The City of Gilroy soon will open recruitment for a once defunct position tasked to spur local development and welcome new businesses, City Administrator Tom Haglund said.
After Jan. 1, 2012, the city officially will seek applicants for a development center manager, a position formerly held by Community Development Director Kristi Abrams that will work directly under Haglund and pull in as much as $124,000 a year in salary, according to city budget figures. Including benefits, the position could cost the city upwards of $330,000 over two years.
The position was approved during the city’s biennial budget talks in May. Haglund first floated the idea of either creating a city economic ombudsman or bringing back the development center manager during the Council’s retreat annual goal-setting retreat in January.
The move was met with some skepticism by Economic Development Corporation leaders, who cautioned the position needed to avoid doubling the efforts of the EDC, a city funded nonprofit organization that focuses exclusively on economic development within Gilroy by promoting and facilitating business growth.
The development center manager position had been eliminated due to budget cuts. The job description, dated 2006, is available through the human resources section of the City of Gilroy’s website. The description doesn’t specifically outline economic-related duties, but requires maintaining “effective working relationships with elected officials, supervisors, co-workers, other departments, outside agencies, business and community groups, contractors and the general public.”
Haglund has said the position would help the city improve customer service by streamlining the approval process for developers looking to obtain permits.
