What's new?
I hope everyone had a restful Memorial Day Weekend! There is lots of news to share so let's get right into it.
DGS Welcomes a New Director with a familiar face
We have some exciting news to announce. Since January the City has been searching for and interviewing candidate for the position of General Service’s new Director. We are happy to announce a candidate has selected, vetted and approved by the City Council.
Beginning on Tuesday, May 31, 2022 Berke Attila, MBA, M.S., is the Director of General Services!
That name sounds familiar, right? Well, if it does, it’s because Berke was the Chief fiscal officer here at the Department of General Services before becoming Montgomery County’s Chief human resource officer in 2019. Berke has a rich and engaged history of Civil service and leadership with the City that goes back as far as 2011 when he first started working with the City.
In Berke’s role as Director he will bring experience, proven performance, a deep understanding of Baltimore City governing processes and a spirit of curiosity, which will no doubt, be of great benefit to our agency.
Attila earned a bachelor’s degree in 2001 in materials science and engineering from Yildiz Technical University in his native Turkey, a Master of Business Administration in 2004 from the University of Baltimore and graduated in 2019 from an Executive Education program at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. He also completed city training on Lean Business Process Improvements in 2017.
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We Couldn't have done this without you!
As we transition we want to take a moment to recognize two key members of DGS leadership who guided us through this period of change: Chichi Nyagah-Nash and Terrel Chesson.
Back in January of this year, after being with DGS for a total of 10 years, Director Chichi Nyagah-Nash was offered and accepted the position of Deputy City Administrator by Mayor Brandon Scott and has been working in his administration since that.
Who else is not surprised? This is a huge honor! The new opportunity was a reflection of the talent, quality of leadership and effectiveness Director Nyagah-Nash continuously displays in all that she does as a City leader. During that time Deputy Nyagah-Nash has still been actively balancing both roles of Deputy City Administrator and DGS Director as the City’s searched for a new DGS Director. With Berke starting soon, that time has come to an end and we want to thank Chichi for her steadfast leadership and desire to see the agency remain stable in period of change.
In addition, during the transition of Chichi’s role to Deputy City Administrator, our very own Terrell Chesson, who was Chief of the Facilities Maintenance Division, stepped up in a major way. He took on the the role of Acting Deputy Director. He has been actively taking on the responsibility of Deputy Director and supporting daily agency operations. He’s been instrumental in ensuring the progress of multiple enterprise level initiatives including the Future of Work Pilot.
New roof, who dis?
The Capital Projects and Energy Division has just recently started construction on the GS19819-Eastern Clinic Roof Replacement. The construction sign for this project was placed onsite the weekend of May 20th.
The scope of work for this project at the Baltimore City Health Department Eastern Health District building located at 1200 E. Fayette St. consists of the removal and replacement of the 17,800 sq. ft. existing EPDM rubber roofing system with a new modified bituminous roofing system. As the main roof system is being replaced, the building roof top air handing units (RTUs) will need to be shut down and the ductwork attached to the units will need to be removed and reinstalled to allow for the roof system demolition and replacement.
Only one RTU will be shut down at a time. Existing electrical outlets on the roof will be replaced with new outlets. Existing roof drain strainers will also be replaced with new strainers. Additionally, three existing skylights that are above a first-floor corridor roof will be removed, closed in with metal decking and covered with new roofing.
The contractor performing this work is CitiRoof Corp. The project is expected to be completed in early July 2022.
Future of Work Pilot
Well, the wait is over! The Future of Work is here! Let me explain....
Background: COVID is shifting possibilities and expectations for “how” and “where” work happens. We now understand that scaled remote work is possible, and we have a better idea of the benefits and risks it holds for both organizations and their employees.
The City is exploring how a hybrid work setting may impact productivity, customer service, employee well-being, and facility costs. The purpose of this project is to provide the City of Baltimore with a clear and comprehensive direction to develop and launch a Future of Work (FOW) pilot program to assess a hybrid work model.
Select agencies will participate in a Future of Work Pilot to test out a hybrid workplace solution.
