Protesters urge Congressman Mike Turner to host public town halls.

FAIRBORN —While U.S. Rep. Mike Turner spoke to members of the Dayton Defense trade group within the DoubleTree by Hilton Thursday, a crowd of about 40 people outside urged him to speak with constituents in public “town hall” meetings.

“He needs to talk to his constituents,” said Pam Beatty, an Oakwood resident, who picketed on Presidential Drive and Center Park Boulevard. “He’s never held a town hall, and we have questions. I think he owes us some answers.”

Carol Finley, also an Oakwood resident, said she has had good interactions with Turner’s staff.

“But we never hear from Turner,” she added.

In the past, Turner has declined to discuss his stance on hosting town halls.

But in a written statement shared with the Dayton Daily News Wednesday, he said: “People see me all the time. I meet with and speak with local groups and organizations frequently and answer questions. I’m not going to participate with these radical groups who are only interested in promoting themselves and not our community.”

Credit: Bryant Billing

In remarks to the Dayton Defense trade group, Turner said, “When I go to work every morning, I have a file filled with things to do for my community.”

The protest was peaceful. Two Fairborn police SUVs were parked on Presidential, with officers watching the rally. Some 40 people stood at the intersection of Presidential and Center Park, with several more protestors on the “Wright State Way” pedestrian bridge over Interstate 675 behind the DoubleTree.

The bridge protestors laid out a sign for motorists to see: “Talk to us, Turner.”

In late July, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy and Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, both Democrats, stopped in Dayton as part of a national tour, appearing with State Rep. Desiree Tims, D-Dayton.

Frost in Dayton said he and Murphy were spotlighting Republican Congressional leaders who have admonished their senators and representatives to avoid holding town halls.

“People were showing up, people were getting angry, and people were asking hard questions,” Frost said in Dayton.

It’s a common political strategy to urge partisan opponents to have town halls or public meetings when they’re seen to be publicly vulnerable.

“Such scenes of angry constituents confronting lawmakers are nothing new,” the news outlet Politico noted in a recent story. “They were commonplace in 2009 as Democrats pressed forward with a health care overhaul and in 2017 when Republicans sought to undo it.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Cincinnati, held a town hall in Blue Ash in February, with an online event the next day.

Landsman hosts public meetings regularly, said Alexa Helwig, a spokeswoman for the congressman.

“They’re important,” she said. “He recently held events in East Westwood and Bond Hill, and a town hall with seniors in Northside. He has another one coming up in Warren County.”

The Springboro Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Landsman town hall at 115 Wright Station Way at 1 p.m. Sept. 12, according to the chamber web site. The site says the event is free and “open to the public, with a primary focus on business-related issues.”

“I’ve always seen them as essential to doing the job well,” Landsman said in an interview, referring to town hall gatherings. “I don’t how you can do this well without being in constant communication with the people you serve, and there’s a whole host of ways to do that.”

“Obviously, the town halls help,” he added. “All of that is essential to being able to do this the right way.”

Questions about their stances on town halls were sent to representatives of the offices of Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, and Rep. Mike Carey, R-Columbus, whose district includes includes parts of Clark and Miami counties. Neither responded.