Wednesday, September 25, 2002
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Wednesday, September 25, 2002 |
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Basinger says good-bye to PTC employees By JOHN MUNFORD
One of Jim Basinger's last official duties as Peachtree City's city manager Friday afternoon was largely ceremonial, but one he cherished nonetheless. "Hey Yank, fall out!" he said to court clerk Laura Oles before presenting her with a pin commemorating her 15th year anniversary with the city. With several staffers gathered around, Basinger thanked Oles for her work, saying the operation runs "so smoothly we don't get complaints. "That's because they want to pay their fines and get out," Basinger wisecracked. It's the lighthearted moments like these that remind Basinger what he'll be missing about working at City Hall: the camaraderie, the in-jokes with other employees. But the city's employees will carry on the task of running the city without him, and they will do it well, Basinger says without a doubt in his voice. Those employees have been loyal to him, so much so that they honored his request not to hold a sappy goodbye party in his honor. Basinger said he was proudest of the employees, who work hard enough to enable the city to have one of the smallest ratios of employees to citizens in the metro Atlanta area. "We've always tried to stay lean and make it where people always had a little more work to get done," Basinger said. "If you don't have people below you working with you and on your side, you're not going to be successful. I just think everybody worked together as a team. I am very proud of the employees for that." Basinger has served as city manager here since he was brought on board by former mayor Fred Brown in 1984. He recalls Brown telling him to "make the decisions" and if he made a bad call, they'd do their best to fix it. "I didn't know anything about running a city when he hired me," Basinger said. He attained the rank of lieutenant in the Air Force before moving on to the airline industry at Southern Airways at Hartsfield International Airport. Basinger says he learned much from Fred Brown, and later his successor, Bob Lenox. Lenox had financial acumen from running his own company, but he also had the knack to "always find the middle ground the answer," Basinger said. Under Basinger's stead, the city's population has grown from 8,000 to 9,000 people when he began to approximately 35,000 residents now as he departs. That rapid growth made it easy to fund a number of projects without adding much debt, Basinger noted. Now the city has "a little debt, but a lot of facilities," he said. He also credits the city councils who didn't rush the projects' completion. Basinger is also proud of the city's quality improvement program, which helps instill a sense of pride in employees and improve the city's efficiency while cutting costs. "Those employees who think they know how to do a particular job better, we force them to tell us," Basinger said. Those who participate in the quality improvement program are taken out to lunch once a quarter, and they participate in meetings to help develop their ideas into reality, Basinger said. "It really works," Basinger said. "... The employees have ownership in improvements on the job. It has saved the taxpayers an awful lot of dollars and improved efficiency and customer service." The only significant regret Basinger has, however, is how he's departing. The City Council declined to renew his contract, and he chose to resign. Some council members "erroneously felt that I was still aligned with the previous administration," Basinger said. "Nothing could be further from the truth." Saying loyalty is important to any organization, Basinger said he has been "nothing but loyal." While he calls the situation "unfortunate," he does wish the best for the current council. "They need to be successful," Basinger said. "... Hopefully things can get settled down and they are successful with the number of problems that are facing us" such as making sure Ga. Highways 54 and 74 are widened, resolving sales tax negotiations with Fayette County and staying on top of traffic and crime issues. Basinger singled out council members Annie McMenamin and Dan Tennant for their support. "They stood by me and I'll forever be indebted to them for that," Basinger said. Basinger even offered to come back and help the city from time to time if his services are needed. Other than disappointment over how his ties with the city ended, "I leave with no bitterness," Basinger said. "... The city means too much to me to let that affect those 18 years." In his retirement, Basinger plans to spend more time with his five grandchildren, and he will continue playing in a local adult baseball league and "hopefully play a little more golf try and lower that score. "All I've got is time," he said.
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