By Jennifer Shrader
BeeTV33 staff writer
Patrick Bowie, LaGrange’s director of utilities, will be interim city manager while council conducts an immediate search for a permanent replacement. The vote to name him to the job was unanimous.
Bowie has been with the city since 1988.
“My goal is to continue running the city as efficiently and effectively as possible until the mayor and council decide to name a permanent replacement,” Bowie said on Wednesday. “I want to thank the mayor and council for the confidence they’ve placed in me to keep our organization moving forward.”
Bowie also had kind words for Kelsey, who has been with LaGrange almost as long as he has, at 27 years.
“She will be a tough act to follow as she is truly leaving LaGrange ‘better than she found it,'” he said, giving a nod to the litter campaign Kelsey started.
Kelsey submitted her resignation to the mayor and council Tuesday, announcing she was leaving for a job opportunity in Newnan, her hometown. She will be the city’s assistant city manager for finance and human resources.
Kelsey had followed her father into the public service arena; he was Newnan’s city manager for three decades. She also served under LaGrange’s longtime city manager Tom Hall as his assistant city manager until Hall’s unexpected death in February 2016.
Mayor Willie Edmondson said at Tuesday night’s council meeting the city will miss Kelsey.
“All of us have heavy hearts,” he said. “You have meant so much to the city of LaGrange. You have done a hob most men couldn’t do. We are financially stable because of your leadership. We have not skipped a beat.”
