vis0930-wbrown

9:30 PM

THE WORLD WIDE
WILLIE WEB

Here in San Francisco we don't just TALK about cultural diversity . . .

. . . we ARE cultural diversity !

words and photos by Hugo Daley

On January 9th the WorldWide WillieWeb spread to the Digital Be-In NetCast. "Politicians," says Da Mayor, "will grab any technology that reaches voters and to shape their image Ð and they can do this all through the internet."

Mayor Brown sees the Internet as a marvelous tool to assess public desires and needs Ð to gather information and to to provide access to the public.

"But be warned," says Mayor Brown, "politicians will often be using it as a means to avoid shaking a hand, to conceal their true emotions."

The Mayor of San Francisco and by extension, "Multimedia Gulch" says that he probably couldn't have been elected mayor of any other city. "It is the intelligence and diversity of The City that provided an opportunity for me - and for anyone who is not part of the good-old-boys club of yesteryear.

As for the theme of the 9th Digital Be-In - cultural diversity in cyberspace: "San Francisco is unique! We don't have to talk about it, we ARE cultural diversity. We are proud of our ethnic districts and the many festivals associated with various ethnic groups."

Mayor Brown plans a massive expansion of Web use in City operations. "I look forward to the day when I can have daily conferences with my staff over the Web - and this won't be too far into the future!