List down to 9 for DDA slot
Personal interviews for candidates are being scheduled now.
City officials have whittled the list of candidates for the vacant Downtown Development Authority director’s position to nine. Assistant City Manager Patrick Eidson said he is in the process of scheduling interviews over the next week or two.
The city got 27 applications for the job Ann Arnold held from January 2000 to Dec. 31, 2016. The applications came from all across Georgia as well as from Texas, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Downtown Parking Services manager Becky Smyth and Arnold’s administrative assistant Amanda Carter both applied for the job. Eidson did not say if either made the final nine.
“I’m hoping that over the course of the next week or so the right candidate will rise to the top,” Eidson said. “I’m confident we will find the right person.”
Steven McDowell, chairman of the Downtown Development Authority, has been asked to sit in on the personal interviews but said he was not a part of the initial review process.
McDowell said the successful applicant needs to have a passion and heart for historic downtown districts.
“We need someone with a progressive mindset, someone who is willing to take calculated risks and someone who is willing to broaden our horizon, I’m speaking generally of the West Third Street area,” McDowell said. He said Rome needs someone who has taken a blank canvas, such as the West Third Street and North Fifth Avenue corridors known as the River District, and shown they can guide a major new redevelopment effort.
Eidson did not set a timetable for a final decision.