BATON ROUGE, La. – Two employees and a retiree of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) were recognized today for exemplary service.

Anthony M. Culp, DOTD aviation director, and James B. Frederick Jr., DOTD attorney supervisor, have been named 2005 recipients of the Charles E. Dunbar Jr. Career Service Award, sponsored by the Louisiana Civil Service League.

Salvador F. Faldetta, former DOTD section head of financial services, now retired, was also honored as the 2003 Dunbar Award recipient during a special ceremony and reception for the three today at DOTD headquarters.

The three will receive commemorative plaques at a luncheon April 4 in New Orleans.

Michael Bridges, DOTD undersecretary for management and finance, lauded the trio for their contributions, which “speak to the values to which DOTD and its workers aspire, including excellence, leadership and accountability in public service.”

Daniel E. Sullivan, executive vice president of the Louisiana Civil Service League, helped to recognize the recipients.

Culp joined DOTD in 1993 as an area aeronautical specialist after 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. He was promoted to aviation director in 1996, where he is responsible for compliance to state and federal regulations at more than 650 airports and other aircraft landing areas in the state. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the department’s intermodal division and developed cost- and time-saving initiatives in the aviation section.

Frederick, a DOTD employee for more than 26 years, joined its legal section in 1979 and moved through the ranks to his current position. He has been active in the community through his work at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church and with the Kiwanis Club.

Faldetta, who retired with 36 years of state service, joined DOTD as District 62’s first district accountant in 1971 after working for the Department of Health and Hospital while still in college. He became section head of financial services in 1996, the position from which he retired. His community work includes service as president of the Rose Memorial Cemetery and as grand knight of the Hammond Council of the Knights of Columbus.

More than 600 classified public employees have been recognized since the Charles E. Dunbar Jr. Career Service Award’s inception 47 years ago. Thirty of the past honorees have been DOTD employees.

Nominees are judged by four criteria: commitment to classified service; contributions toward work or workplace environment; personal initiative; and volunteer career service.

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