March Honorees

Jesse Beavers jumped in to help on a moment’s notice to assist Capt. Waser with a promotional video to advertise his upcoming Super Plunge for Special Olympics. He went about his job in an efficient and professional manner producing the project in 24 hrs, working late into the evening on his own time. Jesse has continuously produced extremely well-done videos for the Office of the Secretary over his two years with DGS and now has played a large role in the success of Capt. Waser’s efforts to raise money for Special Olympics Maryland.

Bryan Waser chose to participate in the 2022 Super Plunge, Maryland Special Olympics this year. The Super Plunge consists of jumping into the Chesapeake Bay at Sandy Point State Park on the hour, every hour for 24 consecutive hours. Bryan with the help of donors, friends and family; managed to raise $10, 754 this year! (Thank the Department of General Services for its considerable donation of $628.00)! The Polar Bear Plunge helps to provide year-round sports and leadership programs for 6,102 athletes of Special Olympics Maryland. 100% of your donation will go to support the sports and leadership programs offered throughout the state. All of our programs are FREE to our athletes and families thanks to generous community supporters who believe in the Special Olympics mission: to give our athletes opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

On February 4, 2022, at approximately 0715 hours Pfc. Gladimir Dupalis observed a distressed female who was sitting on the ground in the middle of the intersection and holding her left knee in pain.  Pfc. Duaplis immediately responded to the female’s medical concerns and called the MCP dispatcher for an Ambulance to his location.  Simultaneously, Pfc. Dupalis was also approached by a 2nd female who was driving a white vehicle and the driver explained to Pfc. Dupalis the situation occurred before he (officer) arrived. At this time, the Medic 39 from Annapolis medical unit arrived to care for the 1st female. Pfc. Dupalis learned that the 1st female who was sitting on the ground was struck by the 2nd female’s white vehicle when she was turning at the intersection of Calvert Street and St. Johns Street. During this chaotic situation the weather was extremely unpleasant and took place during the morning rush hour. Pfc. Dupalis handled this incident mostly alone without hesitation! Pfc. Dupalis kept all individuals calm and peaceful in this stressful and fearful situation. Pfc. Dupalis performed his duties quickly and professionally reducing the public’s fear and protecting lives to this community.

Joe Pitruzzella III, aka Joe P., has been with the Department of General Services for 45 years, having started at DGS in October 1976 right after graduation from kindergarten…… This means he has been here almost as long as General Services has existed – DGS was established in 1971, just over 50 years ago. As the Chief of the Project Cost Center, Joe is involved with managing and controlling costs on some of the largest and most important construction projects that the State has undertaken over the past several decades.  With his ability to provide insight on the history of projects that can take years to develop, Joe helps ensure that projects we manage are well planned, appropriately funded, and positioned to be successful.  Joe’s understanding and knowledge of how the capital budget process works is another invaluable asset to DGS.  Joe’s knowledge and professionalism are highly respected by his fellow State government colleagues throughout Maryland. Even after working for 45 years at DGS, Joe’s work ethic and commitment to the department is as steadfast as ever – he is notorious for sending emails addressing project issues at all hours of the day, including weekends.  His expertise is sought by other agencies on a regular basis, and he is always willing to provide support. Joe is the quintessential hard working, team player at DGS and for this reason, Joe is CAUGHT DOING GREAT SERVICE!!

Kathryn Wilson has been a dedicated DGS employee for over four decades, working her way up to earn the role of Director of Inventory Standards and Support Services, a position that is not flashy, but comes with great responsibility.   She is responsible for direct oversight of several statewide programs including statewide inventory management, statewide fuel management, and statewide vehicle disposals, among others.  To say Kathryn and her small team have their hands full would be an understatement. She continues to show perseverance and commitment to the job.  Her responsibilities continue to increase with the added complexities of our ongoing fuel transition project, the increase in state agencies moving to new locations, and other duties, combined with a decrease in resources.  Despite these challenges, Kathryn continues to maintain a commitment to get the job done. For these outlined reasons, we are proud to recognize Kathryn Wilson for being Caught Doing Great Service.  

As the Manager of our Statewide Fuel Supply and Maintenance Office, Kurt Butler leads a team that is composed of dozens of our major fuel program supply customers from across the state, our program stakeholders, our team of professional consultants and our new fuel supply contractor. He is also the Contract Manager for our recently awarded 5-year statewide fuel supply and systems maintenance contract that is valued at $300 million. As the Manager of one of the largest contracts that DGS oversees, he serves as the liaison between the State and the Statewide Fuel and Maintenance Contractor. Under Kurt’s leadership, DGS was able to successfully convert our 123 state-owned fueling sites from our former fuel contractor to the software system of our new fuel contractor before the January 1 deadline as planned.  He has developed and maintained relationships between the Contractor, the State and our approximately 700 fuel supply customers including State Agencies, Local Jurisdictions and Non-Profit Organizations. He also does a great job at communicating and presenting analysis and report preparation for State Executives and Stakeholders during emergencies such as weather events and supply disruptions. And he is achieving all these major accomplishments while currently managing a major state program with the assistance of just one administrative specialist.

When Governor Larry Hogan decided to hold a vigil on March 2^nd in honor of Ukraine, the Annapolis Facilities Management team was given 48 hours to get things organized. Cindy Beres, Patrick Cavanaugh, Aaron Dennis, Ryan Elliott, Bill Eubanks, Susan Howard, Bill Ketner, John Nuth, Andy Pipari, Dennine Queen, Andra Shaw, and Alicia Sweeney quickly worked to find Ukrainian flags, which of course were out of stock.  They finally found a dozen and had them shipped overnight.  They rounded up flag poles and other needed equipment. They coordinated with a contractor to install blue and yellow filters – the colors of the Ukrainian flag – on the State House dome lights. On the day of the event, the team used blue and yellow cloth from a local fabric store to cover the columns at the top of the State House steps.  The columns are nine feet around and sit on tall bases, so it required ladders and some Spiderman skills to get the cloth where it needed to go. It took them about three hours to finish the columns and set up the flagpoles, lectern and sound system. After the event, they stuck around until after 9 p.m. to take down everything but the cloth around the columns, which stayed on until the next day as a continuing show of solidarity with Ukraine. Ukrainians at the event said they could see the colors as they drove up to the State House. They said they were deeply touched by the display of all the Ukrainian blue and yellow in support of their country. Each of the dozen Facilities Management staff noted above played a role in making the event happen, one that received a great deal of news coverage. For all they did, they have been caught Doing Great Service.