By Jayden Tran, 2026 CLA Intern
The viewfinder of a camera defines what will be in a shot, and what escapes it; you’re taught to omit the colors and subjects that detract from your focal point when photographing. Oftentimes, this means angling your camera slightly to crop out a distraction or removing a distraction in post.
I’ve always viewed politics as sharing this sentiment: promote the beautiful subjects, ignore the ugly distractions. Although rooted in a pragmatic point of view, it seemed realistic after years of studying Ezra Klein’s theories, democracy, and gridlock in the national government. And so, when I walked into my first day at Assemblymember Mark González’s District Office, I wasn’t expecting to be thrust head first into addressing “the ugly.”
Going through a TSA-adjacent security and up the elevator to the tenth floor, I anticipated a receptionist-adjacent role; my friends who have staffed district offices for national political offices often told me that work days were long and boring. Instead, I was met with the Assemblymember’s team immediately mobilizing that Monday to begin identifying resources for local constituents falling victim to the air quality, smoke, and smell of the Lineage Fires, located right in the heart of our district.
Amid their office coordination meetings on managing resource distribution, they tasked myself and a fellow intern, Devon (the current Y&G Youth Governor, a reminder of my failed campaign in 2022…), to field phone calls and manage constituent intake. We established a victims contact list of all district office callers, communicated with local organizations, and noted online requests for support made via website or social media.
This spontaneity became a constant as our office spent three weeks assisting in the distribution effort. From being listed as a dedicated resource for LA’s 311 line to taking many calls outside our constituency, rather than learning through tutorial, I learned through action, quickly familiarizing myself with systems like LCMS while calling constituents. I used these new lessons in combination with skills already developed from prior work: customer service for phone calls; graphic design when making distribution flyers; policy analysis when responding to constituent comments.
My work was filled with many microwaved popcorn breaks, walks to Grand Central Market, and staring at excel sheets. It all came to a head when I was assigned to staff an air purifier distribution event on Tuesday, July 7th in collaboration with Congressman Jimmy Gomez’s office, will.i.am’s I Am Angel foundation, and Proyecto Pastoral. Photographing the distribution, we helped do a final push for air purifiers in Estrada Courts and delivered 200 purifiers to the area.
While I’ve never viewed critical response as “the ugly,” the political world nowadays seems to view community dismay as subjects not worth focusing on. But as a community advocate, I’m acutely aware of the importance of shedding light on community response. Continuing to work with an office constantly on the ground will expose me to both the beautiful subjects and the ugly distractions, a reminder that politics often extends beyond the viewfinder.
