A man of many hats

Before moving to K Street, Dean Aguillen was a concierge, a tutor, a counselor, and, in the words of one bright-eyed freshman, a babysitter.  

That was one job.

{mosads}His actual title was director of member services for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a position that required constant interaction with members of the caucus and the leadership team.

When the Democratic wave arrived on Capitol Hill after the 2006 midterms, Aguillen helped the freshmen adjust to the ways of Washington.

“Where can I find a house? Where can I go fishing? Where is the best golf course?” were typical questions, he said.

He took requests for committee assignments. “Everybody wants to be on Energy and Commerce or Ways and Means or Appropriations,” he said. And he often delivered unwelcome news: You can’t be on those yet.

Aguillen dealt with not only the fresh faces, but also the wizened miens accustomed to being listened to.

“Politicians are strong-willed,” Aguillen says. But Pelosi believed that “every member is representative of their district.”

His new co-workers at Ogilvy Government Relations refer to his former job by another title: director of the complaint department.

Now a lobbyist, Aguillen has his own complaint common to former staffers: His calls aren’t returned as quickly as they once were. But there is one similarity between his new job and the old one, he says.

“When you are paying someone or are an elected official with a constituency, you feel like your concerns should be addressed,” Aguillen said.

Ogilvy, which was the all-Republican Federalist Group before being bought by the public relations giant, has dozens of clients.

Ogilvy’s lobbying arm reported revenue of $22.7 million last year, placing it sixth on The Hill’s annual income ranking. The revenue total represented a 50 percent increase over the prior year, as the firm went bipartisan, added lobbyists and took on one big new client, Blackstone private equity firm.

Aguillen says everyone can be asked to pitch in for a client, but mentioned Amgen , Monsanto , the Recording Industry Association of America and NASCAR as clients he has worked with.

After six years working for Pelosi, Aguillen decided to move downtown in December 2007. That meant he wouldn’t be limited by the broader revolving-door rules, but he still can’t lobby members of the House leadership for a year.

Aguillen’s interest in politics dates back to high school.

“I was just always one of those kids. I guess somebody might say a geek.”

Texas was on its way red then, but Aguillen’s party affiliation was never in question. He was a Democrat.

“It was ingrained in us at a young age, for folks like us, working-class people in South Texas.”

After graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, in 1995, with a double major in political science and communications, Aguillen went to work in the district office for then-Rep. Jim Chapman (D-Texas).

He later worked on the campaign staff for Max Sandlin (D-Texas), and came with him to Washington. In 1999, Aguillen went to work in the Clinton administration as congressional liaison for the Labor Department. He left as the chief of staff for congressional affairs.

After a couple years off the Hill, including helping run Al Gore’s 2000 campaign operation in Texas, Aguillen accepted an offer to interview with the House minority whip — Nancy Pelosi. He learned firsthand of what later became a widely held view of Pelosi’s persuasive powers.

“She is one of the most convincing people I have ever met in my life,” he says. Aguillen wasn’t sure that he wanted to work on Capitol Hill, but Pelosi asked him, “When are you going to start?” and he couldn’t refuse.

Aguillen says Pelosi was attracted to his experience working with Texas Democrats and the Blue Dog Coalition, whose members are more conservative than Pelosi.

Even then, Aguillen said, Pelosi could see a path to the majority. When it finally arrived, he traveled with new members for an orientation at Harvard University. Gwen Moore, a freshman Democrat from Wisconsin, refers to him as her babysitter.

Paul Hodes, a freshman from New Hampshire, said he learned to value Aguillen’s counsel.

“He’s calm and steady and a really good friend,” Hodes said. “There were a number of times when he took my pickles out of the fire.” Hodes said Aguillen was particularly adept at counseling him on how to manage the personalities within the caucus and the party leadership.

Not all of his advice was followed, he readily admits. Aguillen says Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is now in his third term, likes to tell his new clients that Aguillen warned Meek against switching committee requests. “I told him they [the leadership] don’t like that,” Aguillen says, relating Meek’s story. But the Florida Democrat didn’t pay attention, and after pushing for Appropriations, he decided to pursue Ways and Means, where he now sits.

“He told me he was happy he didn’t pay attention to my advice.”