Gayle Corrigan Tapped for Central Coventry Fire District Manager Post

COVENTRY, RI—A woman who effectively ran Central Falls as its de factor mayor during that city's receivership and served as deputy director at Rhode Island Housing has been hired by the Central Coventry Fire District to oversee "all administrative and business operations as it continues to stabilize the district's finances."

The fire district's board President Fred Gralinksi said that Corrigan was hired after a 5-2 vote on March 19 and will serve as district manager for one year. She will be paid $120,750 for the contract that runs from March 1 to Feb. 28 of 2017.

“It has been a long and difficult road for our district over the last several years and while we have stabilized our finances and paid our bills, there is still much work to be done,” Gralinski said. “In hiring Gayle Corrigan we are engaging a highly experienced turnaround expert who has a track record of working cooperatively and fairly with management, staff and elected officials to improve business and administration processes, identify efficiencies and ultimately reduce costs to taxpayers.”

According to the agreement between the board and Corrigan's firm, Management Resource Partners, a goal has been set for "Corrigan’s engagement to improve operations, management and efficiency, so that by the end of February 2017, 'the Board will be able to reduce the District’s expenses by an amount that is at least two times the cost of engaging the Company,'" according to a press release.

The board's decision has been met without protest by members of the local fire union, though David Gorman, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 3372, said "at first blush we were not overly impressed with the idea."

Gorman said the district's financial crisis that led to bankruptcy and the subsequent yank out of bankruptcy has had a major impact on morale thanks to short staffing and scheduling problems.

"The fact the actual emergency service workers are working in some instances 78-96 hours a week due to staffing shortages and scheduling problems," Gorman said an in email message on Tuesday. "I'd rather see more boots on the ground to respond to the emergencies."

But, Gorman said, there's no denying that the administration of the district "needs some serious guidance and direction" and "I just hope that the board allows Ms. Corrigan and the relatively new Fire Chief the ability to actually do their job, versus the micromanagement that has occurred in the last few months."

Gorman repeated something he's said over the past few years: "I still maintain that the absolute best solution for the entire community is to create a single department under the direction of the town manager. That single town model eliminates the separate fire tax, has established and proven controls and systems already in a place and has established administrative and support infrastructure to manage the employees and provide for a more efficient and accountable operation."

Corrigan inherits a fire district that has been on uncertain financial footing for years, beginning with a previous fire board that made a severe accounting error, mailed incorrect tax bills and then hid that fact from voters for more than two years, among other glaring errors, according to the state’s motion to withdraw from bankruptcy.

The district filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2014 as it faced a $6.4 million deficit for that year with just $5.8 million in revenue. By then, it had piled up $4.4 million debt that includes loans from the town, deferred pension contributions and a $1 million loan from Centreville Bank. The district came out of bankruptcy and control was given back to fire board late last year.

A foundation for some semblance of order was established during bankruptcy and the fire board in December approved a $5.8 million budget. But legal and financial issues remain, including a court fight between the board and the union over contracts and a dispute between the board and Centreville Bank over a bank account that contained nearly $1 million.

Corrigan, who advertises turnaround services through her Providence firm, left Rhode Island Housing last summer to pursue other professional opportunities. She had filed a wrongful termination suit in 2013 after her termination by former agency Executive Director Richard Godfrey less than a month after she received positive employee review. She returned to her job after a settlement was reached in 2014.