Thompson afraid to meet constituents

In the April 13th edition of the CDT, Terrence Guay accuses Rep. Glenn Thompson of hypocrisy. That is a strong accusation.

Accordingly, it is important that we consider the evidence. It shows that Thompson introduced a small-bore piece of legislation designed to partially fix a much larger environmental problem that he was instrumental in creating. Guay’s characterization is spot-on. Thompson is a hypocrite.

Is he, in addition, something else? Consider the evidence. I called Thompson’s offices throughout January, urging him to make himself available in a town hall meeting. I was not the only one of his constituents to make this request. On Feb. 25, a town hall meeting was held, which Thompson declined to attend because he didn’t want to face his “opponents” (his choice of words).

When I called subsequently, staffers told me that our representative would prefer a one-on-one meeting, so I tried to schedule one of those. Patty Alberth, district scheduler, promised a meeting in April, but hasn’t yet contacted me.

It appears that our congressman is afraid to meet his constituents, to answer questions face-to-face in real time, and that he is using his staff to delay and obfuscate.

What should we call a representative who lacks the gumption to meet with the people he is supposed to represent?

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Thompson afraid to meet constituents."