Editorial - A Telephone Town Hall Meeting Is NOT A Real Town Hall Meeting

Listened in on Congressman Lee Zeldin’s Telephone Town Hall meeting last night. It was not democracy at its finest. A town hall meeting is an opportunity for the elected to give a brief overview of what they are working on and to bring people together. Town hall meetings provide the public an opportunity to ask questions and to hear what their neighbors are concerned about. Town hall meetings are about dialogue.  Some town hall meetings are more controversial than others. When people take the time to attend a meeting it is because they want to discuss something or learn something regarding an issue they are passionate about.  

A Telephone Town Hall meeting is sterile - there is no excitement and there is little passion. Last night’s meeting hosted by Congressman Zeldin was no exception. The meeting, which lasted about an hour starting close to 7:15 and ending at 8:15, was boring. No doubt the Congressman wanted it that way and considers it a reasonable forum for him to speak with constituents. 

Despite there being 9,000 plus people who participated in the meeting (according to Congressman Zeldin’s spokesperson Jennifer DiSiena) and despite Congressman Zeldin offering people the opportunity to ask a question by pressing *3, only twelve questions were addressed and there was no follow-up question from the audience.  In addition to the twelve questions, the Congressman asked people to respond to five benign poll questions. 

Callers were asked their questions in advance of speaking with the Congressman. Online comments after the meeting indicate that some callers were left dangling, waiting on the phone with no indication that their call would lead to a conversation with the Congressman. 

Many left the call early. Not much passion.

For his part Congressman Zeldin answered the questions presented to him (sometimes longwinded) without follow-up from people who may not have been accepting his comments as an answer to the question. The Congressman talked of his support for the environment and defended his vote to allow companies to degrade the waterways in coal country. His defense was that an industry was involved and jobs were being lost. If this was a true town hall meeting someone would have jumped on it and perhaps questioned the Congressman on how diluting protection of water and the environment a bona fide health and safety issue is negotiable.  Perhaps there would have been a question about Scott Pruitt becoming the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt is a staunch opponent of the EPA’s agenda having sued the EPA fourteen times. Perhaps a questioner might have asked about Scott Pruitt’s relationship with the fossil fuel industry or perhaps his desire to block the EPA’s “Clean Power Plan and Waters of the United States” rule.

There were questions about President Trump’s tax returns, transgender bathroom use, VA, ACA and more that would have benefitted from additional information gathered through public questioning.

We will never know if those questions would have been asked because the Telephone Town Hall was not a true town hall meeting. It was at best an appeasement of the masses who expect a town hall meeting. I did my job, I hosted a public event and I am always available for questions. Really?!

No, Congressman Zeldin, a Telephone Town Hall meeting is not the same as a Town Hall meeting which you are very capable of hosting. Many of your colleagues are hosting meetings. I get it that sometimes they’re pleasant and some time not so much. Not hosting a REAL Town Hall meeting is giving up on yourself, its sending a message that you are unable or unprepared to explain and yes defend your position.

Congressman Zeldin, it’s time for you to host a Town Hall meeting your constituents are entitled to one. For better or worse do your job!

Pat

Comments

[sandy]

I was one who gave up on the "SO CALLED" telephone town hall meeting after seeing there was no room for debate or follow up discussion. It was a waste of everyone's time as far as I am concerned. Did anyone learn anything? Or were you satisfied now by Zeldin's answers? Call me a doubter, but 9000+ participants? Really? And if there were really 9000, can you imagine if just 10% had been given the opportunity to show up and have a real discussion with our elected official. I would have gone... I wanted that opportunity.

For someone who defended us in the military, you sure could have stood up for the positions you hold as our representative. Do your job and have a real town hall meeting and be ready for some hard questions with some specific answers. Be ready to consider what you hear from your constituents and go back to Washington and do your job. Remember that you need us to keep your job.

AND ZELDIN CONSTITUENTS, REMEMBER THIS "SO CALLED" TOWN HALL MEETING WHEN IT COMES TIME TO KEEP HIM IN THIS JOB. WE MAY NOT ALL AGREE ON THE ISSUES, BUT REMEMBER ON ELECTION DAY IF ZELDIN ISN'T EVEN WILLING TO LISTEN, FIRE HIM!

[Ruth Cohen]

Yesterday I attended Lee Zeldin's Q&A in Farmingville where Jon Oliver supposedly read the questions as written, but rephrased them as soft balls, which, even then, Zeldin had a hard time answering. He failed to adequately address most questions, and went off on irrelevant, time-wasting tangents. The public was not allowed any follow-up.

I had submitted a question about the EPA. When Oliver "read" a question about the EPA, there was no polite way to demur because there was no give-and-take between Zeldin and the public, so I called out that my name was Ruth Cohen, and that I wanted my question read exactly as written. The moderator said it was not my question, and Zeldin babbled around, saying nothing.

When Oliver did arrive at my question, he, again, edited it. I had to call out twice that I wanted it read exactly as written. When I called out a third time, he grudgingly did me the favor of reading my question: "In light of your support for the Trump agenda, how do you reconcile your concern for Long Island's environment with Trump's evisceration of the EPA?"

Zeldin gave a blank look, said he stood by his earlier circuitous and irrelevant comment, and REFUSED TO ANSWER.

This is a Representative? He's running from the voters, not representing them.

[Alexander]

Representative Peter King also refuses to meet his constituents in a real town hall. He "hosted" a similar debacle lat month, fielding such tough questions as "How can we show our support for our President?" and "we need to support our police!".
Of course, Mr. King consistently refuses to give his position on volatile issues. He STILL hasn't declared where he stands on the budget, and he never did state a position on the Trump health bill.
Politics as usual, i guess. The "don't take chances" kind.

[Mary Caffrey]

Long Islanders are well aware of how fragile our waterways are to pollutants.
Commercial fishing has been hit hard by our heavily polluted waterways. Nitrogen emissions
are entering our drinking water. As Long Islanders we need to hold our elected officials
accountable to support the EPA and greater regulations along with supporting our
government agencies DEC and US Fish and Wildlife that promote protecting our fragile
eco system. Sadly Zeldin is NOT supporting Long Island. He is in lock step with Trump's
plan to eviscerate the EPA.
Let's stand together whether you are Democrat, Republican, Independent or not affiliated to
demand our elected officials represent the needs of Long Island not a large energy company
who is paying off our officials .
Let's keep the pressure on our officials "Long Island First"