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Politics is old hat for Costa's new staff |
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By The Hill Staff
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Posted: 03/01/05 12:00 AM [ET] |
| Freshman Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) recently finished hiring his Washington, D.C., staff, and it includes aides who have worked for everyone from Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to former Reps. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.) and Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.). |
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Patrick G. Ryan |
| From left, Scott Nishioki, Lisa Shelton, Kerri Hatfield, Janaki Dighe, Tracy Sherman and John Drake. |
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Scott Nishioki, 51, who came to Costa’s office from the American Bankers Association, serves as the lawmaker’s chief of staff. Previously, he was the deputy chief of staff for Mineta. He was also the staff director for the House Banking Committee’s Consumer Affairs Subcommittee. Nishioki is a native of Sanger, Calif. Nishioki, who graduated from Fresno State University with a degree in English, came to Capitol Hill in 1983 to work for former Rep. Richard Lehman (D-Calif.). He started out doing Lehman’s press and finished up as his chief of staff.
What draws Nishioki to politics? “An overriding sense of public service,” he said. “Public service is also a great sport.” Nishioki says the Hill has changed since he was here more than two decades ago. “Twenty-two years ago all we needed was a telephone and a typewriter,” he said. “Today everything is computerized and Internet-based.”
Lisa Shelton, a legislative assistant, manages the lawmaker’s work on the House Agriculture Committee and is a liaison for the Blue Dog Coalition. She handles health, immigration and Social Security issues. Before being hired by Costa, she worked for Hill for three years as his agriculture legislative assistant. She attended the University of California Los Angeles, where she studied history, and Georgetown University. Shelton is a Los Angeles native. “Agricultural is my main interest. That is why I am here,” she said. “Representative Costa has a tremendous ag background, so I look forward to learning from him.”
John Drake, 28, another legislative assistant, serves as the liaison to the Resources Committee. He handles water, energy, land use and American Indian issues and is responsible for transportation, foreign affairs and financial services. Drake, who attended the University of California Santa Cruz, is a former aide to Deutsch, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate last year, as well as Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.). Originally from San Diego, Calif., he previously worked in San Francisco City Hall. After that, he set his sights on Washington, drove cross-country and began interning for Berman. “My inspiration was the Enron scandal,” he said, adding, “It was a really slow process for me. I began working on a few local campaigns. Through the connections, I found myself working for a city supervisor. I worked for him for three or four months before I realized that I wanted my next step to be here in D.C.”
Tracy Sherman, 24, is the congressman’s new press assistant but also handles education, housing, arts and minority-rights issues. She is the Congressional Hispanic Caucus liaison. Before joining Costa’s staff, she was a legislative correspondent and deputy press secretary for Gephardt. Originally from Portland, Ore., she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and immediately afterward came to Washington to work for Gephardt.
What is it like working for a freshman? “It’s exciting,” Sherman said. “It’s very different. It’s very hands on working in a new member’s office.”
Kerri Hatfield, 22, who is Costa’s executive assistant, recently came to the House side from Breaux’s office, where she worked as a staff assistant. She is a Clovis, Calif., native and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do when I graduated,” she said. “I had a connection in Senator Breaux’s office, and thought I’d give that a try.”
Janaki Dighe, 22, a recent graduate of the University of California Los Angeles, is Costa’s staff assistant. She recently interned with the Los Angeles mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in Washington. “You get out here and everyone talks about working on the Hill,” she said. “The Hill, the Hill. So here I am. Once you are out here, this is hottest thing in Washington. Back in California, none of my friends even know what I’m talking about, but out here it’s the Hollywood of the East Coast.” She is originally from Stockton, Calif. |
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