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.
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.
For the full story see the Pinnacle on Friday.
