After more than two years Fairport Harbor Village Administrator Rebecca Corrigan is moving her career closer to home, having found a similar job in Olmsted Township.
During her time in Fairport, she said she has seen the roughly one-square-mile community meet and beat numerous challenges with limited resources and she has loved every minute of it, she said.
Corrigan, who lives in near Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland with her family, drives about 45 minutes to and from Fairport Harbor three days a week in her part-time role as the village administrator. She said it was tough to leave the little town of about 3,000 residents.
“I love it here. So I devoted a lot of my time to it,” she said. “(The drive) was OK and I enjoyed what I did. And, honestly, I wouldn’t be leaving but a I got a text from a friend about the job in Olmsted Township and it’s literally, like, a five-minute drive from home.”
Corrigan grew up in Berea where, after a stint in the U.S. Naval Reserves, then the Ohio Army National Guard, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University, then went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Akron before beginning her career as an intern in her hometown in 1993.
Before coming to Fairport Harbor Village, she worked in public service capacities in Berea, Bedford and Sandusky, she said.
“I’ve been in local government for a long time,” the 48-year-old mother of two said.
Her favorite parts of the job she’s held since May 5, 2015, Corrigan said, were how busy the village has kept her; the job’s variety; and Fairport Harbor’s residents and employees.
“I like that it’s different every day,” she said, adding that “if the general public knew all the day-to-day activities that go on in a city that’s just one square mile, I think they’d be really, really surprised.”
Some recent highlights she mentioned include updating the village’s water plant, seeing three much-needed levies pass last November and watching a number of planned improvements throughout the village head steadily toward fruition.
The village is obviously going to miss Corrigan’s efficiency, well-rounded skill set and can-do attitude, as evidenced in a Jan. 16 resolution commemorating her service to the community of roughly 3,000 residents.
“Rebecca Corrigan has faithfully served the Village and the residents of the Village in her position of Village Administrator and she has performed her duties with distinction and dedication,” it reads.
Fairport Mayor Timothy Manross later added to the community’s sentiments in an e-mail exchange.
“I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to hire our first female administrator,” Manross said. “Rebecca stood out in a field of very qualified candidates. Rebecca has been an asset to our village. Much has been accomplished, running the sewer separation CDBG project, working on flooding issues with the county agencies has laid the groundwork for continued projects to address those issues. Third Street is an example, (along with) water plant upgrades and hillside stabilization. The day-to-day operations of running a village are vast and unpredictable. She has handled those challenges well. We wish her continued success in the next phase of her career.”
Corrigan’s last day with Fairport Harbor Village is Jan. 30 and, in keeping with her stalwart work ethic, her first day in her new position begins Jan. 31 with a trip to Columbus for a conference, she said.
