Peachtree City leaders hold two-day council retreat in Kennesaw

Mayor Kim Leonard opened the Peachtree City delegation’s leadership retreat in Kennesaw, saying the two-day session is intended for “team building, project prioritization, and strategic planning.” "I'm Kim Leonard, mayor of Peachtree City," she said at the start of the meeting.

City Manager Justin Strickland described the retreat as an opportunity for council members and staff to work outside a regular meeting setting. "Retreats are essential for, myself and for staff because it lets us be able to get together with council in a non regular meeting setting and start to set goals," Strickland said, adding that the format allows council to ask staff about priorities for the next year and beyond.

Leonard said the delegation met with four city council members from a peer city the previous day and had heard from the Kennesaw mayor that morning as part of a peer-learning agenda. "So it's interesting and fun and, certainly productive to look at what other cities are doing and identify best practices that we can bring back home," she said, framing the retreat as a way to shape Peachtree City’s future work.

First-term council member Michael Polacek said the retreat is his first and described it as a chance to "get my feet wet" across different areas of the city. He said the sessions are useful for understanding staff needs, learning peers’ priorities and identifying feasible solutions to move Peachtree City forward.

Officials did not propose or vote on any formal actions during the portion of the retreat recorded in the transcript. Participants described the sessions as oriented toward setting goals and refining the city’s vision and workplan for upcoming years.