Otho James Green, 77
- November 24, 2012
Otho James Green, 77, a management consultant in the Bay Area and Washington, D.C., died Nov. 9 at Heartland Hospice in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
After graduating from Cal State Hayward (now known as Cal State East Bay) and completing a fellowship at the Coro Foundation in San Francisco, Green became a consultant in Industrial Relations for the California State Assembly.
As a result of his work in the State Assembly, he developed an interest in local politics and in 1966 ran to represent the 17th Assembly District in Oakland.
He also encouraged others to become involved in politics, including Ron Dellums, whose political career took off the following year when he successfully ran for the Berkeley City Council.
Green ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, gaining national recognition that put him on the cover of Jet Magazine. Among those he ran against were Back Panther Party leader Bobby Seal.
In 1968, Green founded Pacific Training and Technical Assistance Corporation in Oakland and by the age of 37 became one of Oakland’s most successful Black businessmen.
The firm employed consultants in almost every state in the U.S. as well as in the Caribbean and Africa.
In the late seventies, he became friends with President Jimmy Carter.
Green also owned a liquor distributorship company in Oakland, co- founded The Green Group, a holding and development company, with his late brother Jackson Green, Jr. and served from 1992 to 1996 as President of Akins and Associates, a consulting firm in Washington, DC.
Survivors include his wife, Jean Tisdale Green of Washington DC; two children: Zuri Michelle Green of Atlanta, Georgia and Otho James (Kobie) Green, II of Washington, DC; three granddaughters and one grandson, a great grand daughter as well as two nephews, one niece, a brother-in-law and two sister-in laws.
A memorial service will be held in Oakland early next year.