Brown Says He Welcomes Spotlight on Record, Reputation

Friday, June 9, 2006

Page 3

Brown Says He Welcomes Spotlight on Record, Reputation

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Democratic candidate for attorney general and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown returned fire on his Republican opponent, Sen. Chuck Poochigian yesterday, one day after the Fresno lawmaker said that Brown’s record would be the focus of their general election battle.

“What’s his background?” Brown asked in a telephone interview with the MetNews. “Staffer? Bureaucrat? I’m a ‘get it done’ kind of person,” he said.

Brown said that Poochigian wants to concentrate on the Democrat’s record, “because he has no record of his own. I ran a city. He never ran anything.”

Brown said that the difference between the two candidates is “my hands-on experience working with local law enforcement to get things done versus my opponent’s record as an extreme partisan member of the state Legislature who has no experience working with law enforcement.”

Brown said that he has “broad life experience,” including running Oakland by concentrating on problem solving in a non-partisan manner, which he contrasted to the “extreme political bickering that we see in Sacramento.”

Poochigian is “out of the mainstream,” Brown said. He argued that a lawyer should not be told what to do by one party or the other. “I’m fair and independent,” he said.

Brown noted that he has received the endorsement of the California Police Chiefs Association and many local police associations, including the Pasadena Police Officers Association and the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. “To me, that says something about their respect for me,” he said.

Yesterday Brown campaigned throughout the state picking up endorsements, including a stop in Fresno, Poochigian’s hometown, where he received the endorsement of the Fresno Police Officers Association.

Earlier this week Poochigian criticized Brown for appointing judges who were opposed to the death penalty while he was governor. “I’ve appointed over 850 judges, who are well qualified,” Brown said.