I have been with the City of Phoenix Office of the Mayor for almost 8 years. I started working for Mayor Phil Gordon when he started his term in January 2004. It’s been a wild journey to work for the Mayor for the past 8 years - including watching his re-election campaign in 2008. Today, August 30, 2011 is mayoral election day in the City of Phoenix. Mayor Gordon is limited to serving 2, 4-year terms, and his last day in office will be December 31, 2011.
Many journalists and political analysts believe this is the most contentious mayoral election Phoenix has seen in decades. There are six candidates running : Claude Mattox, Greg Stanton, Wes Gullett, Peggy Neely, Anna Brennan, and Jennifer Wright. Although city elections are non-partisan, this campaign has been unusual in that all of the candidates have campaigned as if it was a partisan race. Both the state republican and democratic parties have been working hard on get-out-the-vote campaigns and have sent letters and emails out supporting their candidate(s). Greg Stanton is the only democrat in the race. With so many candidates running, statistically it would be extremely unlikely that any of the candidates will receive 50.1% of the vote. Therefore, there will most likely be a run-off election in November.
Working in office we can’t really get involved with campaigns therefore it was hard to figure out who I wanted to vote for. I believe they all want the best for Phoenix. It will be exciting to watch the results come in tonight!
Going to the run offs in November is Greg Stanton and Wes Gullett.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of things do you do on a daily basis? It's interesting you cannot get involved with campaigns, I never really thought about the conflict of interest (I'm assuming).
ReplyDeleteI've also always wondered, is it pronounced Gullet (rhymes with mullet lol) or Gullet (goo-lay.. like french)? Random but I had a teacher in high school who spelled his name the same way but was the french-sounding spelling of the name!
Wow this is so cool. I am going to enjoy this blogging, there are some of us who have jobs already in various places that do for the public, and some who are just entering. I like that you used the City Hall building as your backdrop. I have to ask the same as Loren above...what do you do each day? I used to work for a few firms downtown a few years back. We would deal regularly (indirectly) with political officials and the courts. It was a very fast paced environment, a lot of high stress. But the process of watching progress occur must be fulfilling for you.
ReplyDelete-Marlene Sweeney ASU PAF 484
On a daily basis my duties are to process invitations Mayor gets daily. Processing them starts from logging every single invite he gets into a "database". This way we can keep track of where he's been invited to. On random days we have one on one's to decide which events he can attend or not. After that I keep the events that unfortunately he cannot attend and I give the accepted ones to his scheduler. Sadly, I'm the one that gives the bad news when it comes to regretting events.
ReplyDeleteI'm the one that gets his agenda ready every day. His agenda or "the binder" as we like to call it, contains his schedule for the day and briefing sheets. Briefing sheets are like a mini summary of what his meeting/event is about. My job is to get all of that in to the binder. Believe it or not this takes up a whole day sometimes!
My duties also consist of arranging his travel locally and internationally, scheduling, reimbursements, and many other clerical stuff.
It's an awesome experience working at the Mayor's Office. Hope to keep you guys entertained! =)
Awesome! This must be really interesting work! So did this start out as an internship and grow into a full-time job? Also, what did you mean when you said you couldn't really get involved with the campaigns because you work in the office? By the way, thanks for adding the comment on what you do on a daily basis!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic internship you have. Working for the Mayor's office has to be exciting and fast paced. I am sure you have met some pretty influential people over the past 8 years. I would love to hear who you have met.
ReplyDeleteTheresa
This is a great opportunity to work in a position that allows you to see how the things that we discuss in the classroom comes to life in the practical environment. Are you surprised by the number of meetings that the Mayor has to attend everyday?
ReplyDelete@appas - Yes, I started as an intern back in January 2004. I intern half my senior year of high school and while attending a community college I, eventually got a full time job.
ReplyDeleteRegarding why I can't get involve with Mayoral campaigns is because it's a conflict of interest as it would give the perception that we are lobbying for jobs.
@TAHAYS - Working for the Mayor's Office is fantastic. Never a dull moment! I have met many influential people while working at the office. For example, Consulates and ambassadors of different countries, celebrities, politicians and many more.
ReplyDeleteI'll name a couple if you don't recognize the names feel free to google them =) I've met Patrick Slim (son of Carlos Slim, richest man in Mexico), Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, Senator John McCain, Shakira, Danny Glover, America Ferrera, and Henry Cejudo (wrestler, 2008 Olympic champion). This is what I can remember. Can't keep track lol.
@Mark Wible - When I was an intern I had no idea what a Mayor really did. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know what a Mayor was or who it was. I was only 17 when I started. Like the usual high school student that's not sure what he/she wanted to do or study.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning I was really surprised of how many meetings and events he had. Always back to back and never had a chance to eat. After the years I learned that our Mayor is a workaholic. He lives to help out and loves working for his constituents. A Starbucks and chocolate is what he would run on some days lol.
What a cool internship! How informative to have gone through not one but now two elections in phoenix. What will happen after someone new is elected? Will you still work in the same office with the same position?
ReplyDelete@Emily- Lived through the first one wasn't as nerve wrecking as this one. Answering to your questions regarding what would happen after a new Mayor comes into office? Well just like a president, he gets to have new administration if he wants. This means my position is not secure with the next Mayor. That's why I say that it's nerve wrecking not only because I could loose my job but, also we want the best to win.
ReplyDelete