Intern at City Council District 10: Councilman Clayton Perry, City of San Antonio, TX
Diego spent the summer of 2019 interning for the City Council in his hometown. San Antonio's City Council, having been around for over 300 years, is a crucial part of the way San Antonians live. Responsibilities include improving and supporting the infrastructure within its city limits, providing assistance to residents, creating opportunities for economic growth within businesses and within the pockets of its community, supporting public safety, and so much more. Many of Diego's responsibilities varied across the many offices and campaigns he worked on. With District 10 he wrote speeches, met with community stakeholders, was put in charge of all social media, was on a team of staff that drafted the budget for the following fiscal year, as well as developed strategies for expanding the economic development within the district.
"Working for City Council meant that I had to be prepared for whatever situation made itself known that day. Anything could happen. The beauty of the work is that no matter what you are working on it affects your constituents in some way so the work forces you to be sensitive and empathetic. You have to sit back and think, would I want my representative to put this on me? The difficulty with a job like this is that no matter how hard you try, and how much you think you succeed, you can never please the voter. Rarely will a resident call your office and say "I just wanted to thank you for the way you voted" or "I think your office is doing a great job." However, it is a great motivator to Councilmembers and Staff to be better and to work vigorously to please them. If I have learned anything, it is that the value of public service is far greater than any aspiration. The love of service is so important in a field like this. Working for the 7th largest city in America, I take great responsibility in serving it in every way I can. Serving in such a position has only proven to me how much I truly love this work and it has only confirmed that this is what I am meant to do."