Mary-Charlotte Domandi:
So you and I have been talking about it’s coming up on a a hundred days tomorrow. And one of the things that we haven’t really ever talked about is sort of the nitty gritty of doing what you do in terms of, I mean, it’s not just, you, you have to put together an office with staff, all of whom, know what they’re doing. Talk about that what is that process like? What have been some of the challenges of that and, and some of the rewards.
Teresa Leger Fernandez:
So it is quite interesting because you have basically a staff in Washington, DC, and then another staff in the district, in the third congressional district of New Mexico, the beautiful and beautifully diverse district three. And what I wanted to do was get a staff that reflected the district and that in Washington had a lot of knowledge about how to get things done. There are lots of different ways that people put it together, but as an example in Washington, I got a chief of staff who had worked as a legislative director, which is like the number two position, for Michelle Lujan Grisham. He had started with her at the lowest position that you can get hired in and just worked his way up. So he knew New Mexico really well, and also was incredibly highly recommended. Like I had people calling me and just like raving about his talents.
So we had somebody who knew the district who knew the issues. I’m on the congressional Hispanic caucus; he worked for another member of the congressional Hispanic caucus. So he knew that caucus well. He was also the legislative director for the former chair of the subcommittee on indigenous peoples, which I am now the chair of the subcommittee on indigenous people. So that, that wealth of deep legislative knowledge was what led me to choosing him, Nathan Schelble. And then the next level of top people include my district director, Xochitl Campos Biggs. And Xochitl is from Santa Fe, but her family is from San Miguel County. People might know the Camposes; they’re very involved in politics in Northern New Mexico. She worked for Mayor Gonzales, worked for Tom Udall, worked for Mayor Keller. So… and she is a social worker. And so her heart is about always helping. She’s got the biggest heart ever.
The next person is the legislative director, Elizabeth Arevalo, who knows her stuff. I’m trying to get a lot accomplished on a policy level. So I wanted somebody who like knew their stuff at that level. And she was incredibly experienced. She came from judiciary, from Representative Lieu’s office. Judiciary was one of the areas I thought of working on. She knew voting rights, I know voting rights. So it was like this combination of you’re putting people together, and how are they going to work together? Maria Hurtado is my communications director. She had worked with Senator Mark Kelly’s campaign. No she’s Latina as is Xochitl. And Elizabeth is Spanish-Filipina. And so, you know, you have these different perspectives, but just energy, like I wanted people who would find the joy in the work and be energized by the work and want to work for somebody who had my approach of let’s get stuff done.
I am in the congressional progressive caucus. They have to be excited about those things. So, you know, those are just a few of the positions, but then we just kept filling them out. People who either knew the legislative process very well or were from and knew New Mexico really well. And I think we have a wonderful cohort. Some people who’ve never worked in a congressional office. Derek Toledo is from Jemez Pueblo. And I met him during the campaign, but I actually met him first at the Institute for Policy Studies here in Washington, where he had been a fellow. He’s one of my key team members in my district office. And so it’s just fun to bring people in who might have never worked in Congress before. I have five people like that. And all of us work together and we laugh and they’re really so, so good. All of my team.
MCD:
There’s the Washington office and there’s the New Mexico offices. How closely do they interact?
TLF:
Well, the great thing about Zoom, the things we’re going to keep from the pandemic, is that we just did our regular staff meeting today and we were all on zoom. So we all were able to look at each other and talk to each other and laugh together. And an issue might come up and Xochitl, my district director, will give input and then Maria will say, Oh, well, we can do this this way. You know, so we’re interacting all the time. And that’s intended. Like Carlos Sanchez is my constituent services and we just love him because he raises people from the dead! He once handled a case where somebody had been reported as dead. So this poor man’s pension checks stopped, and he had to do all the work to get the man declared alive again. So his pension checks could start again. And you know, he’s also, as he’s dealing with these individual claims that come in, because we serve people, if they have problems with the federal agencies, we want them to call us because Carlos and A.J., who’s from Cuba, New Mexico, and Francesca, who’s from Santa Fe, New Mexico–they will figure out how to like help you unstick things in federal agencies. But they’re also looking for problems that maybe might need a legislative solution. So, you know, if they see something coming up and up and up again, they’re like, maybe they should be solved legislatively and we’d have that conversation. And so they should be in constant communication, and that’s why we have these weekly meetings. And we’ll have a retreat once we’re able to do it, COVID proper so that we can all also be in the same room. So we might not be able to do that for a while, but I want my DC staff, those who aren’t from New Mexico, to make sure they get out. There’s only two that have never been to New Mexico. So, you know, I want them to be there as part of the team, because you have to like get a little bit of New Mexico sand and your throat and our pollen to really be able to represent our district well.
