The DowntownDC Business Improvement District’s (BID) amazing core of red-and-black-uniformed Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance employees (SAMs) is 12 SAMs stronger this month following a graduation ceremony April 10 at the First Congregational United Church of Christ (945 G Street NW).
Out of hundreds of applicants, 12 people who applied to serve as Safety/Hospitality SAMs (who act as on-the street concierges) successfully completed a rigorous and comprehensive training process this spring to earn a place at the DowntownDC BID. Applicants received training related to emergency preparedness, crime, hospitality, technology, customer service, and more in sessions conducted by the BID as well as partners from the Metropolitan Police Department, Pathways to Housing DC, local property managers and others.
At the graduation ceremony, DowntownDC BID Executive Director Richard H. Bradley reflected on his own 20 years of service to Downtown, including to the formation of the BID in 1997. At that time, SAMs were contracted from an outside company. Bradley said that today, five of those founding SAMs remain at the BID: Supervisor, Blanca Ramirez, Alyce Easterling, Manuel Loza, Sarvelio Rodas-Oajaca and Ronald Lloyd.
As is tradition, the new SAMs performed a skit for those gathered at the celebration. This year’s performance was called “SAM or No SAM,” and offered a lighthearted take on the rules of DowntownDC SAMs by reviewing scenarios to which they might respond. SAM Jeremiah DeSousa also performed a poem “I am a SAM” for the crowd about the role of SAMs in Downtown. Each of the 12 new employees were then called up to the podium to graduate and receive their graduation certificate.
Today, the BID employs 85 SAMs who serve as the caretakers of Downtown and the face of the DowntownDC BID. Safety/Hospitality SAMs offer workers, visitors and residents personal assistance with directions, recommendations, safety needs and more. Maintenance SAMs clean and beautify Downtown and maintain public spaces. All of these services are offered 362 days a year for every Downtown guest.
Last year, the BID hired a new class of Maintenance SAMs to work a new evening shift to help the BID keep pace with growing nightlife in Chinatown and keep area streets clean overnight. Safety/Hospitality SAMs also began using smartphones instead of walkie-talkies, which has enhanced real-time defect reporting, communications within the department and data collection. This year, the new class of Safety/Hospitality SAMs will bolster the SAMs’ ability to offer a high-level of service to Downtown, which continues to grow each year with new developments, new residents and more.
Each year, two SAMs who won SAM-of-the-Month during the previous year are chosen as SAMs-of-the-Year for their outstanding service. Their award includes a beautiful certificate and plaque framed with the SAM patch, one week’s vacation and a monetary stipend. The two 2014 winners were announced at the ceremony. They are: Safety/Hospitality SAM Sandra Tapscott and Maintenance SAM Ethel Frye.
- Sandra Tapscott is the first-ever repeat SAM-of-the-Year winner. Tapscott won SAM-of-the-Year for 2013. Tapscott has earned a reputation as an outstanding employee in her four years at the BID. This grandmother and lifelong D.C. resident said she enjoys being a part of the new Downtown and its transformation. When not working, Tapscott, who formerly worked as a local art teacher, enjoys spending time with family as well as crafting: sewing, arranging flowers, making dolls and more. “Ms. Tapscott has been a stellar performer since joining the SAM team,” said Director of Operations Everett D. E. Scruggs. “She is an alternate dispatcher, skilled in the art of American sign language and has a glowing personality tailor-made for her customer service-oriented position. She’s smart, dedicated and an extremely dependable person who always gets the job done right. I am extremely proud to have her as a member of our force and congratulate her on this well deserved award.”
- Ethel Frye has worked as a Maintenance SAM for more than 10 years and has won SAM-of-the-Month many times throughout her career at the BID. This native Washingtonian is so dedicated to her job that she has in the past has been forced to take annual leave. Frye, a former softball player, enjoys spending time with her daughter and grandchildren. “Ms. Frye is a highly valuable member of the early morning maintenance team,” Scruggs said. “As a machine operator, she is often called upon to perform additional leadership and skill-related tasks. Whether as a driver, scissor lift operator or crew chief for the heavy duty pressure washer, Ms. Frye’s performance is always beyond reproach. Always seeking to give you her best, she is an amazing employee and an outstanding individual. Congratulations to Ethel for an outstanding and remarkable year!”