Rice Asked About Cabinet Post Seattle Mayor On Hud Job List; He Meets With Gore Today

Seattle Mayor Norm Rice said Wednesday he had been sounded out about a job in the Clinton administration, and all but admitted he would take it if offered.

Rice is among candidates to replace Henry Cisneros as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a Democratic congressional aide with close contacts at the White House.

Appearing at a U.S. Conference of Mayors news conference Wednesday, Rice said he was in town to begin work on a welfare reform committee, which he will chair for the conference, and was not scheduled to discuss a Cabinet post with anyone in the administration.

But, under questioning from reporters, Rice said he already has been sounded out, in general terms, about joining the second Clinton administration. He did not say with whom he had spoken.

“Has anyone talked to me? Of course, someone has talked to me. Someone said, ‘Gee, Norm, what do you think?’ and I said, ‘Gee, there are things that I would be interested in.’ But I haven’t got any specifics, and no one has asked me specifically to do anything, so I have been very cautious to make sure I am not giving out signals that I am further ahead than anyone else,” Rice said.

“I think if the president were to ask me to serve it would be very hard to turn him down, but I don’t know if I am going to be asked … If your leader of your country wants you … well, it’s pretty hard to turn him down.”

“It’s an honor to be considered,” Rice declared.

Others reported to be under consideration for the HUD post include Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke and HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Development Andrew Cuomo.

The Democratic congressional aide said of Rice and the HUD post: “They (the White House) are interested in him …”

Prompted by reporters, Rice began to extol the virtues of being a big-city mayor as a qualification for a job in a the Clinton administration. Initially, he sounded almost facetious, saying the fact that he was under consideration “shows that mayors are strategic, visionary, great leaders and are capable of managing complex organizations and moving this country to the 21st century.”

But before long he was making a serious argument about the value of his experience for such a job.

He said his experience as mayor was just the sort of preparation one needed for “a major Cabinet post.” He sounded as if he were running for the job.

“I come from a city that has had a phenomenal revitalization of its downtown, as well as some of the best housing programs in the nation,” Rice said.

And - hitting the non-partisan themes that Clinton has stressed when talking of his second term - Rice also argued that the pragmatic give-and-take he had displayed as mayor was good preparation for a cabinet job.

Rice is to meet with Vice President Al Gore at the White House today to discuss welfare reform.

The mayor lost a bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in September and suggested Wednesday that he was a little leery of seeking a third term as mayor.