Robert C. Bobb is a former appointed official who was the Emergency Financial Manager for the Detroit Public Schools until 2011.
Before that he was the longest-serving African-American city manager in the United States,[4] with a total of 30 years employment in the field.
[6] He worked his way through college buffing floors during the school year and laboring in sulfur pits during the summers.
[6] He traveled to China in 2004 to represent Washington at the World Mega Cities Economic and Cultural Development Conference.
[12] Bobb resigned that year to run an ultimately successful campaign for president of the D.C. Board of Education.
[15] At the end of Bobb's first year as financial manager, the deficit had increased to $363 million, according to budget documents released by the school district in June 2010.
[6][14] He used $500 million in federal stimulus money to improve facilities and led a successful enrollment drive resulting in 900 more students than projected.
[2] Bobb is also the owner, president and CEO of the LAPA Group, LLC, a private/public sector consulting firm.