Day One

            4/7/14

            Today we were fortunate enough to get an extensive tour of the capitol building where we learned the history of the building itself, as well as reasons why Sacramento is the state capital. Our tour was lead by a former United States Marine who had a passion for California’s history, good and bad. He strongly encouraged all of us to take an interest in the legislative process and do whatever we can as citizens to be involved in that process. He also reminded us that the government of this country was set up “for the people, by the people” and that it is incredibly important that the people are involved; otherwise it is hard for the legislators to meet our needs as citizens of the state.

            After our tour, we met with David Townsend, a remarkable political consultant who has worked on numerous campaigns and initiatives. He spoke briefly and then allowed us to ask many questions to which he gave thorough and honest answers. He answered questions on current policy issues as well as questions regarding how to survive in the political world. He shared several of his experiences with us which provided insight into how the political world actually operates. Although he was realistic about the difficulty of being involved in the political community, he encouraged us to pursue it anyway because it is important that we are involved and that people who are passionate participate. It was a very informative question and answer session and we were very lucky to meet with someone of such high political caliber.

-Olivia Regalia