Chron insiders hate Willie Brown's new column

In closing, Brown tips his columnist's hat to attorney Steven Kay without noting that the two share an office, or that Kay serves as secretary of the Willie L. Brown Jr. Institute on Politics and Public Service, where Brown has drawn a salary as chairman and chief executive officer.

There's a feeling in the Chronicle newsroom that this would never have happened with Bronstein as editor. For years, the corporate suits behind the Chronicle have conducted a strange moth-and-light-bulb dance with Brown. The paper's current incarnation was born of a Brown deal in which the Hearst Corporation paid his political allies $66 million in subsidies to take over the Examiner. In exchange, Hearst presumably received a promise from the mayor not to use his influence with federal antitrust officials to block its purchase of the Chronicle.

Under Bronstein, however, efforts were made to treat Brown as a news subject rather than a business partner. In 2001, reporters Chuck Finnie and Lance Williams produced "Willie Brown Inc.," a five-part series detailing how, as mayor, Brown had turned the city's contracting operations into a cashbox for friends and allies. Brown spent the last three years of his term publicly lashing out at the Chronicle.

Ward Bushee was brought aboard as the Chronicle continued to bleed tens of millions of dollars per year and Bronstein's leadership wasn't turning the financial situation around. Insiders now say they fear Bushee will merely channel the whims of publisher Frank Vega, who is desperate to revive the unprofitable paper. (Bushee and Vega did not return calls requesting comment.)

But at a time when the newspaper business is sinking because it can't sell enough ads at high enough prices, it seems odd that the Chronicle would promote Willie L. Brown Inc.'s personal, business, and political interests for free.