Peachtree City’s next city manager comes with a wealth of experience, with some 32 years under his belt in eight different cities.
Dr. James Leonard Pennington most recently served as City Manager in Hartsville, S.C. where he served eight and a half years.
The city released background information on Pennington including his application and references at Thursday night’s abbreviated meeting of the city council. The employment agreement between the city and Pennington is expected to be approved by council at its March 3 meeting.
In a letter accompanying his application and resume, Pennington said as a city manager he emphasizes “building a high performance, citizen friendly organization.”
“This approach requires the establishment of an organizational culture with a commonality of purpose and goals,” Pennington wrote. He added that the city will need to create a workable strategic plan to accomplish those objectives.
Pennington holds a doctor of education degree in organizational leadership from Nova Southeastern University and a masters degree in public administration.
As City Manager in Hartsville, S.C., Pennington led the city of 7,566 for eight and a half years. But he also has experience as the top executive in much larger cities including Lauderhill, Fla. (population 57,500) from 1996-2001 and Fayetteville, Ark. (population 47,000 plus) from 1987-1990.
Over the years Pennington has also served in Eden, N.C., Paducah, Ky., Delray Beach, Fla., Fairfield, Ohio and Jacksonville, N.C., the home of Camp LeJeune.
Pennington has also served as an instructor of American government at DeKalb College here in Georgia.
Although Georgia law requires that cities release the names of the top three finalists and their background information, it also allows applicants to withdraw from consideration prior to the release of that information so as to prevent their identity from being publicly circulated.
