Hey guys,

So today was a VERY important day at the Senate....CORN DOG DAY! I did not understand the hype around this day but after having my own I totally understand lol. One of the many perks of this internship is that various lobbyist hold luncheons on the Capitol lawn every Wednesdays and more times than not we are invited for free food. Today was Optometrist day and they held the luncheon which is notorious at the Capitol and I have to admit it was arguably one of the best corn dogs and cups of lemonade that I have ever had.

:)

~Chandler

Career Aspirations

Hey guys!

So I chose to interview a women who is not only a good aunt but also holds the title of Chief Deputy Director of the County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services. Her name is Fesia Davenport and I have always looked up to her career and role in public service. Though I am still trying to find where I fit within the public service, I hope to one day be as successful as she is. Here is the interview:

2. Please describe the steps you took to attain this position (Degree(s)/College experience)

• I have a B.A. in Liberal Studies English and a J.D. I started my career with the County of Los Angeles as a Deputy District Attorney in 1998- I handled child support cases.

•  I worked my up through the ranks very quickly. In 2012, I was appointed as the Chief Deputy Director, the number 2 position in that department reporting to the director. The Child Support Department had about 1,700 employees and about a $170M budget and was a good training ground for me as a chief deputy.  

• In 2014, I was appointed the Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Children and Family Services where I remain today. I oversee a $2B budget and 7,500 employees. 

4. Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on your career? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you?Why and how did this person impact your life?  

• Yes. Lisa Garrett.  Lisa Garret and I worked closely together in the Child Support Services Department before she left in 2010. She was a mentor to me for many years. Lisa impacted me personally and my professional career. If you didn't know her personally and only had a chance to observe her in a meeting, you might pick up on the fact that there is something special about her - she is kind, courteous, professional, well-dressed, honest, confident, avoids gossip, leads by example, encourages others, humble, takes the high road, funny, well spoken, and the list goes on.  I have observed Lisa in very difficult situations where her character, competency, and leadership has been questioned.  She always handles these difficult situations with humility, confidence and professionalism which is not always an easy thing to do.  She and her husband have two sons who are now in college. She often says that her work is only a part of what she does and what is equally important is what she does in her home. She believes whether she is a good person, whether she is helping to advance God's kingdom on earth, these are the things that will last. 

5. What are the most important decisions you make as a leader of your organization??

• I make decisions affecting employees, contractors, children and their families. These decisions govern whether an employee will be promoted or discharged; whether a service provider's multi-million dollar contract will be terminated or extended; whether a policy regarding child abuse investigations will be expanded or truncated. The decisions I make impact others in material ways and I don't make those decisions lightly.

6. What is most rewarding about working within the public sector?Least rewarding?

• The most rewarding aspect of working in the public sector is that you have the opportunity and ability to help children and families that really need help. Your are instrumental in helping to build stronger families, which in turn leads to strong communities - these are the essential building blocks of the great society.

• The least rewarding aspect of working in the public sector is that critics and the media fail to recognize the good work that a public agency does on a daily basis and instead tend to focus on your last mis-step. Certain public agencies operate in a fishbowl type of environment with critics and detractors ready to pounce as soon as something goes-awry.  Put another way, the public administrator can be publicly crucified for failing to cure intractable, wicked and long standing problems. 

8. What advice would you give to aspiring future leaders within the public sector? 

• Leadership means many things and what it means to any particular person depends on where they stand.  For me, I work in a high profile, politically charged arena.  From that viewpoint, leadership means being called to serve. Service may entail: being the object of constant criticism (i.e.  blows to your ego) in order to protect your staff or your organization; sacrifice, your idea may be the best way, but it may not be commonly accepted by the people who have to do the work; recognizing and accepting that a the person with the "authority" you have an obligation to act in the interest of others and not yourself; courage - meaning making very tough decisions (i.e. layoffs, reducing funding, terminating programs) in a fair and equitable manner even though you will face criticism and pushback from employees, constituents, stakeholders and the press. Leadership is not about high salaries, self, giving speeches, receiving a high salary. It is about making positive changes to society and those around you. 

Girl Rising...

Hey guys!

For my career services event I chose to attend the viewing of the film Girl Rising which was a viewing and discussion put on by the Peace Corps. I knew for sure I wanted to go when I got the email and read the summary since I am all about empowerment, especially for women (being that I am one :)). The film was a documentary and walked us through the lives of girl's around the world overcoming the various obstacles they face. Unfortunately in some parts of the world education isn't as accessible as it is in developed countries and this film shows how these girls fight for their rights to knowledge. One of my favorite stories was about a 13-year old girl from Ethiopia named Azmera. At this age, kids in the U.S. are almost on their way to high school while Azmera was on her way to being married. It also helps that one of my all time favorite actresses, Meryl Streep, narrates her story in which she challenges her predetermined fate. This film was definitely a tear-jerker and I recommend it to anyone looking for a little motivation :)

That is all!
~Chandler

Happy Monday!

