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Johnson’s Six-Pack

The office of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) has gone through a personnel revolution, with a half-dozen staff additions and promotions. [IMGCAP(1)]

Rod Hall, 30, recently assumed the role of Johnson’s deputy chief of staff. He has worked for the Congresswoman since 2001, serving as a legislative assistant and district outreach director.

Prior to joining the office, Hall worked as a staff consultant for Ernst & Young in the firm’s Dallas and Chicago offices from 1998 to 2001.

From Shreveport, La., Hall earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Dillard University.

Beth Glenn, 31, joins the office as communications director.

Before becoming lead communicator for Johnson, Glenn worked as a research assistant for Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy Center for New York City Affairs from 2004 to 2006. From 2002 to 2004 she was an editorial writer for the Greensboro News & Record, and from 1998 to 2002 she was a reporter and then an editorial writer for the St. Petersburg Times.

From Kernersville, N.C., Glenn earned her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997 and a master’s degree in public policy and analysis from Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy in 2006.

Rosalyn Kumar, 27, joins the office as director of operations. She will be responsible for running the “entire daily operations in the office” and also will “work on special projects,” she wrote in an e-mail.

The Dallas native, who attended boarding school in India and speaks Malayalam and Tamil fluently, earned her undergraduate degree in international studies and psychology from Southern Methodist University in 2002. She received a law degree from BPP Law School in London in 2005. [IMGCAP(2)]

Ilhaam Jaffer, 27, has been promoted from legislative correspondent, a position she held since May 2006, to legislative assistant.

Jaffer spent the first part of 2006 as an intern for Johnson through late Rep. Mickey Leland’s (D-Texas) Congressional internship program. She also has interned for Houston Mayor Bill White.

While Jaffer claims Los Angeles as her hometown, she was born in Pakistan and has lived a somewhat nomadic existence.

“I was born in Pakistan, but raised in the state of California,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I attended high school in Washington state and pursued my undergrad in the great state of Texas. I am presently working in D.C. and have learned that this constant state of moving has allowed me to adapt to changing environments with ease.”

Jaffer earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from the University of Houston in 2005.

Christopher Crowe, 25, also has earned a promotion. Having served as a staff assistant since May, he will now work as a legislative correspondent and system administrator.

Prior to joining the office, Crowe worked as a special assistant in Rep. Barbara Lee’s (D-Calif.) office during the first part of 2006. In 2005, he was a political intern for Victory Fund.

A 2005 graduate with a political science degree from Eastern Kentucky University, Crowe is from Gamaliel, Ky.

Finally, now working as a staff assistant in the office is Alexander Enriquez, 23.

Before taking on his new position, Enriquez was the central Florida field director for Jim Davis for Governor.

A native of Dallas, Enriquez graduated from Florida State University with a degree in political science in 2004.

On the Gus Bus. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) has added a few staffers to his D.C. office.

John Randall, 27, will serve as the freshman Congressman’s first press secretary.

Prior to coming aboard, Randall served as the director of radio and TV at the National Republican Congressional Committee since 2005. From 2002 to 2005, he worked as an account executive at Edelman public relations. And in an unusual twist for a Hill staffer’s résumé, he also has worked as a prison guard.

A native of Holyoke, Mass., Randall graduated from Hamilton College with a degree in government in 2002.

Serving as legislative counsel in the office is Liz Hittos, 39.

Hittos joined on Bilirakis’ Congressional campaign as the deputy campaign manager in 2005 and stayed on after he was elected. She worked as a partner at Bilirakis Law Group from 1998 to 2006, and she also was a state prosecutor in the Office of the State Attorney of the 6th Judicial Circuit from 1992 to 1998 and a manager at Tiffany Family Restaurant from 1996 until coming to Capitol Hill.

Fluent in Albanian and Greek, Hittos graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in English literature in 1988. The Clearwater, Fla., native earned a law degree from Stetson University in 1991.

Finally, David Peluso, 24, joins Bilirakis’ team as an executive assistant and systems administrator. He will be responsible for scheduling as well as developing and maintaining the office computer system.

Prior to joining the office, he worked as the finance director for Bilirakis’ campaign.

From Clifton, N.J., Peluso graduated from St. Petersburg College in 2004.

It’s Miller’s Time. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Republican staff has a new communications director. Lisa Miller, 35, is moving up, having served as the deputy communications director since 2004.

Prior to joining the committee, Miller worked as an account executive for J. Stokes & Associates from 1999 to 2004. She was a copy editor for the Waco Tribune-Herald and assistant editor of Waco Today from 1993 to 1999. Most importantly by a long shot, Miller wrote in an e-mail that she “also led a one-week publicity trip for Jared Fogle, the Subway Diet Guy, through Northern California and Las Vegas.”

The Houston native earned her undergraduate degree in journalism and foreign service from Baylor University in 1993. She earned a master’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in political science from the same institution in 1998.

Hill, the Climber. Hill Thomas, 29, is joining Rep. John Barrow’s (D-Ga.) staff as a legislative assistant. And in case you were wondering, Hill Climbers did not make an error. Hill is his first name.

“It’s not obvious to everyone that my first name is Hill,” Thomas noted.

Before joining the office, Thomas had been the manager for Congressional affairs at the National Mining Association since 2003. While in college, he wrote for his hometown paper and worked at one of the University of Georgia’s research farms.

From Tennille, Ga., Thomas said that his “home county in Georgia is the kaolin capital of the world,” as if most people on the Hill (no pun intended) didn’t know that already.

Thomas, who is an Eagle Scout, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in agricultural economics.

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