On Thursday, Congressman John Garamendi officially opened his new Davis District Office at 412 G St. About 200 constituents attended his open house to meet the congressman, his wife Patti and office staff.
Garamendi represents California’s 3rd congressional district. He said that Davis is the geographic center of the district and a critical part of the community, so much of the work he will be doing is going to be centered on Davis and the university.
“We are working to make sure constituents know what services are available to them from this office,” said Donald Lathbury, Garamendi’s communications director.
Garamendi’s constituent casework team was also present at the open house to talk to community members and get a sense of what issues people are concerned about.
“Our team understands that our job first and foremost is service,” said Karen Tedford, Garamendi’s district director and constituent casework manager, in a press release. “It’s easy for someone who doesn’t know the lay of the land to get lost trying to resolve a problem with a federal agency. We do what we can to break through bureaucratic gridlock when it harms our constituents.”
The open house was also a time for Garamendi’s office to announce the new Congressional Civic Internship Program in its Davis office, which is aimed at students from UC Davis and surrounding community colleges. It is modeled after the Washington, D.C. internship program that it offers as well.
Interns can gain experience working on projects relating to research, policy, communication and legislation. They work directly with a mentor and also complete a civic intern project by the end of the program.
According to Andrew Kim, Garamendi’s special projects director and internship coordinator, the internship aims to create civic youth engagement and promote service.
Maxine Saria, a fourth-year international relations and Spanish double major, said she completed the internship last spring and found it to be an amazing experience.
Garamendi recently received his subcommittee assignments and will be working on projects related to transportation, water and military issues concerning Northern California.
“I represented this community as a state senator in the 1980s, and it’s an honor to once again serve you. My title is ‘Representative,’ and I take that responsibility very seriously,” Garamendi said at the open house.
PAAYAL ZAVERI can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
