Cabana Contributed / Town of Gray, Nathan Tsukroff
It was a bittersweet moment last Friday for longtime manager Deb Cabana, who retired after nearly a decade and a half since joining the town of Gray.
In an interview this week, Cabana spoke with pride of her accomplishments but said that she “can’t take credit for any of it by myself.” During her tenure, she oversaw the construction of the new public works garage and transfer station, expansion of the library and the major restoration of the Pennell Municipal Complex, where the town offices have been located since 2010.
“She helped us accomplish a lot and has built a strong foundation for future change,” Councilor Anne Gass wrote in an email. “We owe her a great deal.”
Cabana also oversaw the transition of sections of Gore Road, which crosses from Gray into Raymond, from private to public roads and their repaving and a plowing agreement with the town of Raymond.
When asked what she’ll miss most about the job, Cabana said, “It would be the team that I had the privilege to work with.”
Town Council Chairperson Sandy Carder said that “the job grew around her and she worked hard to accommodate many different councils and to provide a high level of service to her residents over many years.”
“Change can be difficult, but through it all, Deb always maintained a level of professionalism, positive attitude and sense of humor,” Carder said at a recent council meeting.
Ready to “enjoy the next chapter,” Cabana said she plans to spend her retirement with her husband, also recently retired, and her four children, 10 grandchildren, parents and in-laws.
If she has any regrets from her time as town manager, Cabana said it would be not spending enough time with her family.
“My family is the most important thing, really, in my life. And they’re my inspiration,” she said. “Being a town manager, you never really take a vacation.”
She said the only “real break” she took in 15 years was when she and her husband took a 25th anniversary trip to Europe and she didn’t have access to her emails.
“I felt that I needed to go that extra mile in order to do the job well,” Cabana said.
Gass, from the council, wrote that “after a year like 2020, Deb must have been hoping to catch her breath,” but the pipes at the town hall had other plans.
Two separate, back-to-back water line breaks flooded the building and moved offices to a temporary location just weeks ahead of her retirement.
Though Cabana said it was “devastating,” she said she fully expects it will be restored to be “as beautiful, if not more beautiful than it was before.”
New Town Manager Nate Rudy started on the job at the beginning of this month. He previously served as the manager for the city of Hallowell.
Cabana’s words of advice for Rudy?
“Take care of my people.”
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