South Fayette Township hires manager

South Fayette Township commissioners voted Tuesday to appoint John M. Barrett as its new township manager.
Barrett has been the manager of Baldwin Borough since 2010. He will start in South Fayette on Jan. 2 with an annual salary of $123,000.
He replaces Ryan T. Eggleston, who had been South Fayette’s manager for almost six years before leaving in April to take a job as city manager in Morehead City, N.C. LaVerne Diggs, special projects director and part-time human resources director for the township, has been serving as interim manager since Eggleston’s departure.
Commissioner Joseph Horowitz described Barrett as “the perfect fit” for the township.
Having managed a community that is largely built-out, Barrett said he is enthusiastic about the development opportunities in South Fayette, perhaps most concretely represented by construction of the Southern Beltway, which will cut through a portion of the township.
His immediate goals include “providing quality services to residents,” he explained shortly after the board voted to appoint him.
An Upper St. Clair resident, Barrett has overseen a $22 million budget while manager of Baldwin Borough and coordinated the work of 45 full-time employees. His résumé also includes stints as the chief administrator for Murrysville, executive director of the community development corporation Friendship Development Associates Inc., director of programs with the Local Government Academy, and director of operations for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.
Barrett also serves on the board of the Association for Pennsylvania Municipal Management and was the recipient this year of the Joseph A. James Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Administration from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.