ADICA board members will meet with the Mercer Group next Monday
The search for Albany's new Downtown Manager begins next Monday.
The City wants to make sure they don't hire another Don Buie, the former Downtown Manager who was found guilty of mismanaging funds. Mercer Group has been hired by the City to go through its normal recruitment process, then the City will take over.
“When we get our hands on him, we're gonna be going much deeper and be very careful and not make the same mistakes that have occurred before,” said Assistant City Manager Wes Smith.
The future Downtown Manager will have to learn about things like the Tax Allocation District and know how to really market downtown. But most importantly, Assistant City Manager James Taylor says he'd like to add one major event to each month, much like the Mardi Gras festivities we saw over the past weekend. They will have to work with downtown merchants and community leaders to build redevelopment teams while managing the ADICA board and its financial issues at the same time.
ADICA board members will meet with Mr.. Mercer himself next Monday to get him up to speed, talk about what our downtown is like and the kind of person they want for the job.