There’s an old expression that city managers arrive fired with enthusiasm and they usually leave the same way.

It’s a high-stress job with multiple bosses who revolve regularly based upon the whims of voters who can, like a Maine winter, grow ugly overnight.

The average city manager in the U.S. has been on the job for 6.3 years, and 93 percent of them are men, says the American Society for Public Administration.

So, in several ways, Auburn’s Pat Finnigan has been an anomaly: a female manager with 12 years of service who is now leaving of her own accord.

That’s not to say it’s been a smooth ride, particularly of late. Finnigan has become, for reasons we do not accept, a lightning rod for increasingly vocal and disgruntled taxpayers.

As Finnigan finishes her final Auburn budget and begins packing up her office, we suggest the public take the long view.

Ten years ago, Auburn had a dying downtown and citizens oft lamented the urban renewal effort that had swept away much of the city’s history and civic personality.

So, in 1996, they elected Lee Young, an aggressive, can-do mayor who soon became the public face of Auburn city government.

Young and Finnigan were a good team. The mayor put the coalitions together and excited the public with her vision of downtown development. Finnigan worked diligently behind the scenes, along with other city workers, turning that vision into reality.

First came the plan, the Auburn Downtown Action Plan for Tomorrow, the product of a long public process that laid the groundwork for change.

Then came the deals – for a new city hall, an attached parking garage, a renovation of the Auburn Public Library and a Hilton hotel, which some skeptics predicted would never survive. Today, by the way, the hotel is expanding.

What’s more, the area around the Auburn Mall is now teaming with new stores and restaurants, and a new “fly-over” now moves traffic seamlessly between the two cities.

And none of this even touches on the long hours Finnigan spent volunteering for community organizations.

Young retired after three action-packed terms as mayor, and part of Finnigan’s current public relations problems are rooted in that fact.

Auburn voters, many of whom once complained about the city’s downtown, are now suffering from a bit of buyers’ remorse, blaming the new buildings, garages and big-box stores for the city’s high tax rate.

We don’t buy it. Taxes are high in all of Maine’s service center cities, not just Auburn. Yet, the perception of extravagant construction projects and overly generous tax breaks to developers remains.

As new Mayor John Jenkins told the Sun Journal Thursday, Finnigan’s departure is good for her and good for the city.

Now, the city gets a fresh start with a new mayor and new manager, and Finnigan gets the same.

We thank her for 12 solid years and wish her well.