Clinton Appoints Cisneros and Brown to Cabinet Posts : Staff: Selection of Latino and black reflect President-elect’s pledge of diversity. Cisneros would head HUD; Brown named to Veterans’ Affairs.

Broadening the diversity of his Cabinet, President-elect Bill Clinton Thursday picked former San Antonio Mayor Henry G. Cisneros to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and veterans’ activist Jesse Brown to lead the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

“They represent the best in a new generation of leaders,” Clinton said as he made Cisneros the first Latino chosen for his Cabinet and Brown the second black, along with Commerce Secretary-designate Ronald H. Brown.

Cisneros, 45, was a four-term mayor of San Antonio from 1981 to 1989, and has been a symbol of the new generation of Latino leaders. Brown, 48, a Marine who returned from Vietnam with a partially paralyzed arm, is executive director of the 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans.

Clinton is not expected to make other announcements this week, but aides say a series of Cabinet announcements are all but certain for early next week. Among those that appear ready to be named are Los Angeles attorney Warren Christopher as secretary of state, Wisconsin Rep. Les Aspin as secretary of defense, former South Carolina Gov. Richard W. Riley as secretary of education, former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt as secretary of Interior and Chicago banker William Daley as secretary of transportation.

Aspin reportedly was traveling to Little Rock for a meeting with Clinton today.

Aides cautioned, however, that the preponderance of men on the Cabinet lists had caused considerable concern and that some of the apparently settled nominations could unravel over the weekend as Clinton tries to further diversify his Administration.

The housing and veterans agencies are generally ranked among the lesser Cabinet posts, but these picks were especially sensitive for Clinton.

Attacked during the campaign for avoiding military service, Clinton wants to build bridges to the veterans community, hence the appointment of the popular Brown. In the choice of the high-profile Cisneros, he hopes to show his concern for the poor and calm growing complaints from some Latinos that they are not sufficiently represented in the new Administration.

At a press conference, both Clinton and Cisneros cited last spring’s Los Angeles riots as an example of the inner-city anguish that, they implied, the housing agency could help alleviate.

Their choice of words differed. While Cisneros referred to the Los Angeles “civil disturbances,” Clinton called the event “riots” that had “reminded us of our urban crisis.”

Brown, known as a crusader for improved health benefits for veterans, will take over the agency at a time when veterans have been highly critical of the quality of Veterans Administration services.

“I will be a secretary for veterans affairs, not a secretary of veterans affairs,” Brown vowed, bringing cheers from veterans who showed up to display support at the press conference. And Clinton, who narrowly won the veterans vote in the election, acknowledged: “Too often in the past this agency has acted callously toward those whom it is supposed to serve.”

But Brown’s role brought questions about whether such an activist could judiciously shepherd a multibillion-dollar federal agency. Clinton, noting that budget constraints will affect VA policy, replied that heads of all departments must balance the needs of the people they serve with those of the broader public.

Clinton also was asked to comment on reports that Senate Republicans, remembering Democratic attacks on the nominees of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, are organizing a “hit squad” to search for the faults of Clinton’s Cabinet choices.

Clinton said he expected his nominees to be treated fairly, noting that “the overwhelming percentage of the nominees sent to the Democratic Senate by Presidents Reagan and Bush have been confirmed.”

Clinton also announced his selection of Hershel Gober, a career military man and four-year head of Arkansas’ Department of Veterans’ Affairs, as Brown’s deputy.

Gober, 56, was in the Marines for three years and in the Army for 17, earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Clinton cited the work Gober had done on his behalf with veterans during the campaign year.

Clinton had been widely expected Thursday to name Dr. Joycelyn Elders, director of the Arkansas Health Department, as surgeon general. But the Clinton team apparently did not understand that the term of the current surgeon general, Dr. Antonia C. Novello, does not expire until 1994 and that the job is considered a nonpolitical one.

Aides said Novello and transition officials are in discussions aimed at finding Novello, a career public health official, another full-time federal job.

Although several Cabinet members are still to be named officially, only two--attorney general and secretary of energy--appear to be subjects for active lobbying, transition sources said. Women’s advocacy groups continue to press for Washington attorney Brooksley E. Born, whom Clinton interviewed for the job earlier this month, as attorney general. But transition officials said Clinton was continuing to consider other names as well.

For energy secretary, Colorado Sen. Timothy E. Wirth has been the leading candidate. But Wirth has been subjected to a fierce series of assaults from opponents, including several fellow senators who have tangled with him in the past. As a result, “he’s been hemorrhaging,” said one transition official. “Can he be patched up? Maybe. But for the first time, I’ve heard that people are looking at other names.”

Three names apparently under consideration are Reps. Philip R. Sharp (D-Ind.) Les AuCoin (D-Ore.), and Madeleine M. Kunin, the former Vermont governor. Sharp is a prominent energy expert in the House and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. AuCoin ran for the Senate in Oregon this fall, losing to Republican incumbent Bob Packwood.

Several Californians are under consideration for senior sub-Cabinet jobs.

Roberta Achtenberg, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, appears likely to be named deputy HUD secretary, transition officials said. Achtenberg, who had also been discussed for a Justice Department job, was a prominent early Clinton supporter who gained national attention as one of the first openly lesbian elected officials in the nation.

Her appointment has been backed by several gay advocacy groups.

Another Californian, Clinton campaign chairman Mickey Kantor, met with Clinton earlier this week and has discussed several jobs, including trade representative and a senior Justice Department post, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

And Richard Rominger, head of California’s agriculture department under Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., has emerged as a leading candidate for deputy secretary of agriculture, transition officials said. The chief candidate for the top job at agriculture, Rep. Mike Espy (D-Miss.), was in Little Rock Thursday to meet with Clinton, but sources said opposition to his nomination had grown recently.

Separately, Clinton’s deputy transition director, Mark Gearan, issued a statement defending Johnetta Cole, the president of Spellman College in Atlanta and head of the transition’s education “cluster,” against charges that she was too close to left-wing groups.

Latest Clinton Appointees

Thumbnail sketches of President-elect Bill Clinton’s appointees announced Thursday:

VETERANS’ AFFAIRS Who: Jesse Brown Age: 48 Background: He is executive director of the Disabled American Veterans, a former Marine whose right arm is partly paralyzed from a gunshot wound he suffered in 1965 while on patrol in Vietnam. The Chicago native is known as a crusader for improved health benefits for disabled veterans. He also has campaigned vigorously against proposals to reduce some veterans’ benefits as a way to help cut the federal budget deficit. Quote: Said he would be “a secretary for veterans affairs, not a secretary of veterans affairs.”

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Who: Henry G. Cisneros Age: 45 Background: He was the first Latino mayor of a large American city, serving as the mayor of San Antonio, his birthplace, from 1981 to 1989. He was credited with coordinating government and private efforts to boost tourism and convention business for the city. He left public office to lead an investment firm and head communication and air charter companies. Quote: “I sense we have limited time for America. We cannot talk about the economy and not talk about our cities and towns, about the poor of all races.” Source: Associated Press