Denise Cassel retired Jan. 24 after 24 years of service to Los Alamos County. Courtesy photo
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Jan. 29 was Denise Cassel’s final day on the job. After 24 years working in the Los Alamos County’s Human Resources Department and serving 16 of those years as the Human Resources Manager, Cassel is moving on to the next chapter of her life: retirement.
Her replacement, Jennifer Dorian, worked with Cassel prior to her retirement to ensure a smooth transition.
“I truly loved my time with Los Alamos County,” Cassel said. “It is a great place to work. I am going to miss the people but I am still going to be around so I will pop in. The County has been very good to me and my family … we have a lot of great memories and I am wishing them all the best and … I am looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
“Denise has supported the County for the past 24 years, through many challenging times, and yet always maintained a positive demeanor that was beneficial to addressing the various issues that crossed her desk,” County Manager Harry Burgess said. “I will miss Denise not only for her obvious skills in leading our HR department, but also due to her friendship during my time with the County. I wish her the best in her upcoming retirement!”
Human resources was a part of Cassel’s professional career from the beginning. She said she earned a degree in Public Administration from the San Diego State University, with an emphasis in human resources. When her husband Justin Cassel was hired at the Los Alamos Fire Department, Cassel said the County had an opening for a staff development coordinator and she was hired in June 1997.
“It was a great choice because government and public administration go together and I enjoyed my time tremendously,” Cassel said. “The people are awesome, and we have great, talented people who always rise to the occasion.”
Cassel’s time with the County was marked with several significant events including the Cerro Grande Fire, 9/11 and the Las Conchas Fire.
“I’ve seen our employees time and time again rise up, even if it wasn’t in their scope of work to take care of the community … that is going to be my biggest takeaway – the people …” she said.
Cassel recalls the County setting up FEMA trailers at Sullivan Field during the Cerro Grande Fire and emergency workers going throughout the community to relight pilot lights for residents. She also recalls the County’s Parks and Recreation staff working with Los Alamos Medical Center to clean the hospital so it could be repopulated.
Besides these major events, Cassel said she remembers the construction of Fire Station 3 in White Rock, the White Rock Branch Library and the new Municipal Building on Central Avenue.
“Our community has seen a lot of change for the better,” she said.
Some of her own career highlights were helping to put procedures and structures in place. For instance, Cassel said a structure was installed in the County’s recruitment process, its compensation plan was revamped along with the County’s affirmative action plan. She also helped institute the Los Alamos County Academy, a nine-week course to help local government leaders with soft skills to leadership concepts. The senior management team sponsors this course and leads many of the modules for the students, which include new employees and those recently promoted to be supervisors or aspire to be a supervisor.
The digital world plays a larger and larger role in human resources, Cassel said. For instance, applicants can create a profile and save it to apply for multiple County jobs. This makes the hiring process more efficient. Furthermore, Cassel pointed out that once an employee is hired, the information from their application can be transferred into their employee record.
For Dorian, Cassel offered a few pieces of advice.
“What I have told her is I know she is going to be great; she has a great background … I told her that the people are great and to use them as resources for things she is not aware of and they can give her the historical perspective,” Cassel said. “She knows the HR side of the house. Use the resources, listen and keep in mind what is best for the community. The HR team is rock solid and is a great support system. They can help her through the transition.”
Now that Cassel is retired, she and her husband, who retired as a battalion chief in 2017, do plan on staying in town for the time being. Cassel said that they are considering moving in the future to either Colorado or Montana to be closer to family and friends.
Plus, “…we love to travel and so we are envisioning doing some of that,” she said.