Search for replacement is on after Bill Chow fired by city
The City of Hollister is advertising for a new manager of its
redevelopment agency after firing Bill Chow in January following a
six-month extension of his probationary status.
Hired in late 2008 after holding a similar job in the city of
Huntington Park in Los Angeles County, Chow came to Hollister with
plans of revitalizing the downtown business area and stemming what
he termed sales-tax leakage caused by local residents spending
money out of town.
Search for replacement is on after Bill Chow fired by city
The City of Hollister is advertising for a new manager of its redevelopment agency after firing Bill Chow in January following a six-month extension of his probationary status.
Hired in late 2008 after holding a similar job in the city of Huntington Park in Los Angeles County, Chow came to Hollister with plans of revitalizing the downtown business area and stemming what he termed sales-tax leakage caused by local residents spending money out of town.
“Part of the reason we extended the probationary period is Bill did have some strong points,” said Development Services Director William Avera, who along with other staff members is helping with the day-to-day operations of the RDA while a permanent director is sought. “It boiled down to, in this position you have to be available to the public and communicate clearly and effectively. This is a huge business that deals with lots of money. You need to be frugal and you have to have some common sense on spending and the types of projects to get involved with.”
Counting its operating budget, reserves and a $6 million bond issue, the RDA is nearly a $20 million operation. Redevelopment is a tool that local governments use to eliminate blight in a community and to spur economic development using tax-increment funds, or the increase in tax revenues created by improvements to a specified area.
For the past two months, the city has been accepting applications for the position, the salary for which ranges from just under $73,000 to a little more than $88,000. The final filing date for the job is April 30, after which candidates will be vetted and interviewed.
In addition to submitting a standard employment application form, RDA managerial candidates are required to fill out a three-question supplemental questionnaire about their administrative and negotiation experience.
Final candidates will go before an interview panel comprised of citizens who are not city employees. That panel will rank potential candidates, with the top three or four moving on to one-on-one interviews with Avera. After a final candidate does a subsequent interview, Avera will recommend his or her hiring to Quilter, who will formalize the hire.
City officials say the West Gateway project and the rebuilding of the downtown fire station are the RDA’s top current projects – along with low-income and first-time housing projects – so they are looking for a manager who can shepherd those to completion.
“It would be great to have someone that has experience with those type of projects,” Avera said. “We have an agency board [the Hollister City Council] that sets policy and we run ideas up the flagpole with them, so we want someone who knows the general government process.”
Another RDA project, the demolition of the former Leatherback industrial site off Prospect Road and McCray Street, is nearing completion. Avera said the final remediation of contamination at the site should be complete by the end of May. The city is hoping to attract a developer for the site.
