Economist James Bobo remembered for his criticism of the city's division of wealth and power 09-21-2010 Times Picayune Submitted by N.O.V.A. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ James Bobo, an economist who, while at the University of New Orleans, set off a storm of controversy with a 1975 study that criticized the division of wealth and power in the city, died Sept. 10 at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence, Ala. He was 87. "Pro Bono Publico" ("For the Public Good") described New Orleans as an economically stagnant city suffering from unemployment, underemployment, substandard housing and a deteriorating public-education system. As a result of the lack of civic, business and political leadership, New Orleans' economy was in a state of permanent recession, Dr. Bobo said in his report. "Mass ignorance" about the economy and local economic conditions was the principal factor, he said, and he criticized the business community for not doing a good job of educating the public about the problem. Dr. Bobo continued to stress these issues throughout his years in New Orleans. In his address at UNO's 1978 commencement, Dr. Bobo said the city's greatest weakness was the disproportionately high number of poor people, a result of longtime neglect of its human resources. "The great horror is that we may have built in this underclass permanently," he said. "Through a dereliction of our larger social responsibilities and the idiotic misuse of a well-intentioned welfare system, we have created a social monster." Although the Chamber of Commerce criticized Dr. Bobo's work, "Pro Bono Publico" led Mayor Moon Landrieu to convene the first Mayor's Conference on Economic Development, and the points the report raised became issues in the 1977 mayoral campaign. In that contest, Dutch Morial was elected New Orleans' first black mayor. Dr. Bobo was a friend and campaign adviser. "Dutch loved this analysis," said Cheron Brylski, a New Orleans public-relations specialist who was Morial's press secretary. "It shook up a lot of people. We all read it. We all used it." Morial especially liked Dr. Bobo's criticism of the apathy toward addressing the city's economic problems, Brylski said, and he cited it at town-hall meetings in rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods. At these forums, Brylski said, Morial would blame his listeners for "hooting and hollering with the owls and not getting up with the eagles." A native of Marion County, Ala., who served in the Army during World War II, Dr. Bobo earned a bachelor's degree at the University of North Alabama, a master's degree at George Peabody College and a doctorate at LSU. In 1961, the year he finished his postgraduate studies, Dr. Bobo came to LSUNO (UNO's name until 1974) as a member of the economics faculty. "He did an absolutely wonderful job in the classroom," said John Altazan, who hired Dr. Bobo when he was dean of UNO's College of Business Administration. Dr. Bobo was "self-motivating" and "seemed to have a lot of energy," said Altazan, a professor emeritus of economics, who appointed Dr. Bobo director of the Division of Business Research. In 1969, Dr. Bobo was named dean of UNO's Graduate School. He moved to Mobile, Ala., in August 1978 to become dean of faculties at the University of South Alabama. A year later, he was named vice president for academic affairs. Dr. Bobo retired in 1999 and moved to Florence, Ala. Survivors include his wife, Cala Reid Bobo; a daughter, Harriett Bobo of Keystone, Colo.; a sister, Frances Beck of Florence; and three stepchildren, William Newsom of Huntington Beach, Calif.; Nancy Newsom of Columbia, Mo.; Patricia Reid of Washington, D.C.; and six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held Sept. 13 at Spry-Williams Funeral Home of Florence. Burial was in Tri-Cities Memorial Gardens in Florence.