Name Brian Setencich | ||
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Brian Setencich (born 1962) served in the California Assembly for one term from 1994 to 1996 and as Speaker of that body from September 14, 1995 to January 4, 1996. Setencich, a Republican, was the first freshman legislator to serve as Speaker of the Assembly in more than a century. He was previously a city councilman in Fresno and played professional basketball in Europe.
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Political career
California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown convinced Setencich and another Republican, Doris Allen, to vote with the Democrats so that the Republicans could not elect a Speaker. Brown had Allen elected Speaker, but in name only, since Brown continued to lead the legislative body as head of the Democratic caucus. Outraged Republicans had Allen recalled, and shortly before her removal from office, she resigned, and Brown had Setencich elected Speaker.
In 1995, Brown was elected Mayor of San Francisco. On January 3, 1996, Brown resigned the legislature to be sworn in as Mayor. This allowed the Republicans to take control of the Assembly and elect conservative Orange County legislator Curt Pringle as Speaker of the Assembly. In the primary election of 1996, Setencich was defeated for renomination by Robert Prenter, who defeated Setencich again in November when Setencich ran as a write-in candidate. He then became a special assistant to San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
Tax evasion
In June 2000, a U.S. District Court jury found that Setencich had filed a false tax return understating his 1996 income by $19,300. He was sentenced to spend seven months at a halfway house. Setencich's indictment was a result of Fresno's Operation Rezone corruption probe.