Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown will be among a group of civic andbusiness leaders speaking on the issue tomorrow morning at theOakland Marriott City Center, in front of a sell-out crowd of morethan 600. Other scheduled speakers are City Manager Robert Bobb,the port's director of real estate Omar Benjamin, HollidayDevelopment Corp. president Rick Holliday and John Grassi, managingdirector and chief investment officer at the Shorenstein Co.

The panelists are likely to discuss potential real estatedevelopment deals and how they fit into Oakland's potential growthand economic prosperity, says Mark Calvey, a reporter and mediaorganizer for the San Francisco Business Times, which is sponsoringthe "Visions of Growth" event. Calvey says that panelists will alsodiscuss ways of attracting retail to the city and the future of thePort of Oakland. "The mayor tends to cover a lot of groundquickly," says Calvey. "I expect that he will do thattomorrow."