WELLFLEET — Christine Ezersky walked into town hall on Jan. 9 as the town’s first-ever human resources director. Voters at a Sept. 10, 2022 special town meeting approved Article 4 authorizing the new position at a cost of $115,000. Town Administrator Rich Waldo says the hire is a big step toward addressing the town’s sizable staffing shortage, which currently comprises four vacant positions.
Ezersky said her main priorities are recruitment and retention. “Staffing is the number-one thing,” she said. “Then you have to focus on retaining the staff that you have. It’s about trying to find engaging ways to get people to stay.”
The vacant positions that Ezersky will be looking to fill are the principal clerk, assistant harbormaster, town accountant, and assistant town accountant. Jeanne Maclauchlan retired from her role as principal clerk in October.
The assistant harbormaster’s job was formerly held by McKenzie Hartman, who resigned in early December. Her reasons for leaving are confidential, Waldo said.
Assistant Town Accountant Jane Tesson retired on Dec. 9, the same day that Town Accountant Nick Robertson left that position after eight months to return to his old job as assistant accountant in Provincetown.
Robertson’s reason for leaving was that Provincetown’s accounting department was better staffed, Waldo told the Independent last month.
Wellfleet employs approximately 116 full-time employees and over 100 seasonal staff, according to the special town meeting warrant booklet. Ezersky will oversee payroll, benefits, and personnel management, which includes collective bargaining. The town is currently in the process of negotiating wages with five unions, Waldo said, including those representing the firefighters, police, and police dispatchers as well as the Wellfleet Employees Association and the Teamsters Union.
Ezersky previously worked as chief human resources officer at YMCA Cape Cod for 12 years, and before that she was the payroll and benefits clerk for the Nauset Regional School District for four years. She has lived on Cape Cod for 20 years and currently lives in West Dennis.
“I’ve always been somebody who is a helper, someone who wants to support people,” Ezersky said. “I want to be able to keep people happy and engaged.”
Ezersky said that the first few months of her new job will be about “listening, learning, and understanding. I’m trying to be open and listen to people, so the staff knows there is an HR person that is going to be there to support them.”
Before the town hired Ezersky, human resources responsibilities were split among the town administrators and the town treasurer’s office, which handled payroll and benefits, Waldo said. Now that the town has an HR department, other staff members will no longer have to juggle tasks outside their job descriptions, he said.
“Having the HR position itself is going to help, but also the residual effect of freeing up that workload from other people is going to be good.
“We’re happy to be able to get someone to start by January,” Waldo said, “considering how long vacant positions last around here,” adding that they remain open for two to three months.
Ezersky’s starting salary is $90,000, with the remainder of the $115,000 appropriation going toward benefits like health insurance of which the town pays 65 percent, according to Waldo.
The town received six applications for the HR director position but awarded it to Ezersky for her extensive experience in human resources-related work. “She checked all the boxes,” Waldo said.
Hiring Ezersky is just one step in a longer journey, he added. “It’s the right direction for the town. Is it a magical fix that will solve all our problems? No.
“Industry-wide, we need to promote the municipal sector as a good employment option,” Waldo said. “We’re losing ground on being able to get staff.”
