained Richter, has been hogging more than its rightful share of property tax revenues for 17 years.

Assembly Republicans are raising questions about a legislative computer contract that expired nearly six years ago but has continued to automatically pay more than $600,000 to a firm established with help from a campaign fund-raiser for former Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

One of the hallmarks of the long reign of former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown was the banging of hammers and buzzing of saws in the hallways of the state Capitol. The never-ending work prompted some observers to jokingly compare the statehouse to the Winchester Mystery House, a 160-room San Jose mansion whose owner kept carpenters busy endlessly building new rooms.

Willie Brown played all the roles of political patron, stand-up comic, consigliere and preacher last weekend. San Francisco's new mayor--the self-described former "ayatollah of the Assembly"--was honored by California Democrats at their annual convention. And the party activists, in turn, got their Willie fix--guffawing, clapping and being inspired. Now "busy," he quipped, "filling potholes and sweeping up dog-do," Brown has been away from the state political scene since last fall.

Seeking to put a Republican stamp on an annual pilgrimage to Washington, Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) changed the name of the mission to a "leadership visit." Its goals are roughly the same as in years past, when it was known as "the speaker's visit"--a bipartisan group of Assembly members and state senators fanning out across the city to promote California issues to members of Congress, administration officials and anyone else who will listen.

A GOP assemblyman indicted; two other Republicans recalled; one denied renomination; a Republican speaker under investigation. Why after consolidating their surprise capture of the Assembly in 1994 are Republicans scrambling to hold on to their power? It's as if Willie Brown was still in Sacramento and not the new mayor of San Francisco.

The mansion where World War II naval hero Adm. Chester Nimitz spent his last days will become a ceremonial residence for the mayor if Mayor Willie Brown has his way. Brown would not actually live in the 8,000-square-foot home on Yerba Buena Island, said P. J. Johnston, his news secretary. "It would be more a ceremonial residence, perhaps a sort of Camp David." Brown says the home, built in 1900, would be perfect for entertaining guests, Johnston said.

Former Gov. George Deukmejian, known best to Californians as a hard-boiled crime fighter, choked up with emotion and could not finish answering a question Thursday as he recalled the enormity of personally coping with the deaths of innocent people. The Republican "Iron Duke," as his critics used to call him, fought against tears as he broke down at a political forum. He appeared with former Gov. Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. and former Assembly Speakers Leo T.

Perched on a stool in her hat shop, Ruth Garland-Dewson, a vision in purple pants, colorful tunic, clanking baubles and fuchsia lipstick, is enthralled with the recent change in City Hall. "Honey, you have no idea what Willie Brown has done for my business," she gushed. "I have had people from all over the [San Francisco] Bay Area calling to ask for the 'Willie hat.' " Unfortunately, she added, "they usually don't want to pay the Willie price."

The California Assembly had become a day care center for unruly politicians with nobody in charge. Willie Brown's explanation for this as he recently packed up and left was that the voters--and many reformers--had gotten what they bargained for. A 1990 ballot initiative that imposed term limits was the main culprit, the former speaker opined at a parting news conference.