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The arduous cleanup that followed Hurricane Irene was matched by the amount of paperwork government employees had to submit for reimbursement. In Calvert County, one of the jurisdictions that got clobbered by last August's potent storm, Irene proved to be no match for Claudette.

On Tuesday, May 8, the Calvert County Commissioners recognized Claudette White of the Department of Public Works as Employee of the Month for May. White is a highway maintenance service coordinator within the department’s Highway Maintenance Division.

In nominating her for the honor, Highway Maintenance Division Chief Donas McCready noted that White worked with a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “to determine the amount of expenses, incurred by Highway, that would be eligible for reimbursement. Claudette became the leader and the ‘go-to’ person for this project, as well as contact person for other divisions. Claudette began delegating duties to fellow employees to help her determine the cost of, equipment, manpower and materials needed to complete this massive cleanup.”

McCready stated the FEMA representative “was amazed at the amount of information Claudette had ready for him to begin his work. Because of Claudette’s record-keeping and attention to detail, $458,058 (the Highway Maintenance portion) has been reimbursed to Calvert County from FEMA and Maryland Emergency Management Agency.”

“Whenever there’s a challenge she always steps up,” said Department of Public Works Director Terry Carlson, who noted White has previously won employee honors.

“It’s a pleasure to work for the county and it always has been,” said White.

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com