Mosbacher throws first runoff chop

Brown calls TV ad `attacks, distortions'

By Alan Bernstein
Houston Chronicle Political Writer

Rob Mosbacher threw the first tomahawk of the Houston mayoral runoff
Thursday, using a television commercial to portray Lee Brown as
"ineffective everywhere he's been."

Brown said the advertisement amounted to "attacks and distortions" that
explain "why so many people hate politics." He quoted newspaper articles
about the praise he received as police chief in Atlanta, Houston and New York.

Coming two days after the election in which the candidates qualified for
the next round, Mosbacher's commercial quickly confirmed widespread
speculation of political observers about the runoff campaign.

Mosbacher, running in second place, is expected to focus the contest on his
opponent's public record. The candidate himself has said that Brown's
professional background is "fair game" because Brown presents it as an asset.

Brown got 42 percent of the vote on Tuesday, to 29 percent for Mosbacher
and lesser shares for the six other candidates. The two leaders face off in
a runoff election that Mayor Bob Lanier is expected to schedule for Dec. 6.

Mosbacher's advertisement highlights the fact that overall crime rose 11
percent in Houston between 1982 and 1990, a period in which Brown was the
city's police chief. The ads also point out that crime increased 6 percent
during his tenure in Atlanta.

Brown did not question either statistic, but pointed out that overall crime
in Texas rose at a much higher rate about 40 percent during his
tenure as Houston chief.

Brown also cited his positive mention in the nowdefunct Houston Post as
one of "25 people who changed Houston."

The commercial, which praises Mosbacher as "a successful businessman," also
states that a New York state investigation concluded that Brown's
performance was "inadequate" as police commissioner of New York City.

The word was officially used not as an assessment of Brown's performance
over two years he served there, but of his response to the 1991 riots
between blacks and Orthodox Jews in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.
Brown has said that he disagrees with the findings of the report.

On Thursday, Brown also cited statistics showing that the New York crime
rate started falling when he was police commissioner there.

Mosbacher's commercial also asserts that "as Washington drug czar, Brown
cut Coast Guard Patrols while drug use soared."

As part of a policy developed by Brown to concentrate eradication of drug
production at its agricultural origins rather than in international
transit, President Clinton in 1994 recommended a budget cut for Coast Guard
antidrug operations.

Congress considered restoring money for the Coast Guard missions. The
ultimate outcome of the proposal could not be determined Thursday night
after an examination of reports on congressional action.

In the modern tradition of campaigning, Mosbacher's staff previewed the
advertisement for reporters Thursday. The candidate was not present.

Brown, responding in a written statement to Mosbacher's use of crime
statistics, pointed to his endorsements from the Houston Police Officers
Union and other law enforcement groups. Police "know the truth" about his
record, Brown asserted.

Brown, asserting that Mosbacher is "up to his old tricks," also cited
Republican Mosbacher's campaign attacks against Democrat Bob Bullock in the
1990 lieutenant governor's race and his criticism of George Greanias in the
first mayoral round that ended this week.

Before learning about Mosbacher's commercial, Brown attended a press
conference Thursday in which he, Democratic state Sen. John Whitmire of
Houston and HPOU President Hans Marticiuc denounced Mosbacher for calling
Brown a bureaucrat Tuesday night.

Whitmire and Marticiuc claimed that Mosbacher's criticism was an insult to
all police officers because Brown's government service has been in
crimefighting roles.

Marticiuc, who bitterly criticized Brown in previous years, said crime rose
in Houston because of the advent of the drug called crack. Users committed
thefts and other crimes to get money to buy the drug, and their activity
boosted the overall crime rate while individual crimes, such as murder,
declined, he said.

Houston reported 678 murders in 1982 and 568 murders in 1990.

"Houston is a better city today, a safer city today, because we have
experienced Lee Brown as our police chief," Whitmire declared.

Incidents of Houston crime reported to the FBI dropped from 1982 through
1987, then began rising through 1990, when Brown departed for New York.
Local patterns in Houston and New York corresponded with national trends.