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Thursday, May 24, 2012
Kerth leaves MBA to focus on City Council run
by Melissa Corker, published on October 10, 2011 at 6:00 PM
Storyline: Local Business
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Rob Kerth is stepping down from his position as the Midtown Business Association’s executive director to focus his attention on a run for a City Council seat in 2012.
“It’s like climbing a mountain,” Kerth said Monday of his departure from the MBA. “Once I’ve done what I needed to do, then I need to go find a new mountain.”
The Midtown Business Association is a nonprofit organization that started in 1983. According to the MBA website, the goal of the organization is to “improve Midtown Sacramento through public maintenance, marketing, business advocacy and economic development.”
Kerth was hired as Executive Director in July 2008.
He said in an email that his official last day as executive director is Friday, but he plans to continue working with staff and consultants during the transition to “ensure the continuity of MBA's programs, such as Second Saturday (Art Walks), Midtown Cocktail Week, and graffiti and litter cleanup.”
“I want to help the association continue programs that are in place,” Kerth said, “and there are some things that haven’t yet been instituted but are under way that I want to still lend a hand with, too.
“One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about Midtown are the wonderfully creative people here,” Kerth said. “They are always on the cutting edge, making things happen.”
Kerth said he is looking forward to running for City Council because, since his last term as a City Council member (1996–2000), he has “so many new experiences” under his belt.
Kerth will run against Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy for the District 2 seat in the primary election in June.
“I know all sorts of new ways to get things done for people,” Kerth said. “North Sacramento has a lot of potential, and it’s exciting for me as I look forward to helping this district thrive.”
Kerth said he will formally announce his bid for City Council Nov. 4 at the official reopening and ribbon cutting for the Iceland ice-skating rink.
Jimmy Johnson, co-owner of Zócalo restaurant in Midtown and 2011 president of the MBA, said Kerth’s stepping down is not a sudden action.
“The final decision was made last Friday,” Johnson said, “but (Kerth) has been involved in the transition process for the past few months.”
Johnson said the organization has hired a consulting firm to assist in conducting a nationwide search for Kerth’s replacement.
The salary for the new executive director has not been confirmed, however it will likely be in the range of Kerth’s former annual salary of $90,000, Johnson said.
Kerth isn’t the first to exit the ranks of the MBA in recent months. In September, the MBA announced that Aja Uranga-Foster, assistant director of the MBA, is leaving the organization Nov. 1.
Johnson said the MBA’s board of directors has not made any decision about filling the Assistant executive director position yet.
“Amber (Schmaeling, marketing and outreach manager) is going to step up as program director,” Johnson said, “and we may get her a little help, but we aren’t focusing on that position just now.”
Instead, Johnson said, the organization is focusing on its Property Business Improvement District (PBID) renewal, which is coming up in January.
The search for a new executive director will take about three months, Johnson said, and the MBA expects to have the position filled by Jan. 1.
Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.
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http://www.mbasac.com/documents/MBAAnnualReport6-12.pdf
BUILDING RECOGNITION OF SAFETY
MBA provides additional public lighting in Midtown to make our streets more attractive and
secure. This year we invested over $60,000 lighting twenty-four trees along J Street.
1/10 of the overall Monies rec'd.
How many of those little decorative lights are still working? 5%? Either it needs to be maintained...meaning $$ or removed. While lighting street trees has an aesthetic artistic appeal that creates an attractive silhouette of the trees, did it really contribute to the safety of the corridor? Isn't that why we are spending all that money on the current streetlight installation?
There was a time when businesses did respect and cooperate with each other and their residential neighbors i.e. jointly sponsored Halloween on J Street, Christmas festivities, Marshall School Board members placed on the door of each new resident a promotional packet of coupons and ads with directions to various midtown businesses, sidewalks sales and joint sponsors of bands in Marshall park with local entertainment and sales in the park, jointly founded Sacramento County & Cities Homeless Board--just to name a few.
That all ended when monied suburban "investors," knowing nothing about Midtown, decided they were going to create a Midtown "renaissance" which really meant chasing out many local shops and stores and replacing with clubs and bars.
2. Federal investigators have stated for the record that the fire was an arson.
3. If you don not understand 1 or 2, you will come election time.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/city-beat/2011/10/rob-kerth-removed-as-head-of-midtown-business-association.html#storylink=cpy