HSLP 2010: Day 12, Wednesday, July 21

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 12-Wednesday, July 21
Recorded by: Gabrielle Stiff, Newport

It all started at 6:45 this morning, as that’s the time we had to meet in the lobby. The bus arrived at Bice around 7:00 and we soon departed for Richmond. I fell asleep shortly after leaving Bice and when I awoke we were at the Capitol Building. We all got ready and got off the bus and made our way into the building. After entering the building we formed a line and slowly made our way through the security check. After everyone was done we made our way to the conference room to hear our first speaker.

Our first speaker of the day was Tucker Martin, the Director of Communications for Governor Bob McDonnell. Mr. Martin talked about his position with the Governor and how he got his start in politics. He also discussed how he deals with the press and his “Oh Dear” principle of admitting, denying, responding, or explaining. Also he talked about the McDonnell administrations’ response to the release of the Governor’s thesis. Mr. Martin said his main job as Director of Communications is “What is our message and how do we reticulate it to the people?”

We also heard from Janet Polarek along with Mr. Tucker. Ms. Polarek is the Secretary of the Commonwealth and her main message was “Find something you would really love to do, find a boss you would really love to work for, and find people you would really love to work with.” The third speaker we heard from today was Richard Krouse, the Political Director of the Republican party in Virginia. Mr. Krouse discussed the process of running for office and how important it is to have a good platform. He also asked a good question for people considering running: “Why should I vote for you?” Additionally, he talked about the Republicans views on taxes, the Tea Party movements, and the 2010 elections. He pointed out the targeted districts, who was running in those districts, and how relevant elections were in Virginia since we are a purple state and how the Nation’s eye is on us.

We then heard from John Hager, Chairman of the Board of Sorensen. Mr. Hager talked about his past positions including but not limited to: Lt. Governor with Governor Gilmore, Director of Homeland Security (2001-9/11), and Chairman of the Republican Party. He also discussed how Virginia is a purple state and how it’s a constant competition between the Democrats and Republicans, and how he got into politics after he got Polio. Our next speaker was Anne Gambardella, Head of Legislative Affairs for the Automotive Industry. Her job consists of lobbying politicians for automotive dealers. She said 30,000 people are employed by the automotive industry and she represents them. Our last speaker was Scott Francis, an employee of Dominion. He discussed Dominion’s energy developments. Also he spoke about the hypothesized energy gap in the next ten years of 56,000 megawatts by 2020. He also said Virginia was the second, behind California, in energy production. Additionally, he discussed the prospects of offshore wind energy.

After our speakers we walked to the front of the Capitol Building and took a group picture. After that we walked 4 blocks to the Capitol Ale House, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner and in some people’s cases dessert. After our bellies were full we got back on the bus and headed back to Bice.

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 12-Wednesday, July 21
Recorded by: Locher Grove, Roanoke

With a groan I opened my eyes and rolled over to look at the time on my clock-6:04am. Begrudgingly I pulled off my covers, rubbed the sleep out of the corner of my eyes,and began to get dressed in my business professional attire. The belt was buckled, the shoes slipped on, and the tie was tightened. I opened the door of my room and walked out into the main kitchen/living room of the suite to eat some breakfast before we were supposed to report downstairs in the main lobby of Bice. I finished my breakfast and headed downstairs with the rest of my suitemates: Logan, Adam, and Ben. We all met in the lobby and Lauren counted everyone before we boarded the bus to head to our State Capital, Richmond.

As soon as the tires hit 64 East half of the people on the bus were fast asleep as the others were nodding off with the methodic bounce of the Abbot on the bumpy road.When I opened my eyes for the second time today (I had fallen asleep too), I could see the high rising structures that make up the landscape of Richmond. We gently nudged our sleeping friends and notified them of our arrival. The bus pulled around the block and Capital Hill loomed ahead of us. After proceeding through security we had a short walk to our room for the day. I was shocked when I passed through the massive, 20-foot high solid wooden doors that blocked the entrance. We sat down in the conference style room that contained three different projectors on three different walls (I guess this is so no one ever has to strain their neck in any direction to see the screens). There was time to kill so we received ashort talk from Mr. Drew Teitelbaum (a member of our HSLP group) about the ever-important issue of the diminishing population of horse flies in Uzbekistan. April shooed Drew off the lectern and our first speakers, Mr. J. Martin Tucker and Ms. Janet Polarek, began. Mr. Tucker is the Director of Communications for Governor McDonnell and Ms. Polarek is the Secretary of the Commonwealth. They talked about how they rose through the ranks and are in the positions that they hold currently. Then they opened it up for questioning. The next speaker was Richard Krouse who is the Political Director of the Republican Party of Virginia. He told us of his first memory about politics and the desire of making a difference, and he encouraged us to open up our eyes and look for the issues in all levels of government.

The final speaker before lunch was Mr. John Hager who is the Chairman of the Board of Sorensen and has formerly served as Lt. Governor with Governor Gilmore, Director of Homeland Security after 9/11, and Chairman of the Republican Party. Mr. Hager told us about the importance of getting involved and becoming politically active. Lunch was from the Capital’s small café. It included some type of sandwich,fruit, a bag of Lays potato chips, and two cookies. I finished early and looked around themain floor of the original Capital building. I found old maps that still referred to my hometown city of Roanoke as Big Lick. I also found past pictures of Members of theHouse that dated back to early and mid 19th century. I hurried back to our conference room and joined everyone else on an exclusive tour of the building with our tour guide named Steve (I not quite sure what is name is sofor the purpose of this blog entry we will refer to him as Steve). Steve took us around the Capital onto the floors of the Senate and the House that are normally locked. Throughout the hour tour, we learned tons of information about the history of Mr. Jefferson’s Capital. At two o’clock we were back in the conference room and we heard from Ms.Anne Gambardella Head of Legislative Affairs for the Automotive Industry. She told us about the intricacies of lobbying here in Richmond.Next we heard from our final speaker of the day, Mr. Scott Francis of DominionPower. Mr. Francis put up a power point about the different green energy sourcesDominion has all over the Commonwealth.We were done at four and we proceeded up the Capital steps and took a nicegroup picture. Then we strutted down the streets of Richmond in our business professional attire to a restaurant called the Capital Ale House. We were ushered into a back room and placed our orders (many of us opting for the Ale Houses’ famous burgers). I on the other hand, believed I was getting a burger when I ordered the “Portobello Burger,” but alas, there was no meat on my sandwich. It turned out that the “burger” was actually just a giant Portobello mushroom. Surprised, I tasted the “burger” and was delighted to find that even though there was no meat, it was still a great tasting sandwich.The bus was parked outside so we boarded back up and said our goodbyes to the State Capital, Richmond. It was a great day.