David Wuor
PAD 641: Foundations in Public Administration
Writing Assignment: “Career Biography Paper from Interview”
Due: April 29 to May 3, 2013
“Career Biography Paper From Interview”
Introduction Section:
As part of writing assignment, I interviewed a Regional Deputy Director, Kaliegh Corgan from the New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s Office in the Metropolitan area in Rochester, New York. We had discussed a series of questions ranging from the scope of her tasks and responsibilities, problems to which she faced when she began her work for the Senator, and much more. It was so fabulous to have a momentum to speak with one of the Senator’s office from the federal government top tier level to find out and hear from her what she actually does for the government. And I was extremely overwhelmed by the information she had provided and she was also so informative and experienced since she also had previously worked with other governmental sector before she joined the Senator Chuck Schumer’s office as a Regional Deputy Director.
Corgan said that the Regional Office handled a lot of casework issues to which they worked in the liaison fashion with Washington, DC office as well as with other two regional office of Senator Chuck Schumer in New York State to help particular constituents And the best example to which she gravitated and provided was the agricultural concerned issue of irritation that happened here in the Rochester Metropolitan area. She described the situation from the start when this primary constituent came to their Regional Office with agricultural irrigation concerns since they were not getting water for irrigation from the Erie Canal terrace. She alluded that Erie Canal terrace, which was started and dug in 1817 was shut down due to the construction and that was why some of the New YorkState farmers along the Erie Canal terrace did not get water for their crop irrigations.
Questions & Answers Section:
1) What is scope of your tasks and responsibilities?
Corgan, the Regional Deputy Director of Senator Chuck Schumer’s Office described scope of her tasks and responsibilities within the nine (9) Counties in Western New York. She alluded and stressed that her Regional Office handled and dealt with several casework issues ranging from economics issue, agricultural issue, public policy concerns, consumer issue, trade issue, and to energy and environmental issue. She also said that they moderated and ran an Internship program for students who wanted to learn first hand experiences on the legislative issues, grant-in-aids: Block grants, Categorical grants, formula-grant in aides, Project grants, USDA grants, loans, and tax expenditures, which stemmed from tax credit tenets as well.
2) What problems you faced and/or encountered since you started your government career works?
Corgan said that more and more people always come to their Regional Office to seek for assistance with services they needed. She stressed this happened because constituents always neededhelp for their direct problems to which they had encountered and sought a government intervention to resolve it. She said that Erie Canal terrace is the best examples of this kind of constituents’ casework issues. Corgan continued and alluded that Erie Canal terrace was shut down due to construction that was in progress in the time. As a result, farmers did not get water flow for irrigation for their crops and after talking with the Regional office about this concern of water blockade to their farms due to the ongoing construction in the Erie Canal terrace, this agricultural issue was resolved and was opened for irrigation for agricultural purposes. Of course, there are always many disparities and concerns that come to their Regional office almost everyday and she confirmed that they handled and dealt with numerous constituents’ concerns and issue-centered for resolving. She said that they worked together as a team and got in contact with the Washington, DC main office in the Capitol Hill in the liaison fashion to resolve that particular issue on the arise and worked extremely hard to get the support system necessary for the constituents who encountered that particular casework issue and concerns that need government interventions.
3) How did you handle and manage that problem you had encountered?
With regard to the problem in the Erie Canal terrace in the time since it was stopped without flow of water to farmers’ fields of crops for irrigations for several days, Corgan said that they proceeded to call Washington, DC Office to resolve the issue as quick as possible so that the farmers get water irrigations they needed since “Agriculture is important to the New York State’s economy.” “Farmers always provided healthy foods and products to feed the State and the World alike.” She said that their Regional Office worked really hard to expedite and get a hold of the parties of interests to action plans to fix the problems as faster as they could.
4) What do you see as ‘strengths and ‘weakness’?
Corgan’s strength in handling this casework issue of agriculture to get water from Erie Canal terrace for farms’ irrigation was that she is always a good communicator when it comes to resolving and framing the problem like these pertaining constituents’ concerns with an urgent message and demanding for government interventions. Corgan’s weakness, on one hand, was frustration, especially she ran into an angry constituent, who does not want to listen and be patient for casework issue resolving and, especially the phone call conversations.
5) Since you started it, what did you see that ‘you had changed from your government career works?
A lot of time, Corgan said that they always read newspaper and clipped them for future records when necessary. Basically she stressed that her Regional Office always tried to keep themselves upto date of daily news, issues, and events from the televisions---especially to follow what is happening in the daily basis. With regard to what she changed in the government when she began working for Senator, she concluded that she did not change anything, but always have something to work, especially the casework issues from constituents in their daily routine. She did not add something holistically new to their Regional Office’s culture since she started. As Corgan alluded in the beginning of the interview, it is not the same things over and over again;however, it is about delivering direct services to the constituents, who happened to have concerns like Agricultural issue of Erie Canal terrace since it was shut down without flow of water for farms’ irrigation and crop productions. For example, Corgan cited another example of casework issue pertaining lowering the apple juice concentration standard for cheaper cost for import. This trade issue of Apple juice concentration standard was reported as a big and major concern regarding to cost standard for Apple juice concentration when it is imported from China to the United States in comparison with the products concentration’s cost standard when they are imported. She stressed that after hearing this problem to be trade barrier issue.They worked tirelessly to get and drafted it into the bill and be voted for into the trade legislation to regulate the cost standard import of Apple Juice concentration in comparison with other products’ cost standards that were being brought to the United States.
