Administration

The City of Forest Acres is overseen by its Mayor and four city council representatives. The daily operations of the City are overseen by City Administrator Shaun Greenwood and Assistant City Administrator Lieutenant Colonel (R) Kendall Adams.

City Administrator Shaun Greenwood:

Shaun M. Greenwood, AICP, ICMA-CM, is a senior municipal executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience in state and local government. He currently serves as City Administrator for the City of Forest Acres, where he oversees municipal operations, advises City Council, and leads strategic initiatives focused on fiscal stewardship, capital investment, and organizational modernization.

Under his leadership, the City and Council achieved a long-standing, 20-year objective to secure redevelopment of the former Richland Fashion Mall, marking a transformative milestone for the community. As part of this redevelopment, Mr. Greenwood has led efforts to expand the City’s park portfolio, including the addition of Gills Creek Memorial Park, which received a statewide achievement award from the Municipal Association of South Carolina. He is also overseeing development of a landmark six-acre public park that will anchor the mall redevelopment site and serve as a defining civic space for Forest Acres.

Previously, Mr. Greenwood served as Assistant City Manager and Director of Planning and Development for the City of Cayce, where he played a central role in reversing fiscal distress. During his tenure, he increased the City’s General Fund balance from a deficit to $3.7 million and implemented long-term capital, staffing, and service-delivery strategies across core municipal functions.

Mr. Greenwood’s career reflects deep experience at the political–administrative interface, with a focus on governance, regulatory reform, and institutional capacity building. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Carolina and is a Credentialed Manager through the International City/County Management Association. He is also a certified member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

A graduate of Leadership South Carolina and the South Carolina Economic Development Institute, Mr. Greenwood has served in leadership roles on multiple professional boards. He began his public service career as a Counterintelligence Special Agent in the United States Army.

Director of Communications and Community Engagement

Lynnsey Gardner Baker is an award-winning communications professional and former investigative journalist with more than two decades of experience in strategic communications, media relations, public affairs, and community engagement.

As Director of Communications and Community Engagement for the City of Forest Acres, Lynnsey leads the city’s communications, branding, marketing, media relations, community outreach, special events, and economic development storytelling. 

Since joining the City in 2021 and returning in an expanded leadership role in 2025, she has helped elevate Forest Acres’ profile locally, statewide, and nationally. Her strategic communications work surrounding the redevelopment of the former Richland Mall generated more than $23 million in earned media coverage for the City’s largest economic redevelopment project in its history.

Lynnsey previously served as the City’s Communications Director, where she developed innovative communications strategies, strengthened community engagement, and led crisis communications efforts, including the City’s response to Hurricane Helene. Her work has earned recognition from municipal leaders across South Carolina and led to invitations to share communications and municipal storytelling best practices with communities throughout the state.

In 2024, Lynnsey joined NP Strategy, where she advised clients on strategic communications, media relations, public affairs, and reputation management. She worked with organizations across multiple industries to navigate complex communications challenges, strengthen reputations, and achieve measurable results.

Before entering the public sector, Lynnsey spent more than a decade in broadcast journalism as an investigative reporter and anchor for WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida, and WRDW in Augusta, Georgia. Her journalism earned three national Edward R. Murrow Awards and three Emmy Awards. One of her investigative series was highlighted during a congressional hearing led by Senator Marco Rubio and contributed to the passage of four federal laws.

A proud second-generation graduate of the University of Georgia, Lynnsey earned the prestigious John E. Drewry Young Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of her accomplishments and impact in broadcast journalism.