Carole Stark: How can Denham represent us, if he doesn’t want to listen to us?

Recently Congressman Denham was interviewed on power talk radio. When asked if he was currently in district hosting town halls and constituent meetings he said he continued to have an open door policy with the above. He wanted honest discussion about constituent concerns for problem solution. That is simply not true. He has had one town hall and one open Riverbank event where we stood around and threw questions. This was not a format conducive to productive interaction. If you want a meeting with him you have to use an online process. When I followed the process I was informed I had already had my allotted time since I had attended as part of a group meeting. My other four exchanges were with staff. He has been in office for six years and I have had one meeting with him. This is not open door policy but rather a restrictive one. When he is in district, he should structure small group meetings with constituents so we can dialogue in an effective way and they should be advertised . Mobile district meetings are discouraged because they are for casework. Some staff argue instead of listen. Representation means being available and accessible. It means listening.

This story was originally published July 26, 2017 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Carole Stark: How can Denham represent us, if he doesn’t want to listen to us?."