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Rizos to bid farewell to the WGBPA
Board will form a selection committee to find new manager
By Michele Leung
After three years as business manager of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association, Demetri Rizos is stepping down.
Rizos, who says he thinks it's time for something new, hasn't decided which greener pastures await him. Prior to his stint as WGBPA business manager, he spent three years as a WGBPA board member and has been known to help out on weekends at his family's restaurant, Bill's Cafe, in Willow Glen.
Rizos will stay on board until Jan. 30. WGBPA board president Dot Cohen says that past business managers have come from both inside and outside the WGBPA, but she isn't sure how the selection process will go this time around. The creation of a selection committee will be an item on the agenda at an open forum meeting on Jan. 11.
The board has yet to decide on the salary of the new manager. Rizos was paid $42,000 a year, city money which comes from the assessment tax each business pays to work in the Business Improvement District in Willow Glen.
One accomplishment Rizos says he is proud of is his effort in obtaining money from the city's Office of Cultural Affairs for Dancing on the Avenue. A $2,000 grant for the event grew to $7,000 the second year.
"I'm proud that the event has grown in numbers and popularity," he says. After receiving a high evaluation from the city the first year, "we were rewarded with a bigger grant."
Rizos was also instrumental in negotiating the deal to bring California Artists to the 1999 Founders Day.
However, he has also faced criticism about decisions the association has made. For instance, during his first year as manager in 1997, the WGBPA voted to cut the two-day Founders Day festivities to one day. Another controversial point was last year's board proposal to move the Founders Day parade to Halloween. Community members voiced fierce opposition to the proposed change to a beloved neighborhood tradition. Rizos says the board, not he, handed down those particular decisions. "I took a lot of flak for decisions I didn't make, but I withstood it," he says. "The manager usually just does what the board wants."
Rizos promises to stay close to the WGBPA whatever he does. "I'll miss working with volunteers at events and setting up," he says.
But he's also leaving with an important lesson. "The community is very supportive, but tampering with Founders Day is not a good idea."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
