After ten years on the job, Bridgman City Manager Juan Ganum is moving on.
Ganum tells us he’s headed to Holland, Michigan to serve as the community and neighborhood services director, a post that’ll put him in charge of community and economic development in the west Michigan community.
“At a certain point in your career, you know it’s time to move on,” Ganum said. “It was a great opportunity. I’m friends with the city manager in Holland. He’s a friend and colleague and he had contacted me a few years ago and he said, ‘You know, I’ve got this position that’s open and it would be in charge of community and economic development and I think you’d be a great fit.’ At the time, I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t in the right headspace. Anyway, the opportunity opened up again.”
So this time, Ganum took it.
Ganum came to Bridgman in 2015 after serving as the community development director for the city of Niles for 17 years. Prior to that, he worked as a planner for the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission. He says he’s loved his time in Bridgman, and he’s going to miss the team.
“It’s a great team. Someone else will be able to step into that role and they won’t have any problem at all because everyone knows what they’re doing and they do it exceptionally well.”
Ganum says Holland has always been an “aspirational city” for him, adding some of the alleys in Holland are nicer than a lot town Main Streets. His first day in Holland isn’t until October 6, so there’s plenty of time for Bridgman to find a new city manager. He says the position will be posted with the Michigan Municipal League soon.
Ganum adds one bonus of the new job is that he’ll be able to commute to Holland from Berrien County, noting he has a son still attending Lakeshore High School.
