As published in the Rutland Herald by Keith Whitcomb on Feb. 14, 2020
With a new manager and several new staff members, the local solid waste district is hoping to embrace change.
“I think you’re going to always have change, and it’s how you cope with that change,” said Mark Shea, district manager at the Rutland County Solid Waste District, in a Friday interview. “It’s not a boogeyman that’s going to come and get you. Change is part of life.”
Shea started his job at the district in September. Also, the district has a new Waste Reduction Program coordinator, Jenna Robles, and a new treasurer, Gregory Giles. It’s also moved outreach coordinator, Carl Diethelm up to full-time, as the district plans to do more with education and media.
Shea was most recently an interim town manager in Gorham, New Hampshire. Before that, he’d been town manager in Castleton until he resigned in 2017. Shea said he was also the town administrator in Readsboro for a while prior to that.
Shea said he’d planned planned to retire, but his predecessor at the solid waste district, Jim O’Gorman, suggested he apply for the job.
“There’s lots of things I think I can bring to the organization,” said Shea. He’d like to spruce up the facility at 1 Smith Road, do more with public outreach, namely through social media, make using the transfer station easier, and develop an online permit registration system. He said right now it takes the district two months of stuffing envelopes to send out renewal notices, which could be done faster and more costeffectively online.
To introduce himself and the new staff members to local waste haulers, the district has organized a dinner to be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the GMP Energy Innovation Center at 66 Merchant’s Row. Those interested in attending should RSVP with Diethelm by calling 775-7209 or email carld@rcswd.com.