San Diego- On June 6, Scott Peters held a town hall. This event was set to address local issues and connect Congressman Peters to his constituents and give them a chance to have their concerns heard, but this was not the case.
Instead, Congressman Peters showed his true cowardice with the town hall. He chose which questions he would and would not answer from the audience. Peters’ chief of staff hand-picked from questions written on index cards from the crowd and without hearing concerns directly from his constituents, his chief of staff coddled him by softening the questions.
The congressman did take a stance against the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Peters acknowledges the problems with the Green New Deal, stating that not everyone deserves a guaranteed job or free college tuition.
The constituents in attendance had genuine issues that they wanted Peters to address and instead had their concerns ignored or changed at the behalf of Peters’ staff. With the crowd being made up of many different activist groups, they were not satisfied with having their questions vetted and the consequent answers being vague and unsatisfactory, which lead to the booing of Congressman Peters.
After being booed by the crowd, mostly from the Medicare for All activists, Peters avoided addressing the real issue. Instead, Peters asked for another meeting behind closed doors, where he won’t be subjected to public scrutiny.
For a town hall to be meaningful, the crowd must have their voice heard. For Congressman Peters to take that away from his constituents is to take away the entire point of the town hall, and negate the genuine concerns of his constituents. Several people in attendance left in disappointment at the end of the town hall, as the crowd was left with more questions than answers.
