Working in the City of Memphis Mayor’s Office has been a very interesting experience so far. After winning his re-election vote last week I am assured that I will continue my internship, which is a relief. I am positive the other people in the office feel the same way. The jobs of the other workers in mayor’s office are something that doesn’t cross the mind much when thinking about an election. However, my supervisor and every other worker are without a job if the mayor fails to win the election. This is the price of working in politics. It must be nerve-wracking as the state of your employment is based on the votes of people you have never met. Luckily for everyone in A.C. Wharton’s last week, the mayor won his election with over 60% of the vote, giving an extended contract for everyone in the office to work for a couple more years.
My work has also been interesting. I have been working on putting together a master list of people on the volunteer city boards and commissions. There had been a master list before I came into the office but it was outdated and thus not of much use. The Mayor’s secretary was keeping track of the board members via a three-ring binder instead. The problem with this is that it was difficult and time consuming for her to look up when vacancies appeared on the boards, as she would have to flip through every page. This shocked me. I had always thought that city governments would be more efficient than this.
The small things like this clearly add up as well. There are currently over 120 board vacancies. My new task is to help develop a strategy to fill these vacancies. Two thoughts cross my mind as I am given and work on this task. One, the Mayor’s office must be extremely busy to let a lowly intern be in charge of developing a solution to this problem. Granted what I decide might not be the solution used, but that the brainstorming part of the solution at least is given to me is surprising. Whether or not this is a good thing will be decided in the future.
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