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GREENSBORO — Over the past year, Jim Westmoreland has helped city government become more user-friendly.

As assistant city manager for economic development, Westmoreland has held one of local government’s most demanding jobs: helping developers navigate the maze of government departments necessary to get their projects off the ground.

Over the years, some developers had come to see the city as a tough place to get deals done, complaining that the process had become too slow and complicated.

“I don’t believe we had a bad reputation,” Westmoreland said Tuesday. “But we certainly had (room) to improve.” Under Westmoreland’s leadership, that’s what happened.

“Things have gotten better. There is no doubt about it,” said Pat Danahy, president and CEO of the Greensboro Partnership, the city’s chief economic and community development organization. “Response times and the cooperative atmosphere have improved.”

Now, Westmoreland says he’s leaving. The city announced Monday that Westmoreland has accepted the position of deputy secretary for transit with the N.C. Department of Transportation. His last day will be Feb. 27.

“It’s a significant loss,” said Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of Downtown Greensboro Inc. “Jim brings a high degree of customer service and a positive attitude on all projects he’s been involved with. That will be hard to replace.”

Subbing for Westmoreland on an interim basis will be Andy Scott, the city’s housing and community development director. Because of the city’s hiring freeze, City Manager Mitchell Johnson postponed naming a permanent replacement for Westmoreland.

“The biggest risk is if nobody had filled that role and we were to backslide,” Danahy said. “We would expect (Scott) to continue the progress.”

Johnson said Scott had been a candidate for the acting assistant city manager post that Westmoreland got last March.

“(He’s) not just someone keeping the chair warm,” Johnson said. “He knows every developer and every banker (in town). ... Andy knows Greensboro inside and out. They were both very strong candidates.”

Johnson called Westmoreland “a strong leader with a get-it-done attitude.” While Westmoreland, who also has served as the city’s director of transportation, didn’t hold the assistant city manager’s job for long, he worked on some significant projects.

They included plans to convert the former Pilot Life Insurance Co. campus on High Point Road into a $99 million retirement center and a project that will transform a vacant lot on South Elm Street into $3.6 million mixed-use building.

“Jim understood the frustrations out there among developers,” said Rob Bencini, the economic development director for Guilford County. “He was working hard to fix it. That was to his credit.”

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com