They are the city's teachers, nurses, civil servants, small-business owners, even mid-level executives, who want basic, affordable housing near their jobs.

However, a number of top and mid-level executives did agree to speak on or off the record.

Today's group comprised about 30 mid-level American executives, many of them Washington representatives of major companies.

"It's harder to publish a book because you love the book," said a mid-level executive at one major house who asked not to be named.

All too often, experts said, the mid-level executives caught up in such events are products of the corporate environment in which they work.

"You ought to think of these people as mid-level executives," Mr. Pomper said.

Prior to entering public service, he worked at PepsiCo as a mid-level executive and later owned a small vending company.

Besides the model offered by the settlement, he said: "We have mid-level executives seeing that they can go to prison for these types of deals.

Both are just mid-level executives, and their election as directors is a reflection of the 40 percent voting control held by the Ford family, analysts said.

One mid-level executive at the large Ayer agency said that he used to receive 200 resumes and portfolios a year.