Several volunteers gathered on the afternoon of August 21, 2009, to each make a single phone call to the member of congress who represents their district in New York. In all, eighteen phone calls were made. No calls were made to any member of congress who represents districts 19 to 29. The purpose of the call was to inquire about the congress members plans to hold a face to face health care town hall meeting before Congress is called back into session next month. Here are the results.
The eighteen phone calls resulted in just three congress members stating they have plans to hold a face to face town hall meeting on health care before September 8. Two members have tentative plans and nine other members are not planning to hold town hall meetings at all. Four members have already had some form of town hall meeting on health care.
The three members planning upcoming town hall meetings on health care are Rep. Gregory Meeks, Rep. Yvette Clarke and Rep. Timothy Bishop. Tentatively holding town halls are Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Nita Lowey. Rep. Joseph Crowley met with constituents one on one and refused to hold an open meeting where dozens of voters could gather to hear his views. Rep. Anthony Weiner, on the other hand, faced his constituents and took on the tough questions during a town hall held earlier this month. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, according to his office, held a tele-town hall meeting earlier this month, as did Rep. Eliot Engel.
The nine congress members, we contacted, who have no plans of holding any town hall meetings as of this writing are Rep. Steve Israel, Rep. Pete King, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, Rep. Gary Ackerman, Rep. Edolphus Towns, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Rep. Charles Rangel and Rep. Jose Serrano. Rep. Michael McMahon's office could not be reached.
Upcoming town hall meetings:
- Rep. Timothy Bishop will hold a town hall meeting on August 27 at Brookhaven Hall located at 1 Independence Hill, Farmingville, New York. Call his Long Island office at (631) 259-8450 for the start time. UPDATE: Brookhaven Hall is canceled. The new location is Sachem High School East, 177 Granny Road, Farmingville, New York.
- Rep. Gregory Meeks will hold a town hall meeting on August 25 at 7pm in Queens. The meeting will be held at York College Performing Arts Center. Call (718) 725-6000 for more details.
- Rep. Yvette Clarke will hold two town hall meetings, both in Brooklyn, with the first on August 31 at 6pm. The meeting will be held at Brooklyn Children's Museum. A second town hall meeting will be held on September 1 at Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church. Call (718) 287-1142 for start times, directions and details. RSVP may be required.
Comments
I'm in district 23--No town hall meetings in our near future???
just went to Bishops website , he has changed the place for his town hall ....the new info is :
BISHOP TO HOLD AUGUST 27 TOWN HALL MEETING
08/13/09
New Location: Sachem High School East, 177 Granny Road, Farmingville, NY
In order to make sure he can hear from as many of his constituents as possible, Congressman Bishop has decided to move this week's Town Hall next door to Sachem High School East, which is located across from the original location, Brookhaven Town Hall. It can be accessed from Granny Road or from Allstate Drive.
Carolyn Mcarthy is too chicken to have a town hall ....she also voted YES on cap and trade . Ditto for Isreal.
These "Do what Obama says" dems need to be voted out of office. These "representitives " are now representing what Obama wants , not what WE THE PEOPLE want. We put them in office , we can show them the door on polling day !
Bishops meeting is on the 27th of august , 2 days from now.
Eliot Engel VOTED FOR:
Iraq War and subsequent funding to this day,
Patriot Act,
bailouts & stimuli (plural),
Commodity Futures Modernization Act (led to finanical crisis),
Food “Safety” Enhancement Act, which will shut down local farmers,
cap and trade (electricity tax);
he SUPPORTS the SECRECY of the Federal Reserve by refusing to support a proper audit (HR 1207).
Call him up and set him straight!
Come 2010, VOTE HIM OUT!!!
Engel correctly says that health care is too expensive, but does not say why. Why is 80% of drug costs because of government overhead. Why do government regulations stifle competition? Why are the industries where the government subsidizes and inflates the currency the most expensive (healthcare, education, housing...). Why are relatively unregulated services, like laser eye and plastic surgery, becoming cheaper? Why is the unregulated tech industry producing more and more affordable computers and cell phones?
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