Staff Writer
Members of the community, business officials and nonprofit heads who want to meet with a member of the Duval Legislative Delegation usually turn to the member’s staff to arrange meetings.
But if they want to meet with every Delegation member — at the same time?
For close to 22 years, they’ve turned to Susan Stewart for that request and much more.
Stewart is the coordinator for the Delegation, a position with the City, and reports directly to the chair of the group (this year it’s State Rep. Audrey Gibson) on a variety of different things.
She tracks legislation and appropriations during the session for both members and people in the community, writes releases on behalf of the members that are then submitted to the public for updates, points people in the right direction on their individual legislative issues and even arranges Tallahassee tours for schools and groups who take a “civics tour” type trek around the city’s legislative landmarks.
“No two days are really alike,” said Stewart, “because there’s always so much going on.”
All of the different aspects can be a challenge, she said, but getting individual members — either as a couple or an entire group — together for meetings and functions is especially tough during the session. Delegation members are constantly in and out of committee meetings. They hold individual meetings during their spare legislative time while making their way from Tallahassee to Jacksonville and back again. And, most are often on conflicting schedules.
Even with hectic schedules, Stewart ensures all meetings adhere to the state’s ethics laws, which adds another wrinkle to scheduling.
“Especially around this time, it is definitely a challenge to get members together,” she said.
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