Good luck finding a North Carolina member of congress who’s willing to hold public town hall meetings during the August recess. Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson has the story here.
If you’re a North Carolinian and hoped to offer your two cents at one of these events, you’re probably out of luck. As of Tuesday, based on calls to the office of every member of the state’s congressional delegation and searches of their Web sites, only one had scheduled any public forums in his district during the August recess: 10th District Republican Patrick McHenry, who over the next three weeks is planning a town hall meeting in each of the 10 counties he represents in the House.
Several representatives will make speeches to civic organizations, participate in photo ops at businesses and ballparks, speak with newspaper editorial boards, and make other media appearances (6th District Republican Howard Coble is set to do a live interview, including listener phone calls, this morning at 9:30 on WBAG-AM 1150 in Burlington). Ken Willis, spokesman for 8th District Democrat G.K. Butterfield, told Carolina Journal his boss had tentatively slated a teleconference-style town hall for the first week in September.
But nearing the midway point of one of the most turbulent sessions of Congress in decades, few members of North Carolina’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives have set aside time to meet with constituents in person in open forums.
By the way, I wonder if Rick’s story and this blog could be considered “fishy”?
