Green public service leaders let work speak for them in male-dominated field: Good to Know
As Green's public service director, Valerie Wax Carr has a lot to juggle.
Roads, parks, storm water, snow removal, cemeteries. Even a new pickleball series starting in May.
Carr runs a department with more than 50 employees — expanding to more than 80 in the summer months — and has done so for eight years in Green.
She oversees maintenance on more than 350 miles of road, 13 parks, two active cemeteries, Raintree Golf & Event Center and other city facilities.
It's a position traditionally filled by men but increasingly coming under the direction of women, she said in a recent interview.
According to a CivicPulse report, only about 29% of local government top-appointed executives — positions like Carr's — were women in 2022. That's up from about 22% in 2013.
Even rarer is a department with two top positions held by women. Carr's deputy public service director is Chrissy Lingenfelter, who's been in the position more than two years.
But it's not an issue Carr has spent a lot of time worrying about.
"I've never thought, 'I can't do this job because I'm a woman,'" she said in a recent interview. "I let my work speak for me."
Wide experience in Cuyahoga Falls, Norton, Green
Carr said her interest in local government piqued early.
"My dad worked for local government, so I always had the local government buzz," she said.
Her master's in public administration led her to her first job in a training program in Peoria, Illinois.
"My favorite area was the Public Works Department," she said. "I saw things get done. We were always out with the public."
She became a deputy service director in Cuyahoga Falls, then the service director for 13 years, starting in 2000.From there, she served as Norton administrator for four years.
Then, her current position opened in Green. She hadn't been actively looking to move but was intrigued.
"One thing that appealed to me in Green: It was new," she said.
Summit County's fourth-largest city became one in 1992.
Establishing an identity in a city with six ZIP codes
Lingenfelter said that newness appealed to her as an opportunity to help set policies and develop lasting programs.
With an undergraduate degree in geography and a background in geographic information system (GIS) mapping, Lingenfelter decided to get her master's in public administration, she said.
"GIS wasn't going to get me to the next level," she said.
She was recently able to apply and receive a grant for a new position in the city, an urban forester. An inventory of the trees in the 33.5-square-mile city is in the works.
Lingenfelter said the city is still establishing its own identity.
"We have six ZIP codes," she said. "People come to the city and don't realize they're in Green."
Focus on customer service
Carr said being in a job traditionally held by men hasn't been an impediment to performing her duties. But she remembers an employee who refused to work for her.
"One employee left a month after I got here because he would not give me a chance," she said.
She said public service at the local level is a savvy career choice for women.
"I think local government is a good place for women," she said. "… I think it's a great field for women."
Both Carr and Lingenfelter said customer service is built into the department's DNA.
"Our No. 1 job is customer service," Carr said. "… I learned early the importance of [customer] service. Chrissy [Lingenfelter] and I try to instill that all the time with our employees. I think that's probably the most important part of our job."
Do you know an interesting person in Greater Akron who would be Good to Know? Send suggestions to Alan Ashworth at aashworth@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Two top women in Green public service discuss the male-dominated field
