Letter: Town hall meeting not open to issues

To the Editor:

I recently attended what was supposed to be a "Town Hall Meeting" conducted by Senator Mae Beavers and Representative Mark Pody at the Senior Center. It was evident from the onset that it was not going to be open to a general discussion of issues. The forum was designed to showcase Beavers and Pody and didn't in any way focus on the interests and concerns of the citizens of Cannon County.

There was a long and protracted presentation of the governor's proposed gasoline tax increase that was hard to follow and all but impossible to understand. The following discussions involved a lot of personal talk about individual county road issues.

When I tried to bring up some other issues...privatization of our state parks...marriage equality...status of children born from in vitro fertilization...presenting bills to control bathroom usage...bills to basically allow running down protestors in cross walks...They were suddenly out of time and had to be someplace else.

Also the time of the meeting was 1:00 pm in the afternoon, which precludes working people from being a part of the process. I asked for a meeting to be scheduled where everyone would have an opportunity to participate, and that didn't go any where either. Communication was encouraged...but I have 3 unanswered e-mails to each Beavers and Pody dating over a month ago with follow-ups to both.

I feel our General Assembly is being sidetracked and overwhelmed with issues such as determining an "Official Rifle" for the state...trying get the Bible as the official book for the state...hymn singing during sessions...etc. We have elected and are paying these people to represent us in the General Assembly...it isn't being done effectively. It seems they are more interested in getting reelected than dealing with issues that effect their constituents.

Fount Bertram

Bradyville