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12/01/2021 07:30 AM“There are going to be some big shoes to fill”—that was the quote from last week’s Board of Selectman meeting by First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons when announcing the retirement of the town Human Resources Director Deb Milardo. Deb has dedicated her entire professional life to public service. She’s now moving on, but she has left an indelible mark on the town’s workforce.
For the past seven years, Deb has served as human resources director for the town and prides herself on bringing a sense of inclusion and mutual respect to not only her duties, but to all of the town’s employees.
“Most of my career has been in municipal HR. What means the most to me is giving back to the community. Yes we get paid, and yes we get paid by taxpayer money, but you’re also able to provide a vital service to the communities you work for,” Deb says. “You certainly wear multiple hats as well. You work with employees to make sure that they are happy and are being trained properly and that they can have some growth within the town and hopefully within the department. On the other side of that, you are also dealing with random calls about a tree down on a local road or a pot hole and a host of other issues that are important to the public. I have always found that very rewarding and really enjoy the career.”
Deb spent a number of years working as the HR director for the Town of Middletown. She served more than 1,000 employees while there and a much larger contingent of issues, but Deb says that Madison also brought unique challenges for her and her team.
“What people don’t really know about public service is that you can get burned out. Our employees take a lot,” says Deb. “In Madison especially—we are not over-staffed by any means. So our employees have to make do without a lot of additional support. Whether it’s day-to-day operations going through COVID, dealing with major storms or hurricanes, there is a small crew that does an awful lot for this town. It’s a small crew that are very dedicated and it’s been my job to support them.”
Deb says that an HR director has to wear many hats, but ultimately fixing problems is what the job boils down to, and she has always welcomed that challenge.
“It there’s a problem and it comes across my desk, I’m going to work to fix it. It may involve an employee, it may again involve a non-traditional human resource function, but I’ve been around long enough to know where to go and who to see and how to get a result,” says Deb. “I put a lot of value on that public service. The employees here know that my expectations as their HR director is that they give 100 percent, even in the most difficult times. It’s our job to service the public. I am always trying to be supportive and give the employees the tools they need to deal with situations that they haven’t had to deal with on a frequent basis.”
Deb led the charge to keep town services up and running during COVID’s uniquely difficult challenges, and to address the difficulties for municipal workers. According to Deb, her colleagues really rose to the challenge and made incredible sacrifices to help keep the town functioning during the pandemic.
“COVID has had a dramatic effect on the workforce. We have tried to balance the employees during COVID. Getting our operations to where we could still provide services without endangering employees or the public, and putting in the safeguards,” says Deb. “I have to say that I worked with an amazing team: [Emergency Services Director] Sam DeBurra; Trent Joseph, our health director; my HR Manager Paula Carabetta, [Town Services Coordinator] Lauren Rhines. We were constantly meeting, sometimes on a daily basis. We often had to switch policy almost on a daily basis at the beginning. And then start the slow process of transitioning people back into the workplace.
“It has worn people out,” she continues. “I’ve had to deal with a lot of different issues during my career. I’ve had to deal with the death of employees on the job, there’s been issues of drugs or alcohol, and [I’ve] tried to mentor and sponsor employees to seek help, but COVID has been the longest ride that we’ve all been on. I hope this town, and the elected boards and commissions take into account [that] they have a workforce that is very good and has served the public well.”
Deb says that the stress of the pandemic and the possibility of contracting a lethal infection is a huge weight to bear and all employees who have labored diligently through the crisis deserve respect and gratitude.
“Our town can’t ignore the work our employees have done, nor the mental health of our employees either,” says Deb. “I am hopeful that as I transition out that some of the foundations that we have built in terms of human resources being in partnership with the employees, with labor unions-that that will continue.
Deb says she will remain as a consultant for Madison to assist in the transition to another director. She says her decision to leave was difficult, but she wanted to spend more time with family. She says she will miss the interactions and connections she has made during her tenure in Madison.
“I love this job and love the people I work with, but it really is about spending time with my family. The best part of the job for me has been the human aspect. Having the ability to really help people and make a difference in their lives,” says Deb. “I have the philosophy of using my job and the career that I am in to pay it forward. If there’s an employee that needs help, whether it’s personally or on the job they know they can come here. If I can help, I will help. That’s the best part of having been a part of HR. That’s what I hope I promote: a sense of fairness.”
One thing that Deb says she would want to impart to residents is that the town can’t help when it comes to power outages.
“One thing that’s important that the community should realize—and I say this tongue in cheek—is that when your power goes out, the municipality cannot do anything to get that power restored. We empathize and we want to help with every issue or problem that a resident may have, but the power is out of our control,” she says. “Please remember, we don’t not control the utilities. Please don’t yell at us. We feel bad, but there is nothing the town can do.”