In an effort to cut costs as a key funding source is on the edge of disappearing, the Morgan Hill Downtown Association terminated executive director’s employment Jorge Briones last week.
In an effort to cut costs as a key funding source is on the edge of disappearing, the Morgan Hill Downtown Association terminated executive director Jorge Briones’ job last week.
The association’s board of directors voted unanimously May 26 to terminate Briones from the position he has held for about four years, according to board president Eric Wallace. He said the decision was motivated solely by financial difficulties and the need to cut costs, exacerbated by the likely lack of redevelopment agency funds this year – a traditional source of funding for the nonprofit association.
“Nobody wanted to terminate him, but we all had to make a decision,” Wallace said.
The MHDA does not plan to rehire anyone as an executive director any time soon, Wallace said. The association’s only other paid staff member, Katie McPartland, will run the MHDA’s day-to-day operations, and the board’s nine directors will begin taking a more hands-on approach as volunteers to keep the association’s business going.
The Thursday Night Street Dance on Third Street will continue starting June 16, as will the summer movie screenings at the Community and Cultural Center, Wallace said. That means the MHDA will have to seek more sponsorships from the downtown businesses it serves.
Briones said the decision did not come as a total surprise, and Wallace added the board knew they would have to make drastic cuts when they found out earlier this year that Governor Jerry Brown was pushing steadfastly for an elimination of the Redevelopment Agency. The Morgan Hill RDA has provided significant funding to the MHDA in recent years through a contract for services.
Under that contract, MHDA has worked with downtown businesses and organizations to promote the downtown corridor through events, business workshops, advertising and other services.
Last year, the MHDA received $89,000 from the RDA for the contract, and this year asked for $71,000 that might not exist.
That’s the bulk of the association’s total budget of $110,000, and terminating Briones’ employment freed up $55,000 or half the budget. Without an RDA contract, the MHDA simply can’t afford to continue to pay Briones, Wallace said.
Although the disappearance of the RDA funds appears likely, city officials won’t know for sure until the state adopts a budget this summer.
“If we get our contract, we might hire (Briones) back,” Wallace said.
Briones said he enjoyed working as the MHDA’s executive director for the last four years, and for the immediate future he plans to take some “personal time” and work with his wife operating their new club, 9Lives, in Gilroy. During his stint as the MHDA’s executive director, he was involved in key city decisions such as the pending redevelopment of the Granada Theater, Third Street construction efforts and even the consideration a year ago of a downtown alcohol policy. He also formed an unexpected “one-on-one working relationship” with the mayor and council member as a result.
“Not knowing when I got there that it was going to have as big an impact on me personally as it did, (being executive director) was a positive thing,” Briones said. “I learned so much about the city and about the politics of how everything works.”
Since he was intimately involved in the MHDA’s finances every day, Briones said his termination is not “a total shock.”
“It’s disappointing because there’s a lot more work to be done, and we’re making some important headway,” Briones said. “It’s disappointing because I truly loved what I did, who I interfaced with, and feeling like I contributed something to the community. I am a little bit surprised at how rapidly that decision was made. Ultimately the Downtown Association continues on with the board and I think they’ll continue to do good things and be involved. The only difference is there’s not going to be an executive director there every day. It’s a great group of people on that board, and they do great work.”
Wallace and Briones noted the MHDA has steadily worked on decreasing the cost of its annual RDA contract, reducing its request by at least 10 percent each of the last three years.
The MHDA will also plan to work more closely with the Chamber of Commerce, which also works on promoting businesses all over Morgan Hill including downtown, Wallace said.
