The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Fire district gets new director
Former board member among top applicants; unanimously selected by board
The leadership challenge, as you know, is to be strong but not rude, be kind but not timid, be proud but not arrogant...”
Julius C. Neto, executive director of the Cromwell Fire District
CROMWELL — A former member of the Board of Fire Commissioners has been selected as the fire district’s new executive director.
Julius C. Neto was appointed to the positon by the commission on which he had served for the past decade before stepping down last year. Neto succeeds Michael D. Dagostino, who was the district’s first executive director. Dagostino resigned from the position on Oct. 5.
Neto was an executive in charge of production and transportation for The Hartford Courant until he retired in 2017, closing out a 27-year career with the newspaper.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut, where earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, Neto is currently the vice-chairman of the Cromwell Board of Finance.
In announcing Neto’s appointment, district President LeRoy D. Brow said Neto emerged from a search process conducted by the personnel recruiting firm of A.R. Mazzotta.
“Mazzotta supplied the (district’s) personnel committee with the top three candidates” based on a range of criteria that included “knowledge, skills and abilities along with education background,” Brow said.
Neto emerged “as the top scorer and was unanimously selected by the board as the new executive director,” he added. “What I hope for Julius to accomplish is to help lead us as a whole into the future, to better serve the needs of the taxpayers of the town of Cromwell who pay for our services.”
Neto will earn $115,731 as executive director.
(While the fire district encompasses the entire town, it is an independent agency and is not part of the town government.)
“Mr. Neto is uniquely qualified to not only manage the day-to-day operations, but has the knowledge, skills and ability to lead the District to the next level of service, employee engagement, efficiency and fiscal responsibility,” Brow said.
Then, in a somewhat unusual step, Brow said what he hopes Neto can accomplish “can best be summed up by reading HIS letter to the employees and members of the Cromwell Fire District and the Cromwell Volunteer Fire Department.”
Neto said in a statement: “It is with great humility, respect and excitement that I start my new position as the Executive Director of the Fire District.
“Humility because I know how important the Fire District (Fire department, Fire Marshal’s Office, Communication Center and the Water Department) is to so many people, not only to the citizens of Cromwell, as well as, all of you.
“Respect, because I have learned the power of what it is at the heart of the fire
district and all of its divisions, PEOPLE & SERVICE.
“Excitement because I see the opportunity ahead of us. I am confident we have a bright future, even though we will be challenged from time to time.
“As the challenges are dealt with I will strive to guide the district to success in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it with the highest level of competency, courtesy and professionalism.
“I will strive to find the balance between being a leader and a manager. The leadership challenge, as you know, is to be strong, but not rude, be kind but not timid, be proud but not arrogant and most importantly have a sense of humor.”
Neto called upon the members of the district to become members of “one team, with continued focus of serving the Cromwell community with Pride, Respect, Teamwork and last but not least TRUST.”