Letter: Rep. Newhouse falling short in listening to constituents

It is important our elected officials listen and represent our concerns. Representative Newhouse is falling short.

During the recent break, his constituents requested a town hall. His office first indicated security concerns, and later said his schedule was full. Given his lack of response, a group of constituents set up and invited the representative to their own town hall. More than 200 people attended, and at least 60 took the microphone to record questions for the representative. No one from his office identified themselves.

On March 1, an email was issued by his office for a telephone town hall that evening at 6 p.m. I was not invited into the call until 6:15 p.m. Those with questions were placed in a queue, but the representative only took about five questions. Being called 15 minutes late, I was only able to leave my question as a recorded message.

Representative Newhouse needs to do much better making himself available and responsive to his constituents. His behavior during this recess suggests meeting, understanding, and most importantly representing the concerns of his constituents are not priorities. A disappointment at best.

This story was originally published March 19, 2017 at 4:22 AM with the headline "Letter: Rep. Newhouse falling short in listening to constituents."