JERRY BROWN, ROBERT C. BOBB HEADLINE FINAL PROGRAM ON CITIES MARCH 29 AT UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND

March 23, 2001

Oakland Mayor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown and city manager Robert C. Bobb will discuss their city's experiment with the strong mayor form of government March 29 in the final event of this year's Jepson Leadership Forum at the University of Richmond.

The program begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Jepson Alumni Center. Tickets are free and can be reserved by calling 289-8980.

Brown was California's governor from 1974-1982 and has been Oakland's mayor since January 1999. Bobb was city manager of Richmond for 11 years before taking the Oakland post in 1997.

In his mayoral inauguration speech, Brown promised to reduce crime, repopulate downtown, create public charter schools and advance the arts. He also struck a partnership with Bobb, whose strengths in economic development many credit with the return of businesses to downtown Oakland. Both Brown and Bobb have worked to break up the gridlock that often stymied initiatives under the old council-manager form of government.

The event is sponsored by the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Brown and Bobb's appearance caps a year-long look at "Views and Voices on the City" that brought author Jonathan Kozol, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, Charleston, S.C., police chief Reuben Greenberg and other figures to speak on campus.