Good Morning!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Today has been off to a slow start for me which I can appreciate since I am exhausted for really no reason. My Natural Resources committee is canceled but my Workforce and Commerce committee will meet so i'll let you guys know how that meeting goes. These last weeks have been very busy and controversial at the Senate with some big bills being pushed through. One of the first was a bill that increased the allotted time that a police department can withhold the name of an officer after an officer-involved fatal shooting to 3 months. Watching the testimonies was very interesting since I got to watch members of the NAACP speak about their apprehension to this bill. I have always appreciated this group and the work they do for civil rights so it was very monumental for me to see them in action. There was also a bill on police body cams which brought out hundreds of officers from all around Arizona. Unfortunately they didn't seem too happy about having to wear these, though they are already used in places like Havasu, so immediately after the bill passed they all rose and walked out. The last real bill that made a great impression on me had to do with the treatment of officers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, following an event that happened during the line of duty. During the hearing, a wife gave her testimony by reading the suicide letter of her late ex-husband who severely suffered from the disorder. Watching this was heart-wrenching and I can tell the whole room literally struggled to hold back tears. I definitely think my favorite part of the committee meetings is hearing the testimonies since you get to hear first hand the people that are and will be effected by the legislation (or lack of).

Okay thats all for today folks!

~Chandler

A Great Day to be a Senate Page

Hey guys,

     So the punchline to every awkward/funny thing that has happened so far today is that it is "a great day to be a Senate Page", hence the title. We've also been brainstorming ideas for a parody musical since my co-workers are dead-set on the idea the things we go through are not only comedic but should be seen by the world. With that being said, I love my co-workers they definitely make my shifts hilarious as well as productive in that I learn something new from them everyday.
     In terms of the Senate, this has definitely been a busy week, my Natural Resources committee on Monday had 3 bills while my second committee Workforce Development and Commerce had about 10. My first committee was very cute, there was a middle school class that came in to propose a bill that they formulated about adding copper to the state seal since it is a part of 5 C's. In case you don't remember, the 5 C's are Copper, Climate, Cattle, Citrus, and Cotton, which are important to the states heritage. It was very cute/funny listening the the kids testimony's, one of which started his introduction by saying his name then stating that he didn't know where he was from. In opposition, my second committee meeting was very serious, and had an audience of about a hundred brewery owners, almost evenly split, and debating two bills of legislation. This meeting started around 2 and I am not sure when it ended because I had to leave at 5. I was supposed to be off at 4 but got so wrapped up in the debate that I didn't realize how much time had past. This was my first time really experiencing a controversial meeting, so it was very interesting and really drastically increased my interest in policy-making and the whole legislative process. This meeting also included a lot of water runs and some Senators even snuck bags of chips which is totally understandable being that they were in meetings since floor session at 1:30. It's really interesting now that the speed of this session is picking up and I am interested to see the other bills that will be proposed.

The Senate

Hey guys,

I've realized that I haven't given a thorough explanation of where I intern and what they do, for those who aren't really aware of the legislative process. As you guys know I work at the Senate which is pretty much home to the 30 current Arizona Senators during the legislative session. This session opened in January and is expected to last until May. During this period for the most part the Senators hear, discuss/debate, and decide whether or not to pass proposed bills. They are integral in the formation of new laws and policy. My previous posts make it pretty clear what I do for the Senators, which put shortly is all the minimal tasks that work together to make their lives/job a tad bit easier. This also allows me to get a front row seat to the legislative process and the many steps it takes to get a bill passed.
      Today was a very interesting day for bill proposals one of the major being a bill to prohibit photo radar for speeding. There was a huge crowd of people in the audience as well as lots of speakers on both sides of the argument. There will be another bill proposal today about texting and driving which I expect to be equally popular and controversial. There was also tons of media outside so don't mind me if you see me in the background of some of your news channel broadcasts at the Capitol.



Okay,Bye!

~Chandler

A Typical Day @ The Senate

Goodmorning!

Today's blog post I am going to walk you guys through a typical day at the Senate in which starts bright and early at 7 AM. Actually, there is not really anything bright about 7 AM but the angel on top of the Capitol Building.

Well me and my other 2 co-workers that come in at that time start by going to the Coffee Shop and replenishing coffee machines, ice tea, and all the other condiments. Such a hard task, I know (also helps that we get unlimited free coffee). Around 8 we are joined by the rest of our co-workers and the "real" work day begins by setting up for committee meetings that start at 9. This involves me and a coworker putting out nameplates, setting up a projector if need be, and the gavel. A little closer to 9 we head up to the Senators offices who are chair members of the committee and see if they would like us to bring down any laptops or other materials. We get the hearing room all set up then proceed to sit in on the meetings in case we are needed. So far the longest my meetings have lasted was about an hour but I am sure this will change as the session progresses. Also during the meetings the Senators will kind of signal if they need something by slightly raising their hand. The awkward part is that we are supposed to pretty much be invisible during this whole ordeal, so we have to make our way up to the front in the most subtle way as possible and take a knee next to them in order to see what they want. My first times doing this were pretty awkward but we all have accepted this and it's actually not too bad. It also gives us time to walk around and wake ourselves back up since some of the speeches aren't that interesting. After the meetings we return laptops and retrieve all materials and typically wait around in the office running errands until lunch. After lunch is the floor session in which we all attend, as well as all the present Senators. These sessions usually don't last long and include a prayer, the pledge of allegiance, roll call, introduction of visitors, and what committee meetings are scheduled for the next day. On Monday's I have two committees, the second meets after floor session and the challenge is that some of the chair members want their laptops at both floor session and the committee meeting that starts right after. After floor session it is pretty much a race to retrieve laptops and get them them to the hearing room before the Senators arrive which is pretty fun. After committee, the rest of the day is spent in the office doing homework until the phone rings and someone needs an errand. Though the tasks seem minimal, it is fun because we get to do them together and we're always on the move. This internship also allows ample amount of time between errands to get homework done which definitely helps me be a more productive student. My work day ends at 4 PM and though this might seem like a long day, it flies by which I really appreciate :)

Okay that's all for today!

~Chandler