On April 23, 2007, Deborah McDonnell assumed the responsibilities as the City Manger.  Deborah comes from Saranac Lake, New York, where she served as the Director of Community Development for the past ten years.  Prior to that, she served as a Trustee for Saranac Lake Village. 

During her tenure in Saranac Lake, Deborah's leadership skills allowed her to create a waterfront revitalization plan which was adopted by the Village Board through the New York Department of State.  She worked extensively with local and State Departments for water, sewer, storm, road, and sidewalk improvements.  She led and facilitated recreational development for the greater Saranac Lake area.  Financially, Deborah secured more than $15 million for waterfront planning, parks and recreation, water and sewer, housing rehabilitation, roads and sidewalks, downtown revitalization, and economic development projects.  One of her final accomplishments in Saranac Lake included a $6.4 million sewer upgrade, and reducing a 43 percent downtown vacancy rate to one percent by attracting business growth.

Deborah received a number of community awards for her work in Saranac: ‘Significant Recreational Project’ awarded by the Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce, 2004; ‘Waterfront Revitalization Award’ awarded by the Department of State Coastal Division, 2003; ‘Downtown Revitalization’ awarded by the Village Improvement Society, 2002; and ‘Community Renaissance Award’ awarded by Niagara Mohawk, 2002.  In 1998, Deborah led Saranac Lake to a successful bid as an “All American City,” which was awarded by the National Civic League in Washington, DC for outstanding civic infrastructure and collaboration efforts.

Deborah has obtained her Masters in Business Administration from Walden University and received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Ohio State University.  She is also a graduate of the Grantsmanship Center.

Deborah has a daughter, Jennifer, and son, Perry.