Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : CITIES : Santa Ana City Manager Bobb Finds Richmond, Va., Job Offer Propitious

Controversial Santa Ana City Manager Robert C. Bobb took a timely bow out of city affairs with his announcement that he had accepted a similar--and substantially better-paying--post in Richmond, Va.

Bobb’s ouster was at stake in the hotly contested ballot proposition, Measure C, which would have replaced the appointive city manager post with a directly elected mayor and seven council members elected by wards.

The ambitious, 41-year-old Bobb came to Santa Ana in February, 1984, with an agenda to revitalize a troubled, aging county seat--the closest thing Orange County has to an inner city.

The former city manager of Kalamazoo, Mich., immediately launched a crackdown on slums and downtown flophouses, which some ultimately criticized as an effort to rid the downtown of the poor and minorities. Within his first year, Bobb launched a record $220-million in new construction, primarily in still-ongoing downtown renovation projects.

His hard-charging approach to redevelopment suffered its first defeat when a muffler shop owner beat back the council’s efforts to force him out. His plan to eliminate city Fire Department paramedics in favor of a private contract company was dropped in the face of a storm of opposition. Dissatisfaction with Bobb’s administration grew in labor negotiations with firefighters.

His plan to raze a popular downtown stadium in favor of a major sports arena that would attract a National Basketball Assn. team to Santa Ana also was eventually shelved for further site studies after community opposition led the council to reverse itself.

But as last-minute campaigning heated up for what was in effect a referendum on his performance and that of the current council, Bobb announced that he would accept the $110,000-a-year job in Richmond beginning July 7.

Although a substantial raise in pay from his annual salary of $84,000 was discussed among council members, none was offered.

In any case, Bobb said he would not have accepted. “Richmond is strictly a professional career move,” he insisted. “It is a great career move and I would not have stayed.”