TC DDA Updates: CEO Search, Farmers Market Move, Parking Agreement

Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members are expected to go into closed session Friday to narrow a field of executive director candidates to 3-4 to be interviewed for downtown’s top position. Board members will also vote to approve an updated contract with SEEDS to run the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market – which will move to Rotary Square in July for the rest of the season due to the Grandview Parkway reconstruction – and vote to mutually terminate the DDA’s parking management agreement with the City of Traverse City, clearing the way for the city to take over parking.

CEO Search
A handful of top candidates to become the new DDA executive director are expected to emerge after Friday’s DDA board meeting. Nate Geinzer – former interim city manager and the leader of consulting firm Double Haul Solutions, which was hired by the DDA for a not-to-exceed contract of $20,000 to oversee the search – is recommending the board go into closed session to discuss the applicants.

Double Haul Solutions has received 25 applications for the position, according to Geinzer. In a May 4 memo to board members – when the field stood at 18 – Geinzer said “given the experience we had recruiting department directors while I was interim, this number is consistent with our experience. Had we allowed candidates to apply via LinkedIn, we would likely have received more ‘quantity’ and less ‘quality’ of candidates based on past experience.”

Multiple candidates were invited to proceed in the pre-vetting process, including filling out a questionnaire with three short-answer questions and three essay-answer questions. Candidates also had a 30-minute virtual interview and preliminary background check through Double Haul Solutions. Geinzer tells The Ticker seven or eight candidates made it through pre-vetting and will be presented to DDA board members. The board will receive a candidate summary package with cover letters and resumes – though identifying information will be redacted – and discuss them Friday. Candidates can legally remain confidential until they agree to be interviewed by the DDA board; those interviews must then occur in public and the names revealed.

Geinzer recommended DDA board members choose three to four candidates to interview. Double Haul Solutions will invite the finalists for interviews; those who accept will be identified to the board and to the public likely on Saturday. 

At least one candidate is publicly known, as Interim CEO Harry Burkholder previously confirmed to The Ticker he would apply. DDA board members will vote Friday to approve an employment agreement with Burkholder that gives him a raise from $100,000 to $112,000 for assuming the roles of both COO and interim CEO when former CEO Jean Derenzy stepped down. The agreement allows Burkholder to return to the same position and title of COO if he is not selected as the permanent new leader. He would also return to his former salary and benefits package.

Farmers Market
DDA board members will vote Friday to approve an updated agreement with SEEDS for $35,000 to manage the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market. The DDA has contracted with the nonprofit SEEDS since 2011 to serve as market manager.

The 2024 market is expected to be more complex operationally due to a location move. Because of the Grandview Parkway construction – which will take place between East Front Street and Division Street starting after the National Cherry Festival through November – the market will relocate for most of its season. That is not only due to traffic and access impacts, but because the driveways to Lot B (where the market is held) and the adjacent Lot T are expected to be closed permanently as part of the construction work. Lot T is also slated to undergo pavement preservation work this year.

During the National Cherry Festival – when Parkway construction will be paused and the festival midway set up in Lots B and T – the market will be held in the Old Town Parking Deck. After the festival, the farmers market will move through October to Rotary Square at the corner of Union and State streets. Burkholder tells The Ticker the space is “definitely going to be tighter in terms of the proximity of tents” than the usual layout, adding that DDA staff are working with SEEDs to finalize the design.

The farmers market will still be held at its normal hours every Wednesday (8am-12pm) and Saturday (7:30am-12pm) at Rotary Square. While the lower parking lot near the Union Street Dam will be closed due to FishPass construction, the Old Town Parking Deck will be open for marketgoers along with surrounding street parking and spaces in Lot G (next to Mode’s) and behind the post office, Burkholder says.

Parking Services
After discussions at both the city commission and DDA levels, the two boards appear ready to move forward with a plan to move the management of parking services from the DDA back over to the city. DDA board members will vote Friday on a motion to “mutually terminate the Traverse City Parking Services operations and management agreement with the City of Traverse City and collaborate with the city on the 60-day termination clause.”

The DDA has managed parking for more than three decades. When the arrangement started, city parking was primarily concentrated in spaces downtown. However, operations have since expanded significantly to include two public parking decks, NMC and Munson parking, and parking in residential neighborhoods. Both city and DDA staff – including Transportation Mobility Director Nicole VanNess, who oversees parking – have expressed support for the move.