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Public’s hunger for congressional town halls seems 'insatiable'

Town hall meetings give public chance to be heard

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By Jessica Wehrman, Staff Writer Updated 5:07 PM Sunday, August 23, 2009

WASHINGTON — When the Dayton Tea Party held a town hall meeting on health care last week, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner took a hit from the crowds for not appearing.

The next day, responding to rumors, Dayton Tea Party founder Rob Scott announced that Turner was going to have a “tele-town hall” meeting on Thursday.

That was news to Turner’s staff. A Turner spokesperson said the Centerville Republican plans to hold tele-town hall meetings before Congress reconvenes in September but didn’t have any scheduled last week.

Congress may be out for the rest of the summer, but the public’s hunger for congressional town halls seems insatiable.

Cable news networks have shown round-the-clock footage of lawmakers going toe-to-toe with angry constituents. Many have gone viral on the Internet.

Locally, lawmakers have opted largely for tele-town hall meetings, where they can hook into thousands of registered voters with a single phone call.

U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, held a tele-town hall on health care last week that reached 14,000 voters in seven of the eight counties in his district. Austria said a live town hall could not have drawn as many constituents.

Austria, who holds about two tele-town halls a month, said the meeting was “typical” of others he’s had, with calls ranging from the clearly frustrated who wanted to vent to those who were more “reasonable” in their approach.

“It’s a very important issue right now,” he said. “People are very concerned about the reform and outspoken about it.”

Turner, meanwhile, said he hasn’t felt particular pressure to have town halls this month, but has received more 2,000 emails, letters and calls from constituents expressing their views about health care.

He plans on having a tele-town hall meeting before Congress reconvenes in September.

U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt typically holds live town hall meetings, but she’s held off this month even though demands for such a meeting are up, according to spokesman Bruce Pfaff.

He said she wants to wait until Congress has a proposal — not five different proposals currently wending their way through Congress.

However, Schmidt, R-Loveland, has talked to people about health care reform at the county fairs, at the gym, and at the grocery store, he said. She may hold tele-town halls before Congress reconvenes in September, depending on the status of the legislation.

“She is in touch with her constituents and knows fully where they stand on the issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Dayton Tea Party has organized three community forums, not counting the one it held last week in Dayton, on the health care issue.

Scott said the group decided to set up the forums after hearing public demand for them.

“It’s kind of like our public service,” he said. “People in the Miami Valley want a town hall. They feel no one is on their side in government.”

Upcoming Dayton Tea Party health care forums:

Aug. 25: Dayton Tea Party’s Miami County and Piqua Liberty Groups will be holding a Health Care Forum at the Hance Pavilion (corner of Forest Ave & Lindsey St. in Piqua) at 7:30 p.m.

Aug. 26: Dayton Tea Party’s Kettering/Centerville/Washington Twp./Southwest/Springboro Liberty Groups will be holding a Health Care Forum on Aug. 26 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Presidential Banquet Center, 4548 Presidential Way, Kettering.

Aug. 27: Dayton Tea Party’s Fairborn/Clayton/Englewood/Sugarcreek Liberty Groups will be holding a Health Care Forum from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. at the Hope Hotel and Conference Center, Building 823, Area A, at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn.

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