James Gailey may be the hardest worker at City Hall, filling three top-level posts in South Portland government. But the 36-year-old South Portland native seems to relish the challenge.

Gailey was just tapped by the South Portland City Council to be acting city manager for the second time, after the abrupt resignation of Ted Jankowski. Although Gailey did not apply for the job the first time it was open, he is not ruling out that possibility this time.

Jankowski’s departure May 24 was so sudden that Gailey was pressed into service before the council officially convened to appoint him acting city manager.

Gailey, meanwhile, still juggles his other duties as assistant city manager and director of community development.

“It probably was a little crazy around here for about a week and a half,” Gailey said. “But things are going smoothly now.”

Although Gailey is undecided on whether he will apply for the city manager’s job, councilors talk about the 12-year city employee in glowing terms.

“I knew and respected Jim when he was in the planning department,” said Councilor Maxine Beecher. “He’s very good at the details. He’s a people person. And he’s open enough to ask questions when he doesn’t understand something.”

“Jim Gailey is very efficient, and he has very strong ties to stakeholders in the community,” said Mayor Claude Morgan. “People like, admire and respect him. That affords us a great deal of confidence.”

Gailey’s background and personality are a stark contrast to Jankowski’s, an outsider whose resume spanned municipal leadership roles in Boston and Worcester, Mass., as well as Portsmouth, N.H. Jankowski served as South Portland city manager for eight months before leaving. Workers complained of low morale under his leadership.

Gailey has deep ties and strong relationships in South Portland. He was educated in the city’s schools, and his father is a retired Memorial Middle School principal.

Gailey worked his way through the ranks of South Portland city government, serving as tax collector and site planner, among other jobs.

He expresses a strong sense of duty to the city, in what others describe as characteristic modesty. “I’m here to serve the residents and businesses of South Portland,” Gailey said this week.

“It could be returning a phone call to a resident or helping someone work through a situation involving the city. The last thing I want is for a resident or business to contact City Hall and not hear back for three days or a week.

“Even with an increased workload and more priorities, I am trying to stay focused on getting everything done in a timely fashion.”

Morgan underscored Gailey’s dedication.

“I would not even venture to estimate how many hours Jim spends in his life working on city issues,” Morgan said. “He’s steady and on the job all the time. It’s typical for Jim to provide little communications to councils, even if it is on a Sunday morning.”

Gailey knows city government from the various full-time posts he has held since 1995, after earning a master’s degree from the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.

Gailey worked as a personal property tax collector for two years before moving to the planning department to review site plan and rezoning applications.

In 2004, Gailey was named director of community development. He established the city’s program for receiving federal housing funds to help qualifying residents with loans and grants for down payments and repairs.

Gailey kept that full-time job when he was promoted to assistant city manager in 2006, under former City Manager Jeff Jordan. Gailey was in his new post for four months when Jordan resigned after more than a decade.

Gailey filled in as acting city manager, until the council hired Jankowski six months later. “It absolutely is a smoother transition for me this time around,” Gailey said.

Gailey did not apply for the city manager’s job after Jordan left. “I was too new the last time around. I needed more experience,” he said.

But Gailey is not ruling out the opportunity the second time around. He said he wants to see what the council is looking for in the next city manager before making a decision.

“Being city manager would be a great position for a local guy,” he said. “It always has been a goal of mine.”