Lori Chavez-DeRemer met with locals on May 3 at the opening of her new district office in Redmond. 

The distance between Redmond and Washington, D.C., got a little smaller May 3 when U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer opened a legislative district office in Hub City.

The office is located north of downtown at 2757 NW 7th Street, Suite D. It is believed to be the first office ever opened in Redmond by a federal representative.

Ben Schimmoller, former legislative aide in Salem and past candidate for both the Oregon House and Redmond mayor, was hired as the district representative to staff the office.

Chavez-DeRemer said opening up in Redmond speaks not just to the city’s location in Central Oregon, but its growing impact on regional politics. She said they considered Bend, but decided that Redmond was the right spot for her sole office east of the Cascades.

“Sometimes small communities are forgotten, and I wanted to recognize Redmond as a real force in my campaign and a real force in the values that I’m bringing forward in our office,” she said.

Schimmoller said the office will prioritize constituent services and help people navigate Veterans Affairs, Social Security, expediting passports and more.

“Anytime you’re dealing with a federal agency and you cannot manage or mitigate or break though … call this office,” said Chavez-DeRemer.

It will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Schimmoller said since it is currently a one-person operation, he recommended constituents call in advance to make an appointment to ensure someone is on site. He noted that they are on the lookout for interns interested in gaining political experience and he encouraged Redmond students to reach out.

To reach the office, email ben.schimmoller@mailhouse.gov or call 971-403-8940.

New to D.C.

Rep. Chavez-DeRemer said there were a few surprises in her first few months in Washington, D.C., as she got used to her new job representing Oregon’s redrawn Congressional District 5, which crosses the Cascades from her backyard in Clackamas County to north Deschutes County. She said that it has been key to forge new connections east of the mountains, one handshake and discussion at a time.

“The people (back in Happy Valley) knew me and know what I was about,” she said. “I had to show people on this side.”

She said she is starting to work on reauthorizing the U.S. Farm Bill, a gargantuan piece of legislation with a roughly $700 billion price tag. She said that Oregon has a lot to gain and lose from the bill, especially the traded sector side of agriculture that roughly $10 billion in business each year.

But Chavez-DeRemer said she knows all eyes on Congress this week will be on a possible showdown over the debt ceiling. She said she voted for Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s plan that passed the House, but looks unlikely to pass the Senate or the muster of President Joe Biden.

Chavez-DeRemer said she does not support the government not paying its debts, but noted that it needed to “rein in spending and change its habits” in order to keep its $31 trillion debt from growing ever larger. She said she’s not in favor of any cuts to Social Security, seniors, or veterans in order to ease the debt load.

Chavez-DeRemer said she anticipates expensive re-election fights in the future of the tightly-split district. But she said the her party has her back and knows how important she is to the razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House.

“I’m the majority maker,” she said.