Press release
(Alexander, NY) More than 200 Western New Yorkers attended a Town Hall Meeting organized by constituent activists after repeated refusals by Congressman Chris Collins to conduct a public town hall in the district. Despite unrelenting requests for a town hall meeting through his website, email, phone calls and the “Where’s Chris Collins?” billboard campaign, