Staff Writer
Throughout the year and during session, Duval Delegation members represent the interests of Northeast Florida, but they don’t do it alone.
They’re joined by their legislative assistants and secretaries who make the trek to Tallahassee and hold the fort in their home districts, serving as the connection between constituent and representative.
It means answering hundreds of e-mails and phone calls, making appointments for the legislator to meet with constituents and other parties, and keeping track of legislative proceedings and changes.
It can make each day a whirlwind.
“It can be pretty crazy around here,” said Michelle Fowler, who has worked with both State Rep. Jennifer Carroll and former State Rep. Mike Hogan.
Fowler’s been making the Tallahassee trips for more than seven years and enjoys the job, especially assisting the public.
Other assistants say the same.
“I love it,” said Sandy Matthews, legislative assistant to State Rep. Mike Weinstein. “I love serving, even on the days when the phone is ringing off the hook.”
Matthews and several other longtime legislative assistants refer to themselves jokingly as “dinosaurs,” but it’s been a profession she’s been happy to have for 24 years.
When she started, it didn’t dawn on her that it could become a career, she said, “My mother asked me to get a ‘real job,’” she said.
She said it has been rewarding, especially when constituents are helped.
“I like to be the person behind the scenes,” she said.
While some assistants are seasoned, the job is relatively new to others, such as Brandy Wright, legislative secretary to Duval Delegation Chair and State Rep. Audrey Gibson.
It’s Wright’s first Tallahassee foray during session and while hectic at times, it’s something she’d pursue again.
Larry Williams, legislative assistant to State Rep. Janet Adkins, hasn’t shied away, either.
Williams said that he and Adkins have a good rapport to the point that he can often tell what Adkins is thinking. Being on the same page is important, he said, because timetables are crunched during session.
He, like the others, remains behind the scenes, “It’s my job to make her look good,” he said.
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