Downtown Modesto nonprofit hires director away from city

Modesto’s point person for revitalizing downtown is taking the job of running the newly formed assessment district that also aims to improve the city center.

Josh Bridegroom – the city’s downtown program manager – is resigning to become executive director of the Modesto Improvement Partnership, the nonprofit that operates the Downtown Modesto Community Benefit District.

The City Council formed the district in September, which will be funded through $700,000 in annual assessments paid by district property owners. The council also approved having the MIP manage the district. The MIP is the legal name of the Downtown Modesto Partnership, which started informally a few years ago before recently incorporating.

“I’m really excited about this tremendous opportunity,” Bridegroom said. “My passion is seeing the city of Modesto succeed. I believe that starts with downtown.”

Bridegroom, 40, has worked for the city for more than 14 years as a planner, including the last three as its downtown program manager. He is a Modesto native and graduate of Modesto High School and California State University, Stanislaus.

He said it was a difficult decision to leave the city but his new job will give him the chance to be more nimble in the effort to improve downtown. He said the city, like any large bureaucracy, tends to move slower. Bridegroom is set to start April 4 at an annual salary of $97,500. He said his city salary is $96,015.

“Josh was hired because we don’t believe that there is anyone else out there with the passion he has for this community and especially downtown,” Downtown Modesto Partnership board chairman Dave Gianelli said in an email. “He is the one primarily responsible for the establishment of the downtown committees that eventually became the Downtown Modesto Partnership.

“His energy and enthusiasm are contagious and have inspired many downtown business and property owners to get engaged in downtown issues.”

Gianelli said Bridegroom was among a dozen candidates who submitted résumés for the job. The board interviewed four candidates, and Bridegroom was among the two finalists.

City spokeswoman Amy Vickery said Bridegroom has been instrumental in Modesto’s efforts to create a more vibrant downtown. “We will miss him,” she said, “but we know we will continue to work with him.”

Bridegroom said his first order of business will be setting up an office, website and other tasks for the nonprofit’s day-to-day operations. The city in the fall advanced about $154,000 before it receives its assessments.

Bridegroom said he expects the next business for the DMP board will be hiring downtown ambassadors, who clean, greet visitors, escort people to their cars and provide other services. He expects the DMP would hire seven of these uniformed workers and there would two to three working at any time Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 a.m. to about 11 p.m.

He also expects the board will pursue a program to deal with homeless people who create nuisances. These employees, called navigators, work with the homeless to help them access services. Bridegroom said the DMP could work with Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and other nonprofits to provide staff for the navigator program.

Bridegroom said the ambassadors and navigators could be working downtown by summer.

In the long term, he envisions a downtown with mixed-use development that includes housing, corporate headquarters, an Altamont Corridor Express train station that would link the region to the Bay Area, and other amenities.

The City Council formed the district after balloting among the property owners. The ballots were weighted based on the annual assessment, with the bigger the assessment the bigger the vote. That was according to state law.

But the balloting did not have popular support among private property owners and would have failed without the votes of Modesto and its former redevelopment agency, which combined had the biggest assessment and vote. In all, local government property owners provided nearly half of the weighted votes in favor of the district.

That has led to criticism that the district does not have grass-roots support. DMP board members have said if they create a better downtown that draws more visitors and investment, that criticism will wither. The district’s boundaries are roughly Seventh Street to Needham Street-Downey Avenue, and G Street and L Street.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Downtown Modesto nonprofit hires director away from city."