City Council Internship - Personal J-Term

My last two days in the office were great ones. Wednesday morning kicked off with a Council Session, which included some reports from the Mayor’s office on ongoing projects. Council sessions are usually quite long (~2 hours), so it went on for a while. After Session, District C staff had a last-minute meeting to prepare for the incoming freeze and prepare emergency disaster responses, which included communicating with neighborhood groups, preparing infographics/resources for the possible emergencies that could arise during a freeze, etc. After lunch, I worked on my assignments from that meeting, which was compiling resources and content to send out to constituents. This included links to warming centers, food distribution centers, contacts at CenterPoint, etc. The remainder of my afternoon was spent dealing with constituent voice mails and assisting with scheduling committee meetings for the year. I really enjoy managing the voicemail inbox because it gives me an opportunity to positiv...

       Monday was a great day. I had the opportunity to attend several meetings and do some office work. My day started off with a scheduling project I was working on. I was tasked with uploading all of the meetings for all the Council’s committee meetings. I also attended the all-staff meeting where goals for the year, ongoing projects, and other commitments for the year were made. Following the staff meeting, I was taught how to handle constituent voice mails. Because District C receives large amounts of constituent feedback/concerns, it’s important for our office to delegate the work equally to efficiently handle the large amount of requests we receive. It was interesting to hear the several concerns from our residents and log them in our log book. In the afternoon I attended the Council Session Agenda meeting, where various staff members from the districts reviewed the content to be discussed on Wednesday's Council Session. Following, I attended the Budget and Fi...

     Thursday and Friday were more office days where I focused on my project on bus shelters. First, on Thursday morning I drafted the funding proposal with identified bus stops where bus shelters are needed. It was a more relaxed morning, but I learned a lot about Houston’s historic problem with METRO and recent investments made to increase ridership. In the afternoon, I had my last staff meeting, where I met with the Community Outreach Officer. She walked me through her role, which included scheduling for Council Member Kamin and managing constituent services. The remainder of my afternoon was spent finishing my bus shelter project which I would present Friday morning. Friday morning I presented my bus shelter proposal to the office’s Chief of Staff. She gave me some feedback and contacts at METRO to reach out to for additional information about shelter construction costs. I also attended a press conference Council Member Kamin would be at about the City’s Veteran Servi...

My first two days interning in City Councilwoman Abbie Kamin’s office have been hugely successful. Tuesday marked my first day. I spent the morning sitting on preparatory meetings, orienting myself around the office, and doing some research on the Councilwoman’s work during her first term, and the City of Houston in general. In my time researching, I learned about Kamin’s main policy agendas and the demographics of her district, among other things. My afternoon was spent attending the public session, which is an opportunity for the public to voice their concerns to the Council. The main issue brought by constituents was the inconsistency of heavy trash pickup. I took notes on any speakers who reside in District C, the district Councilwoman represents. Wednesday morning kicked off with a Council meeting, where Council members voted on different things, including granting funds, initiating legislation, etc. It was a fast-paced meeting and gave me a glimpse into the work of local governme...