“They're the spine of the office.” A Q&A with NYC City Council Deputy Chief of Staff Brandon Jordan
By Carla Sinclair, Senior Communications Associate
Chiefs of staff and other legislative office leaders are crucial to the districts they serve, but often operate behind the scenes. ISLG’s Kriegel Fellowship for Public Service Leaders taps into their unique roles to offer professional development and networking opportunities so they can exceed in their current jobs and their future journeys as policy experts. We sat down with one of the Fellows to discuss the role, what Kriegel has offered, the importance of state and local collaboration, and much more.
Whether they’re drafting legislation, tackling policy issues, or out listening to their communities, the chiefs of staff and other legislative office leaders play a vital role in New York City and State. With roles as diverse in responsibilities as the array of public policy issues they delve into, these staff need to be policy experts, legislative wonks, effective managers, and much more.
To support their success as a legislative champion as well as a community advocate, CUNY ISLG established the Kriegel Fellowship for Public Service Leaders in 2020 as a professional development and peer-to-peer learning opportunity for legislative chiefs of staff. The Fellowship has expanded to help all legislative office leaders gain insight into the pressures that influence policy decision-making, enhance their policy knowledge and leadership capacities, and collaborate with peers to more positively impact the future of New York City and State.
ISLG’s Senior Communications Associate, Carla Sinclair, sat down with Kriegel Fellow Brandon Jordan, who works as the Deputy Chief of Staff the New York City Council Member Julie Menin, to talk about it all.
What is your name and role? What neighborhoods do you serve?
My name is Brandon Jordan. I am the Deputy Chief of Staff for Council Member Julie Menin. She represents the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.
Tell me more about what your job entails. What does it look like day-to-day, or week-to-week?
I’m essentially a jack of all trades. Legislation, budget, scheduling, constituent work, you name it, whatever needs help. Whatever direction we need to go in with our very small but mighty team, we get through it. That includes management, as well, supervising several folks.
You have to be ready to answer a question that an office staffer has, that a constituent has, or maybe a bill drafter has to clarify a potential bill before it's introduced broadly. Of course, legislation, budget, and scheduling are my main tasks, but it's government, so you'll be called to do anything, whenever, wherever.
“The New York City Council has been there for decades – it's really fundamental in making sure that in one of the largest cities around the world, an economic powerhouse, things go smoothly.”
Generally, this role is to support the Council Member and to help the district. But it’s also a role to help manage the affairs of New York City. I mean, the New York City Council has been there for decades – it's really fundamental in making sure that in one of the largest cities around the world, an economic powerhouse, things go smoothly. So, you’re managing a district of that City that is the priority of the Council Member as a team of less than 10, and you're supporting a population that’s generally in the six figures.
How did you come to be in public service?
I stumbled into it. Comically enough, I wanted to be an economist when I was younger, then I stumbled into journalism. Then I went to graduate school, then I stumbled into government and, again comically, my first week in government was the first week New York City shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I thought, “I'll be back in two months.” I left a bunch of materials on my desk. I went back October 2021. I was at the Office of Public Advocate at the time. Then I moved on in early 2022 to this position, working in New York City Council. Since then, I've grown a lot, even to the point of working in the New York City Council Union, ALE.
Why did you decide to be a Kriegel Fellow?
One of my amazing friends, Alex Liao, who's currently doing the Fellowship had gotten off a call doing an interview for the Fellowship, and he said, “You should do it.” And I said, “Yes, I'll do it.” My former supervisor at the Public Advocate's Office had also suggested it.
I was also really curious about learning about two things in particular. One, management style. I'm always looking to improve my management style. And then second, is discussing policy with other staffers. It's very interesting—you don't have a lot of organic conversations around policy. It's usually having a meeting here, going to a symposium there, you know, talk here, but you're limited to only other City folks. You don't have those opportunities. Joining Kriegel sounded like it would expose me to more.
How has your experience in this Cohort been so far?
It's great. I come to every session. It’s been great hearing from other folks, understanding what their perspectives are, really using active listening to just figure out their experiences. How it shapes how we approach this or that, and really some new keys to use for our problems.
“It’s been great hearing from other folks, understanding what their perspectives are, really using active listening to just figure out their experiences. How it shapes how we approach this or that, and really some new keys to use for our problems.”
A session that really interested me was “The Art of Negotiation,” which we had late last year. We learned that you should always ask questions to get as much detail as possible. That, to me, struck me in that it really highlighted how important it is to get the full picture. And asking questions is pretty valuable.
What does it mean to have this community of legislative staff members from other offices, both as cohort colleagues and Fellowship alumni?
It’s so important to have a community of staffers from across legislative bodies, not just the Council, because you don't have many opportunities to see folks from the State bodies. When you think of State officials, it's only the name of elected official. It's not really the staff. I'm sure it's the same vice versa when they hear about City officials. The only thing that really connects State and City officials is when your districts overlap or you see them at a local event, but that's it. Here, there's really an opportunity here to get to know each other. Everyone's seated on the same level. It gives us more opportunities to really engage with each other and just hear each other out on how we got here, what we're looking for, and where we want to go next.
“It’s so important to have a community of staffers from across legislative bodies, not just the Council, because you don't have many opportunities to see folks from the State bodies.
Here, there's really an opportunity here to get to know each other. Everyone's seated on the same level. It gives us more opportunities to really engage with each other and just hear each other out on how we got here, what we're looking for, and where we want to go next.”
At the end of the day, New York City and New York State share two words: New York. There's a lot in terms of where they overlap, especially when it comes to decisions made by people who are no longer working in these legislative offices. I was thinking about this when I was reading about Mayor Ed Koch and his decision to revise the City Charter with a Charter Review Commission, the decisions that he made, and how much it impacts my job. The same, of course, is true on the State level. That sort of long-lasting impact really fascinates me—and that applies for us making decisions today, that we’ll impact whoever comes in down the line.
Do you think it’s important to have learning and networking opportunities for public service leaders? Why?
I was born and raised here in New York City. I'm here as a child of immigrants and an alum of the CUNY system. I didn't think they would imagine I would be here. But what that gave to me is that I come in with a very level-headed, guy-from-the-street approach to other folks hearing them out and saying, “all right, how do we get from point A to point B?" It's been amazing. Whether it’s been unionizing through my job, pushing through legislation or budget, or helping folks, it’s amazing to see people benefit. To have this opportunity to grow my skill set and knowledge, particularly through CUNY, is a privilege.
What is something you wish people knew about the folks who work behind the scenes in legislative offices like you?
At the end of the day, we're all doing a job trying to help people. And it's not easy. Whatever you may think of them, they are people. They put in their time, they put in their dedication. Sometimes it's 35-hour weeks, sometimes it's 40, sometimes it's 50, sometimes it's 60. It's a lot of work.
“I really want people to know that staff in legislative offices are very, very critical. They're the spine for the office.”
I really want people to know that staff in legislative offices are very, very critical. They're the spine of the office. And, at least for my office, I really want to make sure that they feel supported, that they're given assistance. It's a demanding job. One day is one issue, the next day is another issue, the next day is another issue. That's tough. Maybe you're a parent, you have childcare needs, maybe you have a parent that you need to care for. It's not easy whatsoever, but they're there to help. They're there to give their constituents support, especially when the world seems on fire. These are the people that have a hose to help put out those fires—sometimes, they may be the smallest of fires, but they're putting out a fire.
Image provided by Brandon Jordan, designed by Carla Sinclair.