Town halls, talk back -- Three Democrats, controversial Republican face voters
Three of Washington's Democratic U.S. House members will face voters over the next four days, along with a controversial Republican state legislator frequently absent in Washington, D.C., as part of the Trump transition team at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The state's four Republican members of Congress have avoided face-to-face town meetings, although aides to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., did meet with a crowd of more than 800 constituents in Spokane earlier this week.
U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., dean of the Washington delegation, holds a town hall meeting at 10 a.m., Saturday, at King's Hall, at 2929 S. 27th Avenue, in southeast Seattle. The meeting site can be accessed by Metro bus routes 7,8,9,14,48, and 106.
Smith, on Thursday, called for the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, after Sessions failed when asked to tell his Senate confirmation hearing about a September meeting with Russia's ambassador to the United States.
At the same time on Saturday, U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., and Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland will headline a "community gathering" in the City of Destiny, entitled "March 4 Our Health Care."
The Tacoma event will be held at the Portland Avenue Park, 3,513 Portland Ave. E.
Outspoken, first-term U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., meets with voters at 5:30 on Monday, March 6, at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Avenue on First Hill. Public transit is recommended: Parking in the area is atrocious, and the city's parking rates are a reminder that piracy is not limited to the Straits of Malacca.
Jayapal is on the House Judiciary Committee, whose Democratic members on Thursday called on Sessions to resign.
The most interesting meeting may be at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, at Meridian High School, 194 W. Laurel Road outside Bellingham.
Having just dodged a recall campaign -- a Whatcom County judge rules there were insufficient grounds -- State Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, is meeting with the home folks.
Ericksen has jobs in both Washingtons. The co-chair of Donald Trump's campaign in Washington state has been temporarily put in charge of communications at the EPA . . . insofar as the beleaguered environmental agency is communicating with anyone.
He is also chair of the energy-environment committee in the Washington State Senate, where Ericksen has made news with legislation that would make it a felony crime for protesters to block oil and coal trains.
He has been absent from Olympia, and meetings of his committee, for much of the current session. Ericksen insists, however, that he can do both jobs.
Ericksen is perhaps the state's surliest politician. He has denounced "hatchet jobs" in the press. He has deleted hundreds of critical responses from his Facebook page. Leading -- usually polite -- critics have been blocked from the page.
Ericksen has set down rules for his Saturday morning meetup with the voters.
They must discuss "the direction of our state government," not the $2 billion in budget cuts and 20 percent staff reduction facing the EPA.
No signs will be permitted at the town hall. No umbrella will be allowed. Large bags are verboten, although small purses are permissible. No cheering or booing or shouting will be allowed. Artificial noise makers are verboten.
Three-term U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., is a lot more relaxed, and the state's most accessible member of Congress. He has already held town halls in Tacoma and Bremerton.
Kilmer represents the Olympic Peninsula, a part of the state with character -- and characters. It has liberal enclaves (Port Townsend) and Trump territory (south shore, Lake Quinault). The peninsula expects to see, hear from and talk back to its member of Congress.
On Friday night (tonight), Kilmer meets with voters at the 7th Street Theater in Hoquiam. The town hall runs 5:30 to 7 p.m., the theater is at 313 7th.
Kilmer is back at it on Monday, March 6, with a 5:30 town hall for north Olympic Peninsula constituents. It will be held in the auditorium at Sequim High School.
The town halls take place against secretive Republicans-only drafting of legislation in Washington, D.C., that would replace the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as "Obamacare," which has provided health insurance to 20 million Americans.
By: Joel Connelly
Source: Seattle Pi