This story has been updated.

Stone Mountain, GA — The city of Stone Mountain has hired Darnetta K. Tyus as its new City Manager.

Tyus replaces Warren Hutmacher who took over the job temporarily after city manager ChaQuias Miller-Thornton left the city. The new city manager’s salary is approximately $140,000.

Mayor Beverly Jones said, “We were looking for someone with passion, vision, energy, and experience who could communicate well, motivate people, become part of our community, and help us to move forward. After consulting the Georgia Municipal Association and reviewing online applicants, we decided upon Darnetta K. Tyus.

“Ms. Tyus comes to us with a proven history of successful goal execution and impeccable references. We assessed her professional achievements and were very impressed with her ability to expediently initiate and execute projects in a timely and effective manner. We are very excited to have Darnetta Tyus join our team as city manager.”

Darnetta K. Tyus. Photo provided to Tucker Observer.

Tyus has more than 30 years of experience as a public administrator. She previously served for three months as the city manager for College Park.

“While there, she facilitated a $11.5 million bond issuance against TSPLOST funds to complete the city’s Rhodes St. Bridge/6West Development Project; presented a $148 million balanced stabilization budget that included a 5% staff increase and sustained 20% raise for foresworn police personnel (without tax increases); and secured financing for $4.9 million in capital equipment within the 2021 – 2022 budget,” a press release from the city says.

Before that, she served as Deputy City Manager of Community Affairs for the city of Petersburg, Va. She oversaw several departments there, including economic development, social services, public works, community corrections, juvenile crime control and more.

“Tyus was also responsible for reengineering the city of Petersburg’s social service delivery performance, reestablishing its defunct Office of Tourism, partnering with state officials as the city’s point of contact for COVID-19 recovery activities for the city of Petersburg, and, most significantly, helping to elevate the city’s bond rating from BBB- to A+,” the press release from the city of Stone Mountain says.

City Councilmember Gil Freeman said Tyus matched the city’s vision for this role.

“In our search considerations of who should be selected as our next City Manager, we sought someone who met the job qualifications, could envision our city’s potential, understand the constraints of our current budget, and take full advantage of future growth opportunities,” Freeman said. “A city manager experienced with alternative resourcing strategies would help reduce the tax burden our citizens have been paying. Ms Tyus’ record demonstrated she has that capability, knowledge, and experience.”

Tyus is from Chicago.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work with her Honor the Mayor, Stone Mountain’s City Council, and city staff on maintaining the highest level of service to the city’s citizens and customers,” she said. “I look forward to partnering with the community’s stakeholders in making the City of Stone Mountain an even better place to live.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information about the amount of time Tyus worked for College Park. This story has been updated with the correct information.

The Tucker Observer is a community news website owned by Decaturish.com. We provide locally sourced news about Tucker, Clarkston and Stone Mountain.