JERRY BROWN'S JACQUES BARZAGHI PROBLEM

"Bro' Brown And The Tarzaghibaby (Part One)"

"The French emigrant Mr. Barzaghi has been attached to Jerry Brown’s hip since they met in Sacramento in the 1970s when Mr. Brown was serving as California’s secretary of state. They’ve been together through Mr. Brown’s two terms as California governor, two runs for the United States presidency, one-and-a-something terms as mayor of Oakland, and the years of wandering in political exile in between. Mr. Barzaghi has served in various capacities for Mr. Brown during that time, from campaign manager to spiritual adviser—at one point, in Oakland, he even got himself a concealed weapons permit and announced himself as Mr. Brown’s bodyguard. But the exact nature of the Brown-Barzaghi relationship is one the great mysteries of modern life. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? King Henry II and Thomas Beckett? You could do a UC Berkeley dissertation on the subject. But like Malcolm el Shabazz used to remind us in another context, those who say don’t know, and those who know don’t say.

"Oakland—being a tolerant sort-of town—liked to comment on the Brown-Barzaghi relationship, but for the most part accepted it as a necessary—if odd—component to Mr. Brown’s putting-us-on-the-map machine. In Oakland, the two men shared living quarters—along with Mr. Barzaghi’s wife—at Mr. Brown’s Second Avenue loft, with Oakland helping to foot the food and clothing bills by employing Mr. Barzaghi in different city jobs. For a while he served as the arts-something-or-other for the city, though damned if you can find five people who will even try to make a guess at what benefit Oakland got out of that deal.

"Anyhow, the relationship took a decided turn for the worse in late 2001 when Mr. Barzaghi was accused by two female employees of sexual harassment during a trip to Mexico for the incoming Mexican president’s inauguration."

From the "Bro' Brown And The Tarzaghibaby (Part One)"column
July 30, 2004