Peachtree City's newest councilman is gearing up for his first official meeting next week.

Dan Tennant, who won a November election to fill the seat being vacated by Jim Pace, will be sworn in just before Thursday's regular City Council meeting.

He has been spending much of the past two months preparing for his new post, with more training, both on and off the job, to come.

Tennant will attend a state-mandated two-day course for elected officials at the University of Georgia in Athens in March.

He said this week that he has been fortunate in the help he has gotten locally, especially from city manager Jim Basinger, who orchestrated orientation sessions with all city department heads and others in key positions so he could meet them face to face before taking office.

City staff also have done an exceptional job of keeping him updated with faxes and e-mails, he said.

“Hopefully I'll hit the ground running,” he said. “I'm really excited about it.”

Tennant has invited a number of friends who have helped him in past months to see him sworn in. He has asked his pastor, the Rev. Chuck Hodges of Peachtree City United Methodist Church, to actually swear him in.

A couple of issues on Tennant's front burner are set for discussion at the Jan. 6 meeting, he said. One of them is salaries for police officers, which he made a prominent issue of his campaign.

There are currently six vacancies in the Police Department, which suggests a supply-and-demand problem, Tennant said. “We're just not supplying the right salaries to attract the best people.”

He is hoping that some significant progress can be made before the next budget discussions in the summer.

Tennant also wants to take a look at the city's open meetings guidelines, and the Jan. 20 agenda could have some discussion about enhancing the city's ethics ordinance. The Georgia Municipal Association has some standards on ethics he would like to see the city incorporate.

“Anything we can do to make that a better, stronger document, we should do,” he said.

After having spoken out during the campaign against annexation and increased density in Peachtree City, as well as in favor of the traffic ordinance, Tennant says he is looking closely at the proposed Home Depot and Wal-mart developments on the west side of town to make certain that public safety is not compromised.

“I just want to do what's in the best interest of Peachtree City families,” he said

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