Many people leave government jobs, then they find success as consultants.

Fred Greene did.

Now he’s doing the reverse.

On Monday, the 66-year-old Garland resident will quit his consulting business to be­come Den­ton’s new­est assistant city manager. He’ll return to city government after previously holding leadership positions in Ar­ling­ton, Gar­land and Sher­man.

“It’s one thing to do [work as] a consultant, and it’s another thing to do the job,” Greene said. Con­sulting is satisfying, he said, but “there was something missing.”

Denton City Manager George Campbell an­nounced Greene’s hiring this week, along with the appointment of a new planning and development director.

MARK CUNNINGHAM

Current job: land development division director, Polk County, Fla.

Mark Cunningham

Work experience: land development planner, Baltimore County, Md.; zoning administrator, city of Jacksonville, N.C.

Education: Bachelor of Arts in public administration, Sojourner-Douglass College; Master of Public Administration, the University of Baltimore. He was certified as a public manager from Florida State University in 2006 and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

SOURCE: City of Denton

Mark Cunningham, land development division director for Polk County, Fla., will take over Denton’s planning department Jan. 2, replacing Kelly Carpenter, who resigned last year to take a position in El Paso.

Campbell said the new hires would allow him to finish the shake-up of city departments he announced several months ago.

Greene will oversee neighborhood services — a new division that will include police, fire, library, parks and recreation, and planning and development.

The departments are among those that now report to Jon Fortune or Howard Martin, the assistant city managers. Campbell said he wanted to add a third assistant city manager to spread out the workload and provide more oversight.

The City Council approved the position as part of this year’s budget. Denton had three assistant city managers until the 2005 retirement of Kathy Dubose, who handled fiscal and municipal services.

Since 1996, Greene’s job has been to help city governments run more efficiently through his one-man business, Greene Consulting. He said he was talking with Campbell one day about doing consulting work for Denton when the topic of the open assistant city manager position came up.

FRED G. GREENE

Current job: independent consultant to city governments

Fred Greene

Work experience: interim city manager and interim deputy city manager, Arlington, 2004-05; management services director and information systems director, city of Arlington, 1985-1995; city manager, assistant city manager, public works administrator and information system director, city of Garland, 1971-1984; director of information systems and personnel, information systems director, city/school tax assessor collector and systems analyst/programmer, city of Sherman, 1961-1971.

Education: Bachelor of Arts in personnel management, economics and finance from Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Family: wife, Carolyn, five children and nine grandchildren

SOURCE: City of Denton, Fred Greene

The decision to apply was easy, Greene said, partly because he knew what kind of boss he’d have. Greene worked for Arlington during part of Campbell’s tenure as city manager there in the 1990s.

“I’ve known George Campbell for a long time and know the kind of man he is and the kind of manager he is,” Greene said. “I couldn’t ask for a better boss.”

Campbell said he cut short the applicant search after Greene applied because he knew he’d found the right candidate. Campbell pointed to Greene’s resume, which includes more than 34 years of city government experience, including stints as city manager in Garland and interim city manager in Arlington.

Campbell selected Cunningham out of a pool of 50 applicants and six finalists. He said he believed Cunningham’s work experience and attention to detail made him best suited to help streamline the city’s “bureaucratic” development process.

“I’m very pleased with what he’s going to bring to the table,” Campbell said.

Cunningham, 42, a former active-duty Marine who served in the Persian Gulf War, said he was drawn to Denton because of its “top-notch” staff. He will oversee planning and development, building inspections and code enforcement.

“To me, it was a great opportunity to come into an environment that has a clear vision and direction,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with everyone.”

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .