In honor of his outstanding performance and 19 years of public service, Johnson City, TN City Manager Pete Peterson was named Manager of the Year by the Tennessee City Management Association (TCMA).

The award is presented by TCMA each year to acknowledge Tennessee managers, administrators, or assistants who have made exceptional contributions to their profession. During Peterson's tenure, the quality of life for Johnson City's staff and citizens has been greatly enhanced, with professional development and partnership opportunities along with progressive, sustainable initiatives and services that meet the needs of a growing population. All of this has been achieved with fewer employees and drastically reduced resources.

When Peterson was first appointed city manager, he faced an extraordinarily difficult situation. The prior city manager had only served a short tenure, the board was largely diVided, the community lacked confidence in the city's service delivery, and his staff was in great need of leadership. "Within only a few years, Pete turned each of these situations around," said Pat Hardy Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) Municipal Management consultant. Among his many accomplishments, Peterson conducted a succession study revealing that a huge percentage of his workforce supervisors would soon be retiring. Based on this study, he brought the MTAS Municipal Management Academy to his employees. Three groups have completed all three levels of the academy, with more than 160 employees h·ained. He has been pro-active in utilizing neighborhood activism and volunteerism developing new volunteer service projects such as "Earthday Workday," and has united city departments with area agencies, businesses, and corporate partners to improve healthier community activities and programs. The "Up & At 'Em" initiative won the 2007 Havlick Local Government award and the Tennessee State Governor's Shining Star Award.

Peterson implemented a gas-to-energy program at the Iris-Glen landfill facility, converting methane gas from the landfill to power used at the Veterans Administration campus. This groundbreaking project benefits the environment while generating revenue for the city and won the "Project of the Year" designation from the Environmental Protection Agency. He also created an Energy Efficiently committee to develop ways for saving fuel consumption, and facilitated conversion to a biodiesel program expected to reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 12 percent, particulate emissions by 12 percent, total hydrocarbon emissions by 20 percent, and sulfate emissions by 20 percent.

Recognized by TML as Tennessee's First Green City, the launch of Johnson City's "Green Building Initiative" will make all city buildings energy efficient. Downtown improvements include underground utilities and upgraded sidewalks and streets. The Project Safe Neighborhoods program now has a special prosecutor to prosecute felony narcotics and weapons cases at the federal level that originate in Johnson City. This program has been strengthened by the addition of a Weed and Seed program.

"Pete Peterson has brought a much needed stability to the city and has worked to provide staff development opportunities that have resulted in a top-notch team at city hall," said Hardy.

An active member ofTCMA for many years, Peterson is a consistent participant in ICMA and serves on the Advisory Boards ofMTAS and the TML Risk Management Pool.

"Pete has been willing to give of his time to the profession at large, and he has worked tirelessly over the years to improve the general quality of governance in Tennessee through participation in other organizations serving cities," said Jody Baltz, TCMA president and city administrator of Tullahoma. "For nearly 20 years he has devoted the best of himself to public service and to the notion that helping others through local government is his calling. His impact on Johnson City will be felt for many years to come."

The Tennessee City Management Association is an organization of administrators and managers dedicated to professionalism in the management of local government in Tennessee. Its membership is 120 members strong.

For more information, contact Pat Hardy at (423) 854-9882.