The Role of DGS: Our Facilities Management Division is playing a pivotal role in this project. More specifically each of the teams list below have played essential roles the last several months. They have been responsible for orchestrating, organizing, painting, delivering supplies, moving and setting up spaces to help DGS as well as other Pilot agencies. They’ve done all this in addition to completing their normal work duties.
Each have shown phenomenal dedication and time to the City to make this happen!
Carpentry Team led by Anthony Patterson & John Hammock
- Anthony Patterson – Supervisor
- Delmar Austin – PBMC
- Marvin Yancey – PBMC
- Michael Neal – Building Repairer
- Raymond Kukwabantu – Building Repairer
- Reginald Moore – Building Repairer
- Eugene Anderson – Laborer
- Gerald Baylor
The Downtown Facilities Management Team led by Jimmy Holthaus Supervisor & Cliff Rankin
- Jamal West
- James Jennings
- Marcus Williams
- Nate Randolph
Paint Team led by Chris Schultz & King Bennett
- Antonio Miles
- Eljay McBride
- Jose Lamboy
The A/E Design Team led by Carole Young & Lannette Harris
- Shaghayegh Hemmatian
- Japp Haynes
- Mahwish Matih
BPD Gets a New Set of Wheels
 The DGS Fleet Team has done it again! After months of planning, designing and negotiations with the Baltimore Police Department, in April the latest patrol vehicles were unveiled. The “Fleet features 168 Ford Police Interceptor Utility Hybrid vehicles. 38 of the vehicles have been delivered. 42 more are expected to be delivered this fall. All 168 vehicles should be in place for the department within the next 18 months. - Read More
We also got a chance to talk to Mike Umberger, Car Shop Supervisor from the Fleet Management Division. In our discussion we had the opportunity to learn about the changes, new features and process that went into new the new vehicles. To get the full story check out the video below (which is also available on DGS’s YouTube page).
Video link: https://youtu.be/T35Wx9zcb3Q
 Employee Recognition
Time is flying faster than a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (aka the world’s fastest plane). Thanks to everyone’s participation the program has been a success and continues to get better with time.
Since revamping the DGS All Stars program in 2021 we’ve held 12 virtual ceremonies. We’ve recognized 63 DGS All Stars. All together we’ve had over 400+ people attend our ceremonies and collectively we’ve shared over 763 chat message & reactions online. None of this would be possible with you!
If you’re feeling nostalgic or want to take an All Star trip down memory lane, visit the link below and you’ll have access to all the recorded virtual ceremonies.
Recording of Past DGS All Star Events (https://tinyurl.com/mr2uw7xa)
DGS All-Stars
(December '21 to May 22')
Here is a list of people who have been recognized so far:
May (Our most recent All Stars Ceremony)
- Brian Lasan (Admin. Division)
- John Friesner (Capital Projects & Energy Division)
- Karen Doles & Corey Taylor (Facilities Division)
- Victor Hood (Fleet Division)
April
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Annie Fullas (Admin. Division)
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Shaquita Stewart (Capital Projects & Energy Division)
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Anthony Patterson (Facilities Division)
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Anthony McIver (Fleet Division)
March
- Kagesta Campbell, Billy Daly & John Kirk (Admin. Division)
- Roger Ishmael (Capital Projects & Energy Division)
- Cliff Rankin, Community Aide - Electrical (Facilities Division)
- Gerard Brooks (Fleet Division)
February
- Francine Kane (Admin. Division)
- Frank Lee (Capital Projects & Energy Division)
- Verdell Maynor (Facilities Division)
- Brian Jones (Fleet Division)
January
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Matthew Rappaport Administrative Analyst I (Admin. Division)
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Udaya Shrestha (Capital Projects & Energy Division)
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Raymond Branch (Facilities Division)
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Fire Shop Team: Donald McFadden, Gordon Garrett, James Swann, Jerry McGougald, Shaun Counts, Keith Leggett, Mitchell Dean Jr, Tyler Nah, David Murrill (Fleet Division)
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