Executive Director Dan Craig stepped down June 30 after three
years at the helm
Morgan Hill – Some jobs drive you to drink. Others make you buy a brewery.
So goes the good-natured joke at the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, where Executive Director Dan Craig stepped down June 30 – and is apparently pursuing opening a micro-brewery.
Unfortunately, Craig could not be reached for comment by press time.
But one thing’s for sure: Morgan Hill Downtown Association President Gary Walton and other members of the merchants’ group are pleased with Craig’s leadership over the past 42-plus months, including his efforts to get merchants on the same page and implement a four-prong downtown program that emphasizes design, promotion, economic restructuring and organization in the Monterey Road business district.
“A lot of it is like laying groundwork,” said Rosy Bergin, co-owner of Rosy’s at the Beach on Monterey Road. “A lot has been accomplished, but it’s still building.”
Craig arrived on the Morgan Hill scene in 2002 to begin working for the association on a consultant basis. He officially became executive director in January 2003. Before coming to Morgan Hill, he was executive director of the Downtown Berkeley Association for eight years.
When he landed the job in Morgan Hill, there was much excitement about re-energizing downtown. The city council was about to adopt a downtown plan, new businesses were signing leases and there was a lot of talk about mixed-use development over the next decade.
Now, having helped organize a formerly all-volunteer downtown association, Craig departs at a pivotal moment, with a critical self-funding mechanism pending for the organization. Downtown property owners are currently casting ballots on a self-assessed tax district that would raise $75,000 a year for downtown projects over the next five years. The association would likely control the funds. Ballots will be counted July 26.
While the City of Morgan Hill has approved funding for the association the last four years – and again approved $70,000 worth of funding in June for the next fiscal year – the city has made it know that the association should seek its own funding.
Attempts last year – spearheaded by Craig – to implement the downtown property tax fell short of the mark when not enough businesses jumped on board. But this year, Craig helped narrow the scope of the plan, and was successful in bringing it to a vote.
Walton suggested it could be an exciting time for someone new to take over as executive director. He added it would probably take six to eight weeks to find a replacement.
“Over the last four years, downtown has been elevated to one of the major topics in the community,” he said.
Not all downtown associations have a professional executive director.
Craig was Morgan Hill’s first.
“If you try to run on all-volunteer labor, over time things tend to kind of break down,” said Walton. “It’s a lot of work and people get burnt out. So the executive director helps lighten the load on the volunteers, many of whom have own businesses.”
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@mo*************.com.
