Kamala Harris said she 'worked her a** off' under ex-lover mayor Willie Brown... but new information about her time there reveals the truth

By Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter, Washington, Dc

Published: 13:11 BST, 24 September 2024 | Updated: 14:44 BST, 24 September 2024

Kamala Harris was frequently absent for California Medical Assistance Commission meetings, even though she was appointed to the position by her boyfriend at the time and then-Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

Harris and Brown dated for about a year when she was a 29 year old lawyer for the Alameda District Attorney's office and he was the powerful speaker who ran for mayor of San Francisco at the age of 60. 

Brown appointed Harris to the CMAC position in 1994, drawing some criticism for impropriety despite Brown’s willingness to publicly flaunt accusations of political patronage. 

Harris had already served six months on the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, a job that paid $97,088 annually, but resigned to take the new position with CMAC.

It’s unclear why Harris missed so many meetings, as she took leave from her job as the Alameda County District Attorney’s office according to the Los Angeles Times.

Harris was absent from more than 20 percent of the meetings according to a Daily Mail review of the committee minutes. On other occasions the minutes reveal that Harris arrived after commissioners started the meetings and already conducted some of their business.

Of the 111 CMAC meetings, Harris was absent from 23 of them, making her the most absent commissioner on the board.

The job required that board members meet twice a month, as it was not a full-time position. The Commission was responsible for negotiating contracts with hospitals to limit costs paid by government funded health care.

But it still paid Harris a great deal of money, $99,000 annually, according to a report from SF Weekly. All told, Harris made more than $400,000 over the five year period she was appointed by Brown to the state positions.

Harris was fiercely defensive of her role on the boards when she campaigned for District Attorney of San Francisco, insisting she did the work despite questions about whether she had earned the position that Brown had appointed her to.

‘Whether you agree or disagree with the system, I did the work,’ she told SF Weekly magazine in a 2003 profile of her career.

‘Well, I worked,’ Harris said to journalist Joan Walsh when asked about her positions in 2003 for San Francisco City Journal magazine. 

'I’ve worked my ass off for everything I have,' she said. 

Brown confirmed much later in his career that he appointed Harris to the positions, which helped boost her career.

‘Yes, I may have influenced her career by appointing her to two state commissions when I was Assembly speaker,’ he acknowledged in a San Francisco op-ed confirming their relationship to the San Francisco Chronicle in January 2019.