MCD:
Yeah, there’s no pollen shortage right now. I imagine that it’s not your typical nine to five job. People are working all the time. The hours are going to be long. Is staffing a congressional office, young people’s work? Or is there an age range?
TLF:
A lot of my staff might be on the younger side. But then you will look at the people who rise and rise and rise. Like let’s say I stay for a long time. Eventually my chief of staff or my legislative director might end up saying, well, I’m going to go be the senior director of the committee. That could be a more senior person who will also make more money. At this point in time you’re doing it because you believe in the fact that Congress is transformative. Like Congress can make such a huge difference on issues we care about that you will be doing this instead of maybe making some more money at other places. It really is you are a public servant. And so those people who really believe in achieving change, social change and political change, will be drawn to this kind of job. Because it is not lucrative for anybody.
But as you gain seniority, people will stay in there. We have a wonderful mentor of mine in New Mexico, who we tired from Congress. He was the Chief of Staff to Nancy Pelosi when she was first Speaker. Well, he lives in New Mexico now, and has been a wonderful mentor to me. But that was his career. And he’d stayed there, was with Congress and chair Miller for many years. And so there will be those who stay, and then many others relieve and go work in the private sector or go work in the administration or go become professors. There’s lots of different paths people take from Congress. Some people were staffers and then they run for Congress themselves.
MCD:
Now, if you have a problem with your staff where you make an ill-advised hire or something goes wrong, would you then go to that mentor and say, what’s the best thing to do here.
TLF:
You know what, with that particular mentor I most often talk to him about more like policy and strategy. Because, listen, he was the first chief of staff to the first woman Speaker of the House. So he’s got the policies down. He knows Ed and Labor really well. He knows environmental stuff really well. He’s a professor at a university now. So I talked to him about strategy. The wonderful thing is, Congress has a lot of support for me. If I have issues, they have wonderful support to try to resolve issues so that you don’t have to let anybody go. But like, how can we communicate better? It is a very, in that sense, it’s a very high pressure job and people are doing it because their heart’s in it. And so they also have some nice resources. When I was doing my orientation, they have great resources that are just for the employees.
They have great resources there for me. The democratic caucus has big emphasis on diversity because there’s a recognition that in order to build that pipeline, well, you need to hire them in the entry level jobs. Like my entry-level jobs are all women of color. So that, that way they can build up and take the jobs later on higher and higher up. Several of my people have masters degrees, cause you need to know stuff really well. And they’re so smart. And they know this stuff. In one day I was asked to speak on the floor on an issue, on the paycheck protection. I am having two different committee hearings, one in which I am running the committee as chair, and one in which I am presenting my orphaned wells bill in another committee. And have to vote. And have to–so it’s like you go from one thing to another. And so you have like, I have my single staff person who staffs my natural resources. And so he, James Green, his mother is Guatemalteca, so he’s Latino. So that’s what I do. Like I go, you know, all these different things that I make decisions, but they’re helping me by, you know, getting all the information. And I’m kind of, maybe not like everybody else, I actually insist on reading the entire bill. Cause I don’t just want the summary. I want the bill. Like I’ll read a 200 page bill and Mark it up. So. But what’s fun is that we all are laughing and we’re joking, and we’re also really committed to what we do.
MCD:
Well, thank you for that insight into what it’s like on the inside.
TLF:
Well, we are still looking for one more position, by the way, before we hang up. I have a position open for somebody to serve in Las Vegas, New Mexico to help us with the East side out of Las Vegas, New Mexico. So if anybody’s listening.
MCD:
What would they do?
TLF:
They would call my office, go to my website, fernandez.house.gov, and they can send in their resume. And if anybody has not already gone to fernandez.house.gov to get my weekly review, they should, because I can’t send it to anybody unless they affirmatively sign up.
MCD:
Okay. What’s the actual job?
TLF:
Oh, it’s called a field representative. So they represent me and go and find out what’s happening. So like I talk about Derek Toledo from Jemez. So he goes, and he’s going to work and find out what’s happening on land issues on conservation issues, because he’s a Pueblo member interfacing with the Pueblos. You know, I have a separate Navajo liaison, but this would be on the East side, making sure we’re hearing what’s happening to constituents and communities. What are some of the concerns? So they’re going to meetings. They become the point person for me since I’m all over the place. If I can’t be there at a meeting, they will go for me and listen and represent me.
