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Over-staffed, ineffective, cash broke and with a budget process from Hell the state reached out to Robert Bobb as an emergency financial manager when the district went into state receivership. Bobb's a DC consultant who has turned around other entities, and did they ever get a doozie. From the Detroit Free Press.
Very purposeful looking. We could use a few of his clones at other levels of government...
Very purposeful looking. We could use a few of his clones at other levels of government...
Robert Bobb's biggest challenge: Create a new Detroit Public Schools
Now he's working nonstop; 'failure is not an option' for DPS
He is constantly in the public eye as the emergency financial manager of Detroit Public Schools, but few people really know much about Robert Bobb.
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He is an introvert, but friends say he has learned how to be comfortable holding a microphone and speaking to large groups.
He seems intense and serious, but he is surprisingly funny.
At times, he is walled off from the public behind a security detail. But he goes out of his way to talk to kids, poses for pictures and returns just about every e-mail.
Many people view him as a savior. Others say he is a villain.
But no one can argue that this complicated, decisive man is making changes that affect every child in Detroit.
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In 2005, when Bobb was the city administrator of Washington, D.C., the headline of a newspaper profile said: "The Robert Bobb Management Method: speak softly and carry plenty of pink slips."
He's used the same technique in Detroit.
Bobb has, in essence, fired 685 administrators by not renewing their contracts. He has closed 29 schools, plans to close 40 more this year and lowered operating costs by more than $115.2 million, according to Angela Joyner, the deputy chief financial officer for management and budget. And the work is not done yet -- more layoffs and cuts are coming.
"If you walk around with your feelings on your sleeves, I'm not the guy to work for," Bobb said. "I'm not here to love you. I'm not here to hate you. I'm here to make sure you get your job done. We don't have to be friends. We don't have to go out for a drink. All I care about, are you going to be productive? I'll back you. I'll fall on the sword for those doing well. But I've fired my very best friend."
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The face of change
Bobb's office on the 14th floor of the Fisher Building is small and sparsely decorated. A framed photograph of the Detroit skyline sits on the floor, propped against the wall. He hasn't had time to put it up. A quote from abolitionist Frederick Douglass is handwritten in marker on a white board. Bobb repeats it often in speeches: "Once you learn to read, you will forever be free."
Now he's working nonstop; 'failure is not an option' for DPS
He is constantly in the public eye as the emergency financial manager of Detroit Public Schools, but few people really know much about Robert Bobb.
>
He is an introvert, but friends say he has learned how to be comfortable holding a microphone and speaking to large groups.
He seems intense and serious, but he is surprisingly funny.
At times, he is walled off from the public behind a security detail. But he goes out of his way to talk to kids, poses for pictures and returns just about every e-mail.
Many people view him as a savior. Others say he is a villain.
But no one can argue that this complicated, decisive man is making changes that affect every child in Detroit.
>
In 2005, when Bobb was the city administrator of Washington, D.C., the headline of a newspaper profile said: "The Robert Bobb Management Method: speak softly and carry plenty of pink slips."
He's used the same technique in Detroit.
Bobb has, in essence, fired 685 administrators by not renewing their contracts. He has closed 29 schools, plans to close 40 more this year and lowered operating costs by more than $115.2 million, according to Angela Joyner, the deputy chief financial officer for management and budget. And the work is not done yet -- more layoffs and cuts are coming.
"If you walk around with your feelings on your sleeves, I'm not the guy to work for," Bobb said. "I'm not here to love you. I'm not here to hate you. I'm here to make sure you get your job done. We don't have to be friends. We don't have to go out for a drink. All I care about, are you going to be productive? I'll back you. I'll fall on the sword for those doing well. But I've fired my very best friend."
>
The face of change
Bobb's office on the 14th floor of the Fisher Building is small and sparsely decorated. A framed photograph of the Detroit skyline sits on the floor, propped against the wall. He hasn't had time to put it up. A quote from abolitionist Frederick Douglass is handwritten in marker on a white board. Bobb repeats it often in speeches: "Once you learn to read, you will forever be free."
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