Former ABA President Runs for Mayor of Richmond, Va.
Robert J. Grey. Photo courtesy
of Hunton & Williams.
Former ABA President Robert J. Grey Jr. is taking a stand on public transportation by taking a seat on buses in Richmond, Va., to learn more about routes that are scheduled to be cut.
Grey, a lawyer with Hunton & Williams, is in a five-way race for mayor of Richmond. His bus rides, the first in 40 years, have persuaded him that public transit service needs to be expanded rather than reduced, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Grey talked about the importance of mass transit in a debate last week, the Times-Dispatch reports in as separate story.
Grey entered the mayoral race after L. Douglas Wilder said he would not seek a new term. Grey will have to overcome his support of an appointed school board, an idea that was dropped after it came in for extensive criticism. Grey now says he accepts that the public wants an elected school board and pledges to work with it if elected.
Lawyer Lawrence Framme III, who has known Grey since law school at Washington and Lee University, told the Times-Dispatch the city needs someone like Grey.
“He’s got leadership capabilities, but he also exercises it in a way that is very bridge-building,” he said. “He leads by patiently bringing people around to his goal so they become invested in it.”
