That week I had an appointment with a prospect for the Chief of Staff position on Monday after my weekend back in Hereford. For staff I had to start with my Chief of Staff. He, or she, runs the operation, and is critical. I was more than a bit clueless with this. Back when we started the Buckman Group, Jake brought his secretary with him, and that was how we started the staffing. In this case, I didn’t know anybody. I had talked to Newt Gingrich, the Minority Whip, during one of the orientation sessions, and he gave me the name and number for a guy named Chuck Hanson. Chuck had been a Deputy Chief of Staff for a Congressman who had just lost his job, and seemed like he could step up to being Chief of Staff. I would start there.
I met the man and he seemed qualified, so I put him on my staff. We decided on the most critical jobs — Legislative Director, Executive Assistant, and a Constituent Services Director. The Legislative Director and the Constituent Services Director would propose several people of their own, who I would then meet and hire, to handle legislation and deal with the people back in the Maryland Ninth. Cheryl would be the Field Representative back in the district, and would become a government employee. My Press Secretary I would hire through the campaign office, and he wouldn’t be a Federal employee, saving a slot for somebody else. Most everybody was involved in constituent services. What couldn’t be handled back at the Field Office would need to be sorted out with the Washington professionals who were used to navigating the impossibly large Washington bureaucracy. At that point Chuck gave me a shopping list for staff and turned me loose. He would be looking as well.
My first stop was to see my fellow Republican Congressmen from the great state of Maryland, Helen Bentley (Maryland 2nd) and Connie Morella (Maryland 8th), preferably before Wayne Gilchrest (Maryland 1st) got to them. Wayne was a freshman like myself. I was only partially successful in this. I met Helen while Wayne was meeting Connie, and we ran into each other rushing off to meet the other. We had a laugh at this and resolved to meet for lunch later in the morning. From what I learned from Chuck, almost every Congressman has some junior staffers who can be convinced to move to a new office, especially if a promotion is involved. The Congressman losing the junior staffer also has some incentives to allow this. First, there’s a quid pro quo involved — you get my junior assistant flunkie, I get your vote on a few bills. Secondly, they now have a blank spot on their own staff they can fill, perhaps with the offspring of somebody powerful or wealthy or connected. Finally, maybe they take this as an opportunity to give a glowing recommendation to the local village idiot and pawn him off on the unsuspecting newbie, who is now no longer their headache, but your headache. Hey, I’m just saying, it happens!
All in all, the entire exercise reminded me of pre-Civil War slave trading, only it wasn’t as dignified.
At lunch, Wayne and I had a very nice meal, got to know each other, and discussed our new staff members. This was his first elected office, also, although it was his second run for office. Nice fellow, used to teach high school. He offered to pick up the check, and I agreed, making him promise to let me pay when we took our wives to dinner some night. Then we split up, to keep hunting for staff. We both had the makings of a staff by the end of the week.
I also spent a day with Jacqueline Staymann-Huestis and looked at homes. It’s a good thing I’m rich! We found a nice place in Massachusetts Avenue Heights on 30th Street, which would ‘only’ set me back about $2 million. What a bargain! Still, it had a fair sized back yard to let the kids and dog run around in, six bedrooms and baths, and was large enough to have a gigantic formal foyer, formal living room, banquet-size formal dining room, den/library/office, and a designer kitchen with a breakfast nook. It was actually quite a bit larger than our house in Hereford. If I amounted to anything in the House, it would be perfect for entertaining and home office space. I gave Jacqueline a tentative approval on the property, but told her I would need to bring my wife back in a week to look at it. She commented that homes of this quality wouldn’t last long. I told her I’d chance it; there were very few people moving to Washington who could afford a home with that price tag. I smiled and wished her luck moving it in the next week or so.
I had booked the suite at the L’Enfant Plaza for the time between the election and the opening of the 102nd Congress. By then I figured I would be able to find a house and get a start on furniture and what not. Marilyn brought the kids down the following weekend and they gave the 30th Street house their blessing, and I gave Jacqueline a significant check. She then asked, “Have you chosen a designer yet?”
“A designer?” I asked. I looked over at Marilyn, and she seemed as clueless as me.
“Yes, to coordinate your décor and space, of course.”
“Oh, like an interior decorator?” asked Marilyn.
“Something like that,” she replied.
“Well, my Aunt Peg offered to let me have the furniture in the basement until I could cash my first paycheck and get over to IKEA. Still, I guess we could get a designer. What do you think, honey?” I asked Marilyn.
“Will you behave!? You’re as bad as the kids!” She turned to Jacqueline and said, “Never mind him. Do you know a decorator?”
The woman dug a business card out of her briefcase and passed it along. I gave her John’s business card, and also one for Andrea. Andrea had agreed to review everything with John, to make sure it was all okay. I wanted a quick closing, which should make everybody happy. We retrieved the kids from the back yard, along with Dum-Dum, and loaded them back up. We drove around the neighborhood a bit, and then we took the kids home. I really needed to look into a better method of commuting. This took two hours each way, and was not realistic.
The solution to this presented itself in mid-December. I made an appointment to talk to Lloyd Jarrett of Executive Charters and drove out to see him at the Westminster Airport. “Carl, what’s up? By the way, congrats on winning the election. I would have voted for you, but I actually live down below Reisterstown.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the thought. That’s sort of why I’m here, actually, in a roundabout fashion,” I replied.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. We’re still living here, over in Hereford, and it’s crazy to drive back and forth. What I was wondering is, well, what if I buy a helo and commute? Can I do that?”
He blinked in surprise, but shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, sure, it can be done. When did you get a pilot’s license?”
It was my turn to look surprised. “No, no, not me! I mean, I’d buy the helo and base it either here or there, and go back and forth as the passenger, like a limo, sort of.”
Lloyd looked at me curiously. “Carl, do you have any idea what that would involve? This would not be cheap!”
“Tell me.”
“Well, there’s the chopper itself. A new Jet Ranger, which would do the trick nicely, will probably run you close to a mill on its own. Then you’ll need a pilot and you’ll need a mechanic, because helicopters break down real fucking easy! You’ve got to park it someplace, which means you’ll need to pay pad fees and hangar rental, probably both here and there. Fuel and parts… Carl, you have to be looking at close to a million or two to set this up, and at least a million a year to keep it going.”
I nodded to myself. I could afford that. “What about airplanes? What would a G-3 cost me?”
He stared in disbelief. “A Gulfstream III to commute between here and Washington?! That’s crazy!”
I smiled and nodded. “No, that’s crazy! I agree! No, I’m just curious, how much would that run?”