South Fayette’s township manager leaving for job in N.C.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter
Ryan Eggleston’s last day as South Fayette township manager will be April 27. He is leaving to become city manager in Morehead City, N.C.
Photo by Deana Carpenter
Ryan Eggleston
South Fayette township manager leaving
{child_byline}By Jacob Calvin Meyer
Staff writer
jmeyer@thealmanac.net
{/child_byline}
South Fayette township manager leaving
{child_byline}By Jacob Calvin Meyer
Staff writer
jmeyer@thealmanac.net
{/child_byline}
After nearly six years as South Fayette’s township manager, Ryan Eggleston is leaving for a job as city manager in Morehead City, N.C.
Eggleston’s last day at South Fayette will be April 27. He will begin his new job in North Carolina on May 1.
Eggleston said the decision to leave South Fayette was “bittersweet.”
“It was definitely a difficult decision,” Eggleston said. “It really was one of those unique opportunities where it just was something that after a lot of thinking and praying on it, I felt it was something for us to try and take. South Fayette has been great. It’ll be hard leaving here. We met a lot of good folks, a lot of good friends.”
Eggleston gave the Board of Commissioners his 60-day notice in an executive session during its last meeting Feb. 21.
Community Development Director Andrea Iglar said the township has hired GovHR USA, a consulting firm that specializes in hiring for government positions. She also said the process for finding a replacement will begin later this month, and a goal date has not yet been determined.
Iglar added that the township will have to name someone as the interim township manager after Eggleston leaves and before the full-time replacement is hired.
Ray Pitetti, president of the South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners, praised Eggleston and said they would select a replacement “who can build on the great work” he did over the past six years.
“We thank Ryan for his hard work and leadership and wish him well in his future endeavors,” Pitetti said.
Eggleston said he is working with the board to make the transition “as seamless as possible.”
“I’m working with the board to have some discussions to have an interim person to guide that along until the new person is here,” Eggleston said.
Morehead City is located on North Carolina’s coast in the southern Outer Banks area. As most vacation destinations, a big focus on Morehead City is tourism.
“It will be similar to my job now in that it’s local government,” Eggleston said. “They do a lot of work focusing on the tourism world. They’re one of the few places that has a port in North Carolina. They do a lot with boating and fishing there, so I’ve started to immerse myself with that. There’s always similarities in local government.”
Growing up in Titusville, Eggleston has lived in Western Pennsylvania his entire life, outside of his time as an undergraduate at Syracuse University, where he majored in political science and history.
Morehead City will be Eggleston’s fourth stop in the last 15 years. Before South Fayette, Eggleston served as city manager in Greenville and Oil City.
“I’ve been managing Western Pennsylvania my whole life,” he said. “This is a little bit of risk and a little bit of something different to give North Carolina a try.”
Eggleston said the “timing is right” for his wife, Julie, and their five kids to make the jump south.
“Having lived and grown up our whole lives in Western Pennsylvania, it’s a place I think that has always been interested, personally, to see,” Eggleston said. “It was just an appealing opportunity, and I say that with great feelings about South Fayette. I’m bittersweet to be leaving, but I’m excited to relocate and give it a try down there in North Carolina.”
During his time at South Fayette, Eggleston said he’s most proud of the “financial stability” the township now has.
“We’ve worked really hard over the last five or six years really building a solid foundation of finances,” he said. “We’ve had our bond upgraded twice, two seperate times over the last six years. We’re one mark below the best bond rating you can get in America, which I’m very proud of.”
Eggleston said the township has also made great strides in its communication with the board, the school district, the developers and the community.
“With bringing Andrea (Iglar) on board and just our website overhaul and our new South Fayette Connect magazine and our Facebook and Twitter presence, I feel like we’re doing a better job now than we’ve ever done in the past of communicating with our residents,” he said.
Most of all, Eggleston said South Fayette has been a “welcoming place to work and call home.”
“It’s been a wonderful six years,” he said. “South Fayette is a great community. We met a lot of wonderful friends during our time here, personally and professionally. We’ve got a top-notch, grade-A staff here and a lot of folks that are competent individuals here. I’m definitely going to miss those interactions on a daily basis.”