July Honorees

Linda Dowery started her service to the state in 1988. She was a Fiscal Tech for the DGS District Courts and Multi-Service Centers, working out of the division’s Ellicott City headquarters. Then, after a long and distinguished career, Linda retired. Her colleagues held a retirement party for her, and that was it. Or so it seemed. It just so happened that the Computerized Maintenance Management System Unit needed an Administrative Specialist. Linda heard about the opening and thought it might be better than sitting in her retirement rocking chair and inquired about the position. That’s all it took. The CMMS Unit grabbed her at once, knowing Linda’s experience in dealing with DGS fiscal and procurement matters in her previous position. In fact, she had actually helped the CMMS Unit in the past with her expertise. She already knew the players and the issues. On the very first day at CMMS, Linda’s knowledge was immediately evident. Matters were handled quickly, professionally and with high standards. Due to Linda’s time with DGS, she knew about other agency processes as well. Her skills, warm personality and willingness to help colleagues – not just in the CMMS Unit but throughout DGS – have endeared her to her coworkers. She is the embodiment of gracious customer service. For all these reasons, Linda Dowery has been Caught Doing Great Service.

Rosalie “Roz” Johnson is being recognized for Caught Doing Great Service. Roz has been with DGS for 15 months working as a Lease Construction Manager for the Office of Real Estate. She is currently working on three agency headquarter relocations for DHS, the Public Defender, and SDAT. These are high profile transactions that have required significant time investment with the agencies and landlords to complete the space design process, finalize construction drawings, and proceed to construction. Roz was recently praised by DHS for “her diligent efforts and genuine care for this project to turn out as it should”. DHS further advised “without Roz’s critical input and project leadership the project would not be advancing successfully”. SDAT has also expressed their appreciation for the additional meeting time that Roz has provided to their agency outside of the standard bi-weekly construction progress meetings. They shared that the additional meetings have helped to cut down on surprise elements and make the regular progress meetings more productive. Thank you to Roz for her important efforts as part of the State Center Relocation project.

Lakesha Watson always manages to go above and beyond for every piece of the job that she does. Lakesha continues to maintain a level of dedication and hard work for OSP. She handles and executes her work exceptionally. Lakesha has takes her time and ensures that I have all necessary information and resources to assist me in my job duties. It is a pleasure working with someone as driven, ambitious, and knowledgeable as Lakesha. What makes Lakesha so special is how she balances of these characteristics while remaining one of the kindest, most empathetic, and most helpful persons I know.

On June 23, 2023, at approximately 1559 hours, Security Officer Derek Adams observed an unknown male entering the Tawes building. The unknown male subject requested a building directory. Security Officer Adams informed the subject that he did not have a building directory available. After the subject left, Security Officer Adams noticed him walking around the perimeter of the building trying to gain access through the loading dock. At that time, Security Officer Adams immediately secured the building and notified MCP dispatch over the air of the situation. Security Officer Adam’s quick thinking kept all employees and visitors in the Tawes building safe. His communication skills gave officers sufficient time to respond to the area and obtain pertinent information. His swift actions allowed officers to identify the subject and ascertain his reasons for trying to gain access to the building. Security Officer Derek Adams is being nominated for carrying out the mission of Maryland Capitol Police by ensuring a safe environment for all.

Jennifer Edwards is responsible for all things related to the creation and use of the agency’s Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP). This encompasses working with DGS Divisions to complete very operationally-critical details, coordinating with the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM) and other agency emergency coordinators on best practices and state-wide considerations, submitting a completed COOP to MDEM, training DGS personnel on the COOP, exercising the COOP to ensure that the agency is prepared to active as necessary, and maintaining the COOP as a living/breathing document. In recent months, Jen has worked very hard to get the DGS COOP completed and submitted on time. Her efforts were recognized by MDEM’s COOP Coordinator who stated, “This COOP Plan is incredible. One of the best I have seen. With that being said, it is fully compliant and approved. I commend you on all of the hard work you did writing this plan.”

Rob Andalora, a Project Manager in the Office of Design, Construction and Energy, was assigned a project at the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions – Driver Training Facility, in Eldersburg, MD. The project was to Repave Two Driver Training Facilities. Rob with his background and knowledge of this type of work was excited he was assigned the project. The scope of work included asphalt removal, replacement of the Highway Response Course and the Urban Tactical training course, along with storm drain inlet repairs, milling of asphalt, structural improvements, and paving. Rob with his knowledge and expertise was able to design the scope of work in-house to put it out for bid. The project was awarded to M.T. Laney Company, Inc. located in Eldersburg, MD in the amount of $1,697,825. Once under contract Rob worked hand in hand with the contractor, MPCTC, and the DGS construction team to get the project started and complete as designed. The Highway Response Course paving and striping have been completed with the placement of more than 10,000 tons of asphalt. DGS also recycled more than 7,000 tons of asphalt millings to be reused in the production of new hot mix asphalt. This site is critical to support law enforcement driver training to agencies throughout the state of Maryland for both new law enforcement Officers and required periodic training of active personnel. The facility is utilized year-round to provide training due to the high demand of so many agencies. On July 12, 2023, State Delegate Kipke, along with DGS and MPCTC toured the site. Everyone was very impressed with the outcome of the project. Rob worked diligently to keep the project on track to meet the dateline. He is an asset to the DCE and can be counted on in any situation and is very excited to learn new things and take on any project with a can-do attitude.