A new, management-level position to oversee the ongoing Morgan
Hill downtown redevelopment efforts will be created and filled as
soon as next month.
MORGAN HILL
A new, management-level position to oversee the ongoing Morgan Hill downtown redevelopment efforts will be created and filled as soon as next month.
The City Council on Wednesday authorized City Manager Ed Tewes to create the position of “assistant to the city manager for downtown revitalization” and begin a hiring search, which is now underway. Tewes has one assistant at this time, Brian Stott, whose job duties include “special studies, public information and overall organization,” he said.
There were two assistants to the city manager, but one of the positions was eliminated several years ago, said Stott. Downtown redevelopment is managed on the city’s end through the Community Development and Business Assistance and Housing Services Department at this time, he said.
The city is advertising the job on its Web site, www.morgan-hill.ca.gov, Stott said. One of the job descriptions is collaborative work to stimulate private development downtown, he added.
The salary range will be between $103,980 and $132,000 per year and come from the Redevelopment Agency funds, Tewes said. The five city council members also comprise the Redevelopment Agency and voted 5-0 to approve the position.
The new downtown redevelopment assistant will be charged with forming a downtown revitalization team with existing city employees and coordinate all redevelopment efforts at City Hall, Tewes said.
Recruiting for the position will begin immediately, he said, adding he intended to come back to the council in January with “recommendations and any necessary budget adjustments” in regards to office space for the team.
“The team should have an office presence in the downtown,” he said in the staff report.
The announcement coincides with the city’s purchase of the Granada Theater and the Downtown Mall on the eastern side of Monterey Street between first and second streets for $8.6 million, and two other properties, including a parking lot and a pocket park along Monterey Street, for $1.35 million and $650,000.
The city had been eyeing Granada property specifically because it is viewed as one of the key elements in the redevelopment efforts and has been unoccupied the past several years.
Tewes justified the position by saying that its needed to carry out the council’s far-reaching goals of redeveloping the downtown to include more retail and housing, among other features.
“The council objectives are ambitious, resources available are significant, and if we’re going to have success in a concentrated period of time we need to focus and provide management leadership to our efforts.”
Theresa Kiernan of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association said the hire “plays in the same concept” as the rest of the council’s agenda.
The association has at least two committees, the Design Committee and the Economic Restructuring Committee, which would work directly with the person appointed to the new position, Kiernan said.
She added that the council’s “hiring a person solely responsible (for the downtown redevelopment) verifies their position” to commit to redeveloping the downtown.
