March 7, 2005: Headlines: COS - Guatemala: State Government: Copley News Service: Guatemala RPCV Seth Webb is special assistant to Governor Blagojevich

Peace Corps Online: State: Illinois: February 8, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Illinois : March 7, 2005: Headlines: COS - Guatemala: State Government: Copley News Service: Guatemala RPCV Seth Webb is special assistant to Governor Blagojevich

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-123-27.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.123.27) on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 1:02 am: Edit Post

Guatemala RPCV Seth Webb is special assistant to Governor Blagojevich

Guatemala RPCV Seth Webb is special assistant to Governor Blagojevich

Guatemala RPCV Seth Webb is special assistant to Governor Blagojevich

New job 'good change' for Gov.'s special assistant

By Bernard Schoenburg

March 7, 2005

[Excerpt]

You many not know the name of Seth Webb, but if you've been close to Gov. Blagojevich during the past couple of years, you may have seen him.

Webb, 30, is special assistant to the governor. He helps set up events for the governor, such as the bus tours that Blagojevich took through areas of the state after the 2003 legislative session. He also is often the person who follows up when the governor meets constituents who have problems, questions or ideas. Webb helped get the governor in position to have his picture taken with various groups after a recent event in Springfield.

Webb grew up in Georgia and Pennsylvania and received a history degree from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He had been a high school soccer player and got a job in late 1997 for ESPN, working in Bristol, Conn., producing soccer telecasts from across the globe.

"We would get the (video) feed from Europe or South America," he said. "Then we would voice it over in Spanish, Portuguese (or) English, and put it out on the international channel or ESPN 1 or 2."

After about four months, Webb got a job with the parks and recreation department of the city of New York during the administration of Rudy Giuliani. After a little more than a year, he was named director of marketing and special events by parks Commissioner Henry Stern. According to his resume, he produced dozens of events in Central Park, including concerts by Sting and Sheryl Crow and the Dalai Lama's 1999 public address, each drawing more than 30,000 people. He says he also raised more than $3 million from corporate sponsors for agency programs and worked with the mayor's office to produce citywide events like a Yankees parade and First Night 2000 celebrations. An "Easter Eggstravaganza" in about 40 acres of Central Park was one event, and "we called it the largest Easter egg hunt in the world," he said.

There was also design and launch of a parks Web site.

How did such a young person get to do all that?

"When you're in a city agency, especially like the parks department in New York City, you don't have a lot of money, and so you try to hire people who will work long hours and get nothing, with just the motivation of trying to make a career for themselves," he said.

Among those Webb worked with at the parks department was Bradley Tusk, who a few years later became deputy governor of Illinois.

In 2001, Webb went on a two-year stint with the Peace Corps, working as a municipal development volunteer in San Juan Cotzal, Guatemala. He said he joined the Peace Corps because he had lived in Valencia, Spain, for four months during college and wanted to live abroad again. He also wanted to continue to "make some type of contribution to public service."

Webb says he speaks Spanish and "a little bit of the Mayan language" that was spoken in San Juan Cotzal. He was paid $225 per month, out of which he had to pay his rent of about $45 for "a little house on the side of the hill."

Webb said he and Tusk kept in touch while Webb was in the Peace Corps. After Tusk landed the job with Blagojevich, "he asked me to come help out. I sent my resume, talked to everybody here, and made the move." When his Peace Corps time ended, Webb said, "four days later, I was on the 16th floor of the Thompson Center."

Webb said he's never worked on a campaign and isn't sure he'd want to. In his job now, he has some hand in writing speeches for the governor, particularly at smaller events. He also prepares briefings for those events, "like what is the event and what are some potential things" to talk about.

Until I interviewed Webb in the governor's press office at the Statehouse this week, I had heard Webb utter only a few words. To us reporters, at least, he doesn't make himself the focus of attention. I had also heard he can be abrupt.

"The position that he's in, working directly with the governor, he needs oftentimes very quick answers," said Rebecca Rausch, spokeswoman for Blagojevich who sat in on the interview. "I would say that there's probably not a lot of room for small talk."

"I think we work at a pretty quick pace," Webb said.

Webb, who has run a New York City Marathon and biked along the Chinese-Tibet border, calls the new job "an incredible opportunity. ... To be able to work on this level and to be a part of the process where you can really make things happen is pretty exciting," he said. He makes $75,000.

As my questions came to a close, a Blagojevich meeting with legislative leaders apparently also concluded. A line of people - apparently including the governor - walked by the door and headed for the exits and Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport.

Webb quickly zipped up a suitcase on the floor, got hold of its handle, and took off, so as not to miss the plane to Chicago.

A quick pace, indeed, for a single guy with a bunch of interesting experiences.





When this story was posted in March 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Date: February 7 2005 No: 438 The Peace Corps Library
Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC Date: March 5 2005 No: 482 RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC
RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

March 5, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News Date: March 5 2005 No: 483 March 5, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News
San Diego RPCVs host reception with Gaddi Vasquez on March 6 4 Mar
Alaska RPCVs speak for dividend 4 Mar
Western North Carolina's RPCVs sponsor Africa Night on March 6 3 Mar
Maryland RPCVs lobby their Senators for Peace Corps 3 Mar
Connecticut RPCVs hold fundraiser on March 5 3 Mar
Charles Baquet speaks at Louisiana PC Breakfast on March 4 28 Feb

RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

March 5, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Date: March 5 2005 No: 476 March 5, 2005: This Week's Top Stories
Senate FR Committee approves $345 M PC budget 4 Mar
RPCV's "Kennedy's Kitchen" records second CD 4 Mar
Sam Farr asks Army to reconsider burial policy 3 Mar
Bayanihan jewelry designed by Philippines RPCV 2 Mar
Todd Vetter receives calling during PC service 2 Mar
Sargent Shriver still on Washington's A-list 2 Mar
Photographer Bill Owens publishes new book 2 Mar
Crisis Corps to open new program in Sri Lanka 28 Feb
PC wants new stories for "The Great Adventure" 28 Feb
Ukraine PCV asks "Is Bush right on Iraq?" 28 Feb
Carol Bellamy defends "feminism" in aiding children 28 Feb
John Bridgeland discusses role as Bush assistant 28 Feb
Paul Theroux recalls high times with Hunter Thompson 28 Feb
Elaine Chao Leads Delegation to Uruguay 28 Feb
RPCV reunites with friend after 40 years 27 Feb
Kay Muldoon-Ibrahim's photography on exhibit 27 Feb
Jim Doyle displays political brilliance on tax cuts 26 Feb

March 1: National Day of Action Date: February 28 2005 No: 471 March 1: National Day of Action
Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.
Coates Redmon, Peace Corps Chronicler  Date: February 26 2005 No: 457 Coates Redmon, Peace Corps Chronicler
Coates Redmon, a staffer in Sargent Shriver's Peace Corps, died February 22 in Washington, DC. Her book "Come as You Are" is considered to be one of the finest (and most entertaining) recountings of the birth of the Peace Corps and how it was literally thrown together in a matter of weeks. If you want to know what it felt like to be young and idealistic in the 1960's, get an out-of-print copy. We honor her memory.
Make a call for the Peace Corps Date: February 19 2005 No: 453 Make a call for the Peace Corps
PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.
Peace Corps Calendar: Tempest in a Teapot? Date: February 17 2005 No: 445 Peace Corps Calendar: Tempest in a Teapot?
Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.
WWII participants became RPCVs Date: February 13 2005 No: 442 WWII participants became RPCVs
Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.
Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps Date: February 7 2005 No: 436 Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps
The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Copley News Service

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guatemala; State Government

PCOL17633
75

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: