Peachtree City

didn't have to go far to find someone to fill the new assistant city manager's

job just a flight of stairs.

Surprising

no one, Colin Halterman, a 19-year veteran of city government who was

acting city manager until the appointment in May of Bernard McMullen,

began his new duties Monday.

The hiring

required no action by the City Council, said public information specialist

Betsy Tyler; according to city charter, they simply had to approve creation

of the job itself. The city manager retained the authority to fill the

post.

Halterman's

promotion from head of public works was a natural one, say city hall personnel.

During nearly two decades of service to the city, Halterman has worn just

about every hat imaginable save an elected position or finance director.

The appointment

wasn't without controversy. The City Council approved creating the position

on the same night it held a budget workshop meeting in which a proposal

was floated to trim the personnel ranks.

Halterman's

salary is $104,247 annually, which is just $30,000 more in overall salary

appropriations in the proposed FY04 budget, Mayor Steve Brown said.

McMullen had

proposed a reorganization of city government during his interview process

that included the idea of an assistant manager, but he insisted the job

not be created until he got familiar with the inner workings of the city.

Then, when

the city's financial woes came clearer into focus, he was urging the council

to postpone the position altogether, said Tyler.

Halterman said

he, too, was willing to wait.

"If it

meant saving people's jobs, I was prepared to tell [the council] not to

do it," said Halterman. "It's just me."

The criticism

that the city doesn't need the position doesn't affect Halterman, who

said he endured it all seven years ago when he was the chief negotiator

during the city's purchase of the onetime privately held sewer system.

He's also not

the first assistant city manager, Tyler confirmed. Joe Morton, who was

finance director before Paul Salvatore was hired three years ago, also

had the title "assistant city manager."

In his new

role, Halterman will oversee the administrative, financial services, public

services and leisure services departments. He answers directly to McMullen.

Another new

face oversees the city's developmental services department.

Clyde Stricklin

started work in August, in charge of the planning, building and engineering

departments.

Most recently,

he ran his own municipal consulting group in Washington state, where he

gained experience in water conservation and management. His daily commute

for a time, he said, was from his home in Port Orchard, Wash., facing

the Seattle skyline, across the Puget Sound via ferry.

One of the

biggest challenges facing Peachtree City in the near future, he said,

is stormwater runoff and its effect on drinking water. The city is considering

joining other local governments in forming a special utility just to manage

the resource into the future.

The city didn't

have to pay Stricklin's moving expenses cross-country, however. He moved

to Marietta with his wife, a free-lance graphic designer who felt drawn

to the Atlanta area.

The couple

is looking for a home in Peachtree City, he said.