Government is human . If there ’ s one thing I ’ ve learned at the Councilman ’ s office this summer , it ’ s that . In the academic setting , we spend a lot of time on institutional structures and the rules and procedures for how change gets made . That ’ s all relevant , and I wouldn ’ t want anyone in a position of power to not know how a bill becomes a law , but what you can ’ t learn from textbooks or papers are the people that pull the levers of our civil society . Through my time doing constituent service work and policy research especially , I ’ ve had the privilege to meet and learn a whole lot from only a few of the most amazing people in Baltimore city - Flannery , Joshua , Mrym , Michael , of course Councilman Cohen , all of my intern pals on staff , and countless other agency representatives . Just by being around them , I learned that governing is just one person picking up a phone ( in this case , an antiquated cord phone with actual buttons , how crazy is that ) and asking the person how they ’ re feeling today then talking about what to do next . Even canvassing is just walking up to random people at a bus stop and talking to them .
There are a lot of frustrations with government , and there is a ( justifiable ) high heat to the frustrations in Baltimore City . People complain that government is all talk and no action , but in my experience , those are one in the same . Working in the office this summer , I learned that literally the worst way to go about solving a problem is to limit how much or how many people you talk about the problem with , and that all our office ’ s triumphs , no matter how great or small , came when we rounded up all of an issue ’ s stakeholders and had a conversation about it . No innovative constitutional design or nifty rules bill can take the place of passionate people talking to compassionate representatives .
Councilman Cohen , during my interview in the spring semester , asked about my career aspirations . I told him , oh I ’ ll go to law school and then work for nonprofit law , and he said that was all well and good , but have you ever considered government ? We need smart people in government ! In my head I thought , don ’ t you need smart people in any workplace ? But I nodded and said I would consider it and got on with the interview . I didn ’ t know how right he was until around now , at the close of my internship . Government isn ’ t about running numbers , it ’ s not about submitting reports or filling out forms , it ’ s about people .
So yes , I ’ ve officially considered government , Councilman .
Community Partner : City Councilperson Zeke Cohen Intern : Sam Schatmeyer Site Supervisor : Michael Castagnola
• Answered phone calls from constituents and worked with the relevant city agencies to try to solve their problem after the traditional pathways broke down
• Prepared summary documents of important reports ( like the Kirwan Commission on Education ) and researched different policy stakeholders in order create a coalition
• Collected petition signatures for the affordable housing trust fund initiative in order to put the issue on the ballot for voters in November
• Briefly worked to edit and photograph content for the Councilman ’ s social media platforms and mailing list
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