Brown Assumes Office as Houston’s 1st Black Mayor

Former federal drug policy director Lee P. Brown was sworn in Friday as the city’s first black mayor and immediately vowed to make City Hall more responsive to its citizens.

“What makes this moment most meaningful is not its symbolic importance but the practical opportunity you’ve given me to make a difference--to help make this great city even greater for our children and generations to come,” said Brown, who became Houston’s first black police chief 16 years ago.

“I want every Houstonian to feel not just a stake in the decisions we make but a voice,” he said.

More than 2,200 people crammed inside Houston’s ballet and opera house to witness the event. After the Pledge of Allegiance, a lone voice began an impromptu chorus of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” with many in the mostly black audience joining in.

Brown said his election as the first black mayor of the nation’s fourth-largest city sent a signal of hope to young people.

“Another important barrier has fallen in the city of Houston. Today all children--black, white, Hispanic and Asian--can point to City Hall and say, ‘I too can be mayor,’ ” Brown said.

Last month, Brown defeated businessman Rob Mosbacher to succeed popular Mayor Bob Lanier, barred by term limits from seeking a fourth two-year term.

Borrowing from his successful community policing formula, Brown said he intends to make city workers more responsive to citizens’ needs and city services more accessible to working Houstonians.

To meet his goal, Brown unveiled several initiatives he promised to carry out in the next 30 days, including a series of town meetings, a “Mayor’s Night-In” in which people can come to City Hall to meet him, and a whistle-blower hotline so that people can report unethical City Hall practices anonymously.

“Neighborhood-oriented policing worked,” Brown said. “So too will neighborhood-oriented government.”

Brown was President Clinton’s drug policy chief in 1993-95 and held top law enforcement jobs in Atlanta and New York City. Although last month’s mayoral race was officially nonpartisan, both candidates drew support from high-profile allies: Mosbacher from former President Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and Brown from the Clinton administration.

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About 26% of Houston’s 1.8 million residents are black; whites make up 38% and Latinos 32%.

Brown said he would appoint what amounted to a city drug czar to work with community groups to develop anti-drug strategies.

“My vision is of a Houston where every child is handed a library card instead of a beer can, a joint or a pill. Let our children find their adventure between the covers of a great book and not the deadly fumes of a crack pipe,” he said.