Delahunt’s Chief of Staff to Move On
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 – On Steve Schwadron’s first day on the job he watched Sen. Ted Kennedy announce his candidacy for President of the United States. That was more than 25 years ago when Schwadron worked for the former 10th district Congressman. Gerry Studds, D-Mass.
Since then Schwadron has avoided the hypnotic dazzle of Washington players to become chief of staff for first Studds and, currently, Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass. But Schwadron announced this week that next month he is leaving his Capitol Hill office and the position he has held for almost 20 years.
“It’s a fascinating workplace and, most important, it’s been rewarding to be able to stay so close to issues of importance to the Cape and Islands and to work on those issues in a national arena,” Schwadron said. “It’s a time in my own life when I’d like to explore some new challenges.”
Schwadron, who is 50, will go from public service to public affairs. Along with Jeff Pike, former Chatham fisherman and staff director of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, he will work in a public affairs business overseen by the Washington, D.C., law firm Sher & Blackwell. Mark Forest, who currently manages Delahunt’s Massachusetts offices, will replace Schwadron as chief of staff.
After graduating from Brown University, Schwadron worked as a reporter for almost four years. He wrote for the now defunct Provincetown Advocate, where he says he learned the basic skills and philosophy he still utilizes today.
“Working in weekly papers on the Cape, I carried that kind of worldview here,” Schwadron said. “I think of what we do here in the congressional office as being a variation on that. The formula is the same, the product is different: that idea of being very well rooted locally without being parochial in scope.”
Schwadron, who grew up in Rhode Island and has lived in Hawaii, California and Barnstable, was offered a job with Studds as a liaison to local Cape communities. In 1986, after four years of nightly, year-round law school classes, Schwadron picked up a law degree from Georgetown and a chief of staff position from Studds.
When Studds did not run for reelection in 1996 Schwadron prepared for a job change. But he was surprised when Delahunt, the newly elected congressman, approached him with the offer to remain on staff.
When asked why he accepted the position Schwadron replied simply, “Him.”
“They’re very different people, Studds and Delahunt,” Schwadron said. “I guess I hadn’t considered until that moment how new and fresh it could be by just changing the name on the door.”
But if Schwadron was to stay, so was the rest of the staff, a stipulation Delahunt agreed to.
“Most people want their own stamp on the thing and there’s an ego,” Schwadron said. “That really impressed me; it tells me he’s a guy who knows how to say no.”
Delahunt said Schwadron’s reputation preceded him. “I think it was a wise choice on my part because I had a learning curve,” said Delahunt. But Schwadron and the staff had no learning curve and were able to take leadership roles.
“Not only is he a superb public servant but he’s a dear friend,” Delahunt said. “It’s been a very rewarding relationship in the sense that we’ve worked on some very significant issues that have had a positive impact on the lives of many, many, many people.”
Both Schwadron and Delahunt cited an international adoption treaty and the recent acquisition of 13 million gallons of discounted oil for low income Massachusetts families, as some of the major accomplishments in their nine-year collaboration.
The Capitol dome, the monuments and the historical buildings don’t captivate Schwadron like they do many staffers. But rather it is the proximity to important decisions.
“It’s the fact that you can actually see it, not to mention help shape it right before your eyes,” he said. “It’s not always pretty, it’s not always the outcome that you want . . . but you actually are in the mix, and I guess that’s what gets me.”
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