PTC manager urges ‘strategic plan’

Peachtree City Manager Jim Pennington is hoping to guide the City Council into a strategic planning process as the calendar turns to a new year.

In an email to council members sent last month, Pennington notes that while everyone “thinks Peachtree City is a wonderful place to live and want the best for it,” there is no set strategic direction for the city.

Pennington wants to use a process in which council, staff and the community “develop a consensus vision and mission for the city.”

“Bottom line, is we have a great city,” Pennington wrote. “A city that has accomplished much, but a city like any organization needs an updated road map — one that takes everyone in the same direction. Can this be done — absolutely. Should it be done – unquestionably. Will there be differences of opinions — a certainty. Can a consensus be reached — YES — but it takes work and commitment.”

Pennington noted that city staff is working on an internal strategic plan while strides have been made toward establishing “a high performance organization.”

Whether council follows Pennington’s lead to start 2013 will be of note, particularly since it is an election year for the mayor’s post along with the council seats currently held by Vanessa Fleisch and Kim Learnard.

Fleisch has already announced she will seek the mayor’s seat in the 2013 municipal election.