Fairborn Daily Herald

FAIRBORN — The City of Fairborn would like to invite members of the community and friends of City Manager Deborah McDonnell to a farewell event 2-4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30. The cake and punch reception will be held in the Fairborn Government Center Council Chambers, 44 W. Hebble Ave.

This event will provide an opportunity for community members to offer well wishes as McDonnell begins a new chapter in her life.

McDonnell has taken a job as city administrator in Poughkeepsie, New York, after serving the community for the last nine years. Poughkeepsie faces alike demographics to Fairborn, McDonnell said. It includes a university and similar challenges related to poverty and planning. Instead of an Air Force base, Poughkeepsie includes the Hudson River.

“It’s a great challenge,” she said in a previous interview. “The city needs transformed like Fairborn did.”

McDonnell is most proud of the ways the city staff came together and united under a shared vision for the future of Fairborn, she said previously. She said an incredible staff equals an incredible community. She is also pleased with the city’s creation of the economic development department, which had to be passed by council in order to do so.

She will miss the people within the community, as well as seeing the innovation taking place within Wright State University and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

“I feel confident about where we are going,” McDonnell said in a past interview. “We did great stuff in the last nine years.”

Any questions regarding the event can be responded to by calling 937-754-3030.