Longtime Monroe County recycling center staffer Nathan Dumas has been promoted to the position of Monroe County Recycling Center Coordinator.
Dumas, who has worked for Monroe County for the past eight-and-a-half years, previously served as the Solid Waste Facilities Maintenance Director. Dumas worked in construction and as a truck driver prior to being hired by Monroe County in 2015.
Dumas, a lifelong Monroe County resident, is the son of Hardy and Nancy Dumas. Dumas’ wife of 14 years, April, works in the Monroe County Elections and Registration office.
Dumas replaces longtime Solid Waste Director Dana Renaud as the Recycling Center Coordinator. Renaud, who will be retiring in January 2025, has been shifted to Special Projects Coordinator to give Dumas time to grow into the role of Recycling Center Coordinator while she is still around to provide support and mentorship.
Renaud, who has been the county’s Solid Waste Director for the past two decades, said she has been eyeing Dumas as her successor for many years.
Renaud said of Dumas: “It’s his ability to be involved and willingness to learn everything. He started out as a Center attendant before he moved into maintenance in 2017, but even then, I used him as my assistant. I’ve taught him everything I could because I wanted him to learn and grow into the position that I felt was meant for him.”
Dumas, who filled in as the department’s supervisor whenever Renaud was out of town, said he has enjoyed working under Renaud’s leadership and learned a lot from her.
“She taught me to try to find something positive no matter how bad the day is,” Dumas said of Renaud. “Things will always get better. The only way we know something is bad is if we have something good to judge it by.”
As Recycling Center Coordinator, Dumas will oversee the county’s 13 recycling centers and its 38 total recycling center employees, including 34 center attendants, and a departmental fleet that includes three roll-off trucks and one grapple truck. Dumas will also continue to perform maintenance repairs, including welding work, on the county’s solid waste equipment.
Monroe County Public Works Director Kimbel Stokes said he championed Dumas’ promotion because of Dumas’ deep knowledge of the county’s solid waste department. Stokes said Dumas has an energetic attitude, strong intellect, has earned the respect of the county’s solid waste staffers, and understands where members of the public are coming from when they voice complaints.
“He’s just an all-around good guy,” Stokes said of Dumas. “He knows the whole system from the recycle centers to the landfill. . . I think he’s top of the line.”
Renaud said she’s rooting for her longtime assistant and knows he’ll excel in his new position.
Renaud said, “I think he’s going to do an amazing job.”
