GSA's Bennett to retire

Donna Bennett, commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service, said she will retire July 3. Bennett's organization and GSA's Federal Technology Service are slated to merge into the Federal Acquisition Service as part of a reorganization plan.

"This will be a bittersweet moment for me, especially as I acknowledge I will be the last FSS commissioner," Bennett wrote in an e-mail to FSS employees today. "On the one hand, it means saying goodbye to an FSS team that has proved over and over that you are talented, hard-working, customer focused, creative and compassionate when it comes to caring for one another. On the other hand, it is the beginning of a new phase in my life."

Bennett told her colleagues that she plans to spend the summer hiking, cycling and gardening with her husband.

In her message, she also acknowledged the difficulties of the upcoming reorganization. On June 2, GSA officials released a draft reorganization plan that, in some ways, is at odds with legislation that Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, recently introduced.

"As you know from [GSA Administrator Stephen Perry's] announcement earlier this week, many of the key details remain to be worked out," she wrote. "Whatever the outcome, I know you will carry into the new organization your positive attitudes, your can-do work ethic and the strong sense of teamwork that has gotten us to where we are today."

FTS Commissioner Sandra Bates retired earlier this year, replaced by Barbara Shelton as acting commissioner.