Rigby is an insurance broker in private life, and was a partner with the Rose, Horne and Stevenson Group from 1979 to 1997.
[3] Rigby was endorsed by outgoing Mayor Alan Unwin in 1997, and defeated city councillor Rick Dykstra by a significant margin.
Rigby has tried to reduce St. Catharines's traditional dependence on industry, and to permit diversification in the high-tech sector.
[4] He nonetheless joined with other southern Ontario mayors to seek federal and provincial assistance for Canada's automotive sector in 2002.
[8] In June 2006, he led council in approving a controversial seventeen-storey condominium in the Port Dalhousie waterfront area.