February Caught DGS

Thurgood Marshall has become an honorary member of the DGS-Facilities Planning, Design Construction & Energy unit. Over the past year, the unit has spent more time talking about him than any of the other 85 employees in the unit. His statue was the centerpiece in Lawyers Mall in Annapolis. When the steam piping in Annapolis under the streets and under Lawyers Mall began to fail last winter, we had to devise a plan to prevent Marshall from falling into the utility excavation pit.

Using his expertise in statue relocation, Mark Schneidman, Project Manager in the FPDCE unit, worked through the procurement and contract management of moving Marshall to off-site storage at the Maryland Archives. This involved a crane, road closures and coordination with just about everyone in Annapolis.

When Maryland’s Judiciary that Marshall was headed to storage, they requested he stop by for a visit at the Court of Appeals building in Annapolis. Since Marshall was a lawyer and served on the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, it seemed fitting that he grace our court system with his presence.

DGS got to work getting a site on the courthouse grounds ready for him. Concrete was poured in February, which required tenting and heating an outdoor plaza, and the crane and road closures were put into play again.

Through all of these moves, Marshall stood tall, and for that he was made an honorary recipient of a “Caught Doing Great Service” certificate.

Bahareh Samimi an administrative aide, at the Rockville District Court/MSC, joined DGS in June 2011. She was an intricate part of assisting with the completion of the setup at the new building. She is an excellent employee who works well with coworkers, tenants and contractors. Bahareh is honest, dependable, responsible, and always give 110% to DGS.

She is responsible for budget management, purchase orders, invoicing, contract processing, tenant relations and the eMaint system for the Rockville Building. She always makes sure that the office is organized so everything runs smoothly. Bahareh never has a problem with lending a hand with FMIS, IFB’s and EMaryland Marketplace for other divisions and regions.

When not at work, Barareh stays very busy taking care of her son and is active in PTA at his school. She sets an example for him in caring about the less fortunate. Every year, they put together meal bags and spend the day feeding the homeless. She makes sure he knows how important it is to give back.

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