6) What ‘system approach’ do you see working effectively and efficiently after all these years of your government career works? And why is it important?
a) System theory approach----is a theory that focuses on ‘dependency’ to which organizations operate to improve efficiency in the organizational structure and system.
i) Open-ended approach----is meant as a theory that deals with openness for vendors’ deliveries and as well allowing dependency on vendors so they could bring in goods and services to organizations
ii) Closed-ended approach------is meant as a theory that deals with closing off too much dependency on vendors to bring services and products to the organizations. It is an approach whereby organization started to cut off and shut down dependency scenario on other organizations like vendors and therefore began to bring in their products on their own instead of getting products from other organizations, especially big organizations appeared to practice this closed-end model.
iii) Formal approach----meant ‘relationship between actors’, especially the relationship that exists between principals (employers) and agents (individuals who give services to the principals) like contracting case in the British Petroleum (BP) oil company, etc.
iiii) Pluralistic approach -----meant existing ‘interaction of interest groups like political forces in shaping and influencing how government work, especially shaping and impacting the political behaviors of the politicians like in their voting behavior patterns as well as in participation scenario.
7) How do you prioritize your constituents concerns?
Corgan said that there are two types of constituents: Someone who needs a direct help and someone who just seeks a general comments regarding procedure and contents of the bills. And with the matter of prioritization, Corgan alluded that her Regional Office just proceeded and marked them down in the categorical manners depending on the category of the casework issues on the basis of immediate caseworks.
8) How do you interact with different levels of governments?
Corgan paused and said that they interact with other levels of government through letters and emailing to address broad ranges of issues to which they received from constituents. She acknowledged there is ‘overlapping and cross-over’ depending on the level of governments whether they are communicating vertically with state levels or horizontally with federal government levels to resolve particular issue of concern. She stressed that Office could choose what to handle depending on where issue falls.
9) After working or servicing all these years, what would you think should be changed and modified about government in general?
‘Achieving efficiency and effectiveness is what they always tried to promote, but it is not easier to obtain,” said Corgan. Things like closing ‘loopholes’ and find ways to be more cost-effective is an overarching agenda in order to change way the government work is what essential for change in the government. Any politician or incumbent politician who works for government always tried to be a ‘change agent’. This becomes an obvious message to which voters in general always hear during the election or re-election campaigns. For instance, other politician who campaigns for government post would make a series of statement and of political flat forms about what she or he would do if elected to government like raising or lowering taxes: Personal income taxes, property taxes, and boosting or enhancing tax credits, especially for those who owned or pay mortgages.
10) From course book, especially according to author Donald Kettl, he asserted that ‘all administration is politics and structure-----persuasion, conflicts of interests, compromise, advocacy, and negotiation after finishing up with strategic plans(pg. 129)?” How would you react to this quotation?
Corgan said that compromising and negotiation and probably bargaining to enhance the way they serve constituents would be particular concepts to work since it requires Congress to get things done. She also acknowledged that the ‘big division’ that exists within Congress, especially in getting things done to avoid ‘conflict of interests’ and to achieve total satisfaction in the public services.
11) What is your impression about district constituents?
Corgan asserted that there is a ‘diversity’ that exists among district constituents since there are total of nine (9) rural and suburban Democrats and Republican constituents to which she said that they are what make up their Regional districts. She felt so proud of this partisan diversity and hoping that it stays like that during her services in the Senator Chuck Schumer’s Office as Regional Deputy Director.
12) Regarding interest groups, splinter groups and pressure groups, do you think they change ways and how governmental official caste their vote on the given bills on the floor?
Corgan stressed that obviously interest groups influence ways and voting patterns of government legislators like Senators. It depends on ‘conflict of interests’ to which interest groups always wanted to achieve or attain from the given bills on the floor.
13) What advise would you give to students of Public Administrations since you had been at administrative levels and/or posts?
Corgan said that Public administration is so wide area of concentration and it would be better if you do an internship to see what interest you the most. This is basically the advice to which she would give to the student of Public Administration momentarily after years of her public services with New York Senator Office in Rochester metropolitan area. Corgan appeared much happier with what she is doing thus far as a Regional Deputy Director.
Conclusion Section:
During an interview, we discussed series questions of thirteenth (13). Kaliegh Corgan was so knowledgable in answering, especially how she discussed and explained ways they helped constituents with whatever they needed from the New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s Office. She put constituents into two categories: Constituents who need an immediate assistance and other constituents who need to find out something like pending bills process and to ask questions from the Senate Office. Corgan cited two examples: one was Erie Canal terrace shutdown due to construction and other was cost standard of apple juice concentration import from Far East China. She discussed how it took them quite amount of time to resolve those casework issues by working in the liaison fashion with the other Regional Office and with the third main office in Washington, DC,----in the Capitol Hill. Servicing constituents is something not that easier according to Corgan since there are some constituents that are harder to serve, especially they could yell---demanding urgent actions or to expedite their requests. It takes strengths to deal with those types of constituents. If you are not good in handling those situations, then you will experience hard time in the public services. You always have to know what are your strengths and weakness when serving constituents since this is a ‘hardball’ conflict of interests, where constituents push so many mandates on the public servants like staff who work for Congress like Senate Office.
No comments:
Post a Comment