Wednesday, May 7, 2003
|
Wednesday, May 7, 2003 |
PTC city manager finalist is ready to take his new job
By J. FRANK LYNCH
The leading candidate to be Peachtree City's next city manager will come into the job with a distinct advantage, having lived in the community for 11 years. And his commute won't be so bad, either. If all goes as planned, Bernard J. McMullen will have a five-minute drive to work at City Hall. Currently, he drives 45 minutes one way each morning to his job in downtown Atlanta as director of the General Services Department of Fulton County. In a 4-0 vote Thursday night, with Mayor Steve Brown absent on business, the City Council agreed to begin negotiation of salary and terms with McMullen. That was a surprise move, since state law requires that the top three candidates for an executive position be identified 14 days before a decision can be announced. But in this case, the other candidates withdrew their names from consideration when it became clear to them that McMullen was the favorite, said City Attorney Ted Meeker. Of those, one chose not to have his or her personal information released, which is also within the law. The third candidate was Donald William Norton, who has been manager of Troup County since 1994. McMullen had been the sole leading candidate for several weeks, and seems ideally suited for the job. "I don't know all the details in terms of the operations of the city, but I feel I have a good flavor and understanding of the city, an understanding of what makes Peachtree City what it is," he said. As director of General Services in Fulton, McMullen oversees a department responsible for the upkeep and operation of nearly 600 county buildings and more than 2,000 vehicles. He supervises a staff of 365 people with a direct annual operating budget of $30 million, about the same as Peachree City. His department is responsible for managing in excess of $100 million more each year in capital improvement programs for various Fulton County departments. "I've got the same basic tools, the personnel management skills, the budget management skills" as those that the city manager job requires, he said. McMullen recounted that when he came to Atlanta and begin looking for a place to live, "I drove down Highway 74 the first time and before I got to Peachtree City, I said, 'This is the place.' "That first impression we give visitors, that's one of the things I want to make sure we keep that way," he said, "so people will continue to want to come here and live here." McMullen will come to work for the city at a challenging time. As "buildout" of the city's master plan approaches, the slowdown in new home construction has meant a drop in revenue from impact fees and growth in the tax digest. City politics has also taken on a more contentious tone of late. "One of the things we've got to do is plan for buildout," he said. "In other words, what's the impact of when we reach buildout? What we do now to change will prepare us for the future." McMullen, who retired from the Air Force in 1992, is a 1970 graduate of Penn State University with a degree in mechanical engineering, with additional degrees in management. He and his wife have two adult children, a son who lives in Peachtree City and a daughter in Alpharetta. Brown, who was touring San Francisco with a group of metro business and government leaders last week, had said earlier that the council might name its first choice for the job at Thursday's meeting. An official vote on the appointment will likely be made May 15. He will replace longtime city manager Jim Basinger, who retired last September.
|
||