New leadership takes over MainStreet Oceanside

Longtime CEO Rick Wright retires and leaves a lasting legacy for the organization, which helped transform downtown Oceanside

Rick Wright, left, retired as the chief executive officer of the Oceanside MainStreet organization earlier this month. Gumaro Escrcega, right, takes over to lead the nonprofit into the future. Courtesy image

OCEANSIDE — A changing of the guard will see new leader atop MainStreet Oceanside.

Rick Wright, the chief executive officer, finally calls it a career with the nonprofit and handed the reins over to Gumaro Escarcega to lead the downtown business association into the future. Although Escarcega technically took over on Jan. 1, Wright stayed on for a transition period, which was supposed to be until June, but left earlier this month knowing the organization is in good hands, Wright said.

MainStreet Oceanside is a nonprofit comprised of downtown businesses, he said, and works to lift up downtown, advocates for small business, development and much more.

“He was always my go-to person when I was stuck,” Escarcega said of Wright. “We always solved issues together and now I’m trying to find this transition and moving forward by supporting local businesses and my staff.”

Since the organization’s founding, it has grown to a staff of 32 with a $3.8 million budget and has worked tirelessly to enhance downtown Oceanside and promote small businesses. Some of their work includes two farmer’s markets, beach services, membership, advertising, annual events (Taste of Spring, Taste of Oceanside), the Independence Day parade and the award-winning shop local program during the Christmas season, Property Business Improvement District (PBID) and much more, Escarcega said.

“These are all revenue-driven operations,” he added. “We have the parternship with the city, like Gatekeeper, which is a security service in downtown. The city has been very generous on this program because they fund most of it now.”