Town halls are often fiery forums where members of the public express concerns to their elected officials, who find themselves having to defend policy positions that are unpopular with many in the room.
Anyone who’s attended such an event in the 1st Congressional District — whether it be Sunday’s community forum with Congressman Lee Zeldin in Northampton or one of the 2009 town hall events featuring his predecessor, Tim Bishop — would expect it to be confrontational.
It started the moment the lights dimmed and continued with nearly every question asked.
A large portion of the audience at Congressman Lee Zeldin’s first town hall-style event wanted to make it clear to their representative that they’re frustrated with his performance. And the congressman, while remaining on a mostly even keel, showed he was willing to dish it back. READ
On Saturday, one New York congressman spent about five hours hosting a pair of town hall meetings in his district. Another took to Facebook to explain why he has no interest in holding such an event.
The two elected officials are both Republicans and, so far, each has voted in line with the political views of President Donald Trump 100 percent of the time. Both have also faced protests from constituents.
Congressman Lee Zeldin has announced he’ll hold a “telephone town hall” Thursday night to provide constituents an opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns to him by phone.