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Putnam's new aides adjusting to the chill |
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By The Hill Staff
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Posted: 10/04/05 12:00 AM [ET] |
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) doesn’t mess around when it comes to replacing aides. When the need arises, he looks to his district for young people who fit the bill and won’t mind bracing themselves for the colder weather of Washington.
Andrea Becker, 23, who previously served as staff assistant for the congressman, is the new executive assistant. She is a Lakeland, Fla., native and a graduate of the University of Florida, where she majored in political science.
“I’ve actually loved politics at the local level ever since I was little,” she says. “My dad was very active in the community; I think that is what sparked it. I want to go to law school eventually.”
During her junior and senior years in college, Becker interned for Putnam in the summer, and, as she puts it, “got very addicted.”
Even so, eventually Becker would like to return to Florida. “I don’t like the weather up here. Today is getting cold, actually,” she says.
Katie Bell, 20, joins the office as a staff assistant. She grew up in the 12th Congressional District and before coming to Washington served as campaign manager for Florida state Rep. Marty Bowen in the 2004 election. She has not completed college yet and has no definite plans on doing so.
After high school, she attended an all-girls school in Dallas for six months. The school included character training. She also sang with an opera company in Orlando. She has performed in various operas, including “The Merry Widow,” “La Boheme” and “La Traviata.”
Bell hails from Lake Wales, Fla., which is in Putnam’s district. “At this point I’m not too homesick,” she says, adding that she saw an opportunity to work in politics and couldn’t pass it up.
Brooke McKnight, 24, is a new legislative correspondent in the office. A Tampa native, she, too, is adjusting to the cooler fall weather.
“I think it’s a little chilly outside right now,” she says. “The blood definitely needs to get a little thicker.”
When she isn’t working in Putnam’s office, McKnight attends graduate school at George Washington University at night for a degree in political management. McKnight attended the University of South Florida, where she majored in history and minored in political science.
“I think I’m your average person, she says. “I like reading and running, which isn’t that exciting.”
Michael Hambel, Putnam’s chief of staff, will assume the press duties until the congressman finds a new communications director. Shawn Dhar, who formerly held the position, has left the Hill for the Brookings Institution, where he will be the senior communications adviser. |
