Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Joseph L. Alioto CHANGING THE FACE OF SAN FRANCISCO: MAYOR 1968-1976, AND ANTITRUST TRIAL LAWYER With an Introduction by John De Luca Interviews conducted by Carole Hicke in 1991 Copyright 0 1999 by The Regents of the University of California, the California Historical Society, and the Ninth Judicial Curcuit Historical Society Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between the California Historical Society, the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, The Regents of the University of California, and Kathleen Alioto. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the California Historical Society, the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, and The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Kathleen Alioto require that she be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Joseph L. Alioto, "Changing the Face of San Francisco: Mayor 1968-1976, and Antitrust Trial Lawyer," an oral history conducted in 1991 by Carole Hicke, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1999. Copy no. Cataloguing in£ormat ion Alioto, Joseph L. (1916-1998) San Francisco mayor, attorney San Francisco Mayor, 1968-1976, and Antitrust Attorney, 1999, vii, 206 pp. Childhood in North Beach and education, Catholic University Law School; early trial lawyers John Taafe, Garrett McInerny; practice with the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice: wine industry cases, Jacuzzi case, American Football League and National Football League cases, Rice Growers Association; terms as San Francisco Mayor: campaigns, issues of revelopment, housing, school busing, Transamerica Pyramid, Embarcadero Center, arts, music parks for the city, riots, student protests. Introduction by John De Luca, President, Wine Institute. Interviewed in 1991 by Carole Hicke for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society and the California Historical Society, and the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. TABLE OF CONTENTS--Joseph L. Alioto INTRODUCTION by John De Luca INTERVIEW HISTORY I BACKGROUND Growing up in San Francisco North Beach Education A. P. Giannini and the Bank of Italy LAW SCHOOL AND PRACTICE WITH THE ANTITRUST DIVISION The Wine Case Law School, 1937-1940 More on the Wine Case War Frauds Unit U.S. v. Borax Consolidated Tom Clark Manhattan Project Thoughts on Antitrust Laws I11 PRIVATE LAW PRACTICE Off ice Startup San Francisco Legal Scene: 1940s and 1950s Samuel Goldwyn Case IV SOME INPORTANT CASES Impact of the Warren Court More on the Wine Industry Wine Train Rossi Case Jacuzzi Case and Other Antitrust Litigation Electrical Price-Fixing Cases Class Actions Radovich v. National Football League Rice Growers Association Food for Peace Program in South America Alioto Enterprises V MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO, 1968-1976 The Campaign: 1967 Early Experiences: Board of Supervisors Continuing Law Practice The Look Magazine Libel Martin Luther King Assassination Other Riots Zebra Campaign of 197 1 Promotion of Qualified Minorities Crime and Public Housing Beautifying San Francisco Asian Art Museum San Francisco Opera School Busing Cultural Traditions and Diversity VI POST MAYORAL LAW PRACTICE Capp Case More Historic Sports Litigation I1 Cenocolo and North Beach Police and Fire Strike, 1975 San Francisco Crime Commission Philadelphia Eagles Case, 1980 New England Patriots, 1991 Koreagate, Great America, Gucci, and Other Cases TAPE GUIDE APPENDIX A "Issues Settled 1968-1976," (Alioto's mayoral years) B "Ex-Mayor Joe Alioto Dies at 81," San Francisco Chronicle, January 30, 1998 C "Mayor Joseph L. Alioto's only political label: Optimist," Hadley Roff, San Francisco Examiner, February 1, 1998 INDEX I first met Joseph L. Alioto in late Spring 1967 at a luncheon arranged for the two of us by Benjamin Swig, famous owner of the Fairmont hotel chain. Following two years of service in Washington, D.C., as a White House Fellow and international affairs assistant to Senator Frank Church of Idaho, I had returned to San Francisco with my wife Jo and new daughter Gina to settle in the Bay Area. Mr. Swig thought I would find fellow Sicilian Joe Alioto a man of impressive intellect and personal dynamism. "He is a man of sophistication and culture with a great mind," I remember him telling me. He's a renowned anti-trust attorney, but he also serves as counsel to the rice growers and vintners and knows real estate. With your backgrounds the two of you could hit it off and become friends." It turned out by a most unpredictable succession of events, triggered shortly thereafter by the sudden death of State Senator Eugene McAteer who was running for Mayor of San Francisco, that within six months of our first encounter Joe Alioto had captured that post himself in a whirlwind campaign. He offered to me, and I accepted, the appointment as Chief of Staff, an office subsequently elevated to that of Deputy Mayor. Our first hour of crab legs and chardonnay became the genesis of a wild piece of shared history as we and the City would confront the turbulent years of urban crisis that characterized the period 1968-1 976. The ,three decades that have since passed cannot dull nor diminish the powerful memories of Joe Alioto's tenure as mayor. From the very outset his physical impact was felt from the streets of San Francisco to the Oval office in Washington, D.C. His bull shoulders and chest, balding head, charismatic poise and presence made you take notice. In 1968 both President Lyndon Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, men of no little self-confidence, were attracted by Joe's raw magnetism. On about our third visit that spring LBJ called in Joseph Califano, his savvy domestic affairs chief, and asked, "What apples do we have in the bushel for the good mayor?" What can we do for this good friend of ours?" Within weeks frozen federal funds were dislodged and sent to City departments. The Highway 280 dispute between the City and State, over the placement through the Crystal Springs watershed in San Mateo County, was settled in favor of San Francisco when the White House weighed in. 'The President had instructed the Department of Transportation, "We're paying 92% of the bills, so put the damn freeway where the Mayor of San Francisco says it should go." Fort Funston, ,then in federal hands, was soon given back to local control as another "apple" was found in LBJ's bushel. Vice President Humphrey's political antenna was even more activated. During the hotly contested primary battle between Senator Robert Kennedy and Humphrey, Joe forcefully endorsed the Vice President without prodding or inducement. In a series of press interviews and addresses to political audiences Joe was both captivating and eloquent - the hallmark of his entire public speaking career. Humphrey and his advisors took note, and given Joe's West Coast roots and Eastern ethnic and religious appeal, serious consideration was given him as a potential running mate. This possibility was strongly pursued all the way to the Chicago convention, with no less a figure as Lawrence Spivak of "Meet the Press" predicting Joe's selection. In the final analysis, the Humphrey inner circle objected that Joe's lin'rited term - barely seven months in office - would negate their planned attack on Nixon's V.P. choice, Spiro Agnew, who was equally unknown to the American public. Humphrey chose the very talented and experienced Senator Edmund Muskie for the 1968 ticket, but asked Joe to give the principal nohinating speech at the Convention and to chair "All Americans For Humphrey" in the national campaign. Joe discharged both roles admirably, and in the autumn months as Nixon's big lead