October Honorees

Officer Terrence Smith come to Maryland Capitol Police from the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office where he spent approximately 5 years.  Prior to that Officer Smith served 28 years with the Baltimore City Police Department and 15 years with the Baltimore City Fire Department.  Officer T. Smith is a hard-working officer, respectful and polite to all persons that he encounters during his tour of duty. On October 17, 2022, at approximately 1230 hours while patrolling the Saratoga Street Complex he observed an unknown male slumped over on the ground with labored breathing.  He identified himself to the man and attempted to revive him but received no response.  The man appeared to be intoxicated with some type of narcotic based on his lack of response and labored breathing.  Upon noticing the signs and symptoms, Ofc. Smith retrieved his Narcan kit at which time one dose of the life-saving drug was administered. After a few minutes passed to give the medication time to work, a second dose was given due to the ineffectiveness of the first dose.  Within moments of the second dose, the gentleman regained his sense of awareness and was alert and responsive.  A call was place for a paramedic unit; Rescue 1 from BCFD responded.  The patient subsequently refused further treatment and left the location on foot without further incident. Ofc. Terrence Smith’s knowledge and experience in recognizing the signs and symptoms of a narcotic overdose, and his quick action to administer aid are recognized in this life saving incident. 

ORE is nominating several members of our Lease Management & Procurement team this month for their hard work and diligence over the past year in procuring new leases for the agencies housed at State Center and Saratoga Center. These staff include our Chief and Procurement Officer – Kim White, and three of our Agency Relationship Managers – Tavon Winborne, Tara Davis, and Stefanie Simpson. This has been the largest relocation effort ever undertaken in our agency’s 50-year history, effecting approximately 4,000 employees across 12 agencies.  Through the relocation process, DGS will bring significant improvements to the State employees working in Baltimore City, ensuring they are performing their missions in new, modern, safe, and efficient workspaces.  All of the new leases have increased interior and exterior amenities with on-site gyms and cafes, and nearby restaurants, pharmacies, and dry cleaners. It is important to note that on average the Lease Management & Procurement unit handles an estimated 3 – 5 small to medium relocations in a given year, with most of our efforts focused on renewing our current office and parking lease portfolios of approximately 350 leases.  This project required our team to continue performing their regular duties, while carving out time for 8 separate medium to large procurements.  Each lease RFP required several months of preparation and evaluation to ensure that agency’s space needs were being accurately captured.  Our LM&P team had to continually reinforce our new DGS reduced space standards with agencies, as well as adjusting our schedules and time-lines multiple times to deal with continued COVID outbreaks among team members.    

Baltimore Building Manager Joel Spero has worked for DGS for over nine years.  He works closely with other building managers, contractors and the Central Plant engineers to help keep tenants cool during the summer months and warm during the winter season. Joel does not hesitate to respond to emergencies by going to any Baltimore building to address HVAC problems.  For example, in early June at the 201 West Preston Street building, Joel helped engineers to purge air from chilled water lines to return the building air conditioning to operational status.  When the cooling tower stopped working at the William Donald Schaefer Building and caused the building to overheat, Joel joined the building manager to go through every floor – all 27 of them – checking, resetting, and repairing all the air handling units.  And he STILL had a friendly, positive attitude! Joel also helped fix a problem at the Public Defender building in the hot weeks of July.  He checked the controls, reset the chiller and confirmed that all the air handling units were running on every floor.  Joel then did some research and ordered a new control board to permanently fix the problem. He continues to survey HVAC equipment, write up requisitions for needed repairs, oversee the building automation systems, and make changes to schedules of equipment to maintain proper temperatures in the buildings.  Joel repeatedly checks in with building managers to make sure that everything is OK in their buildings. In addition, Joel has made time to expand his knowledge of air handling, water treatment and plumbing, refrigeration systems and energy management controls to earn a certification in Building Systems Maintenance. Joel Spero is dedicated and always willing to lend a helping hand.  It is for this reason that he deserves to be Caught Doing Great Service.