Interviews of candidates for the position of Hollister economic
development manager will begin next week, according to City Manager
Clint Quilter.
Hollister – Interviews of candidates for the position of Hollister economic development manager will begin next week, according to City Manager Clint Quilter.
The City Council approved the job description and salary range for the new position in September.
The economic development manager will be charged with, among other tasks, creating a strategy to market the city to new businesses, retaining existing businesses and coordinating the economic development efforts of other groups and agencies, such as the Hollister Downtown Association.
Quilter, who plans on starting to conduct interviews on Nov. 22, said that he has received several resumes from people interested in the position since he began recruiting in September to fill it. A few of those resumes, but not many, have come from locals, he said.
Quilter said he is looking for a candidate with “experience, energy and enthusiasm” and hopes to have the position filled within the next two months. The decision is his, but Quilter said he would consult with council members before he makes his choice.
The salary for the position will range from $70,332 to $85,488, based on experience, and will be paid by the Hollister Redevelopment Agency, making the successful candidate technically an RDA employee.
The majority of the council said they feel good about the prospect of having a person looking out for Hollister’s economic development full time.
“It’s an important step,” Councilwoman Monica Johnson said. “I’m excited.”
Councilman Robert Scattini, however, has a different take. Though he said he supports the creation of the position, he thinks it shouldn’t be filled until Hollister’s sewer moratorium, which precludes any new construction requiring sewer hook-ups, is lifted.
“We definitely need somebody to get the economic ball rolling,” he said. “We need it, but I think it’s a little premature.”
Scattini’s colleagues on the council say that the time between the position being filled and the moratorium being lifted, which Quilter has said will be late 2007, could be used by the economic development manager to create a marketing plan. Scattini isn’t convinced.
“If this person is worth his salt, I don’t think he should have to sit around working on a plan,” he said.
Creating and filling economic development manager position was a key component of a work plan drafted in August by the council’s ad hoc economic development committee. The plan also calls for forming a committee that will draft a comprehensive economic development strategy and implementation plan.
That document will include the establishment of “power centers” – retail areas with one or two large stores and several smaller businesses – and the development of downtown Hollister as an area with commercial and residential space where people can live and work.
The work plan also includes the creation of an online inventory of the city’s vacant and industrial space so the information will be easily accessible for real estate brokers and businesses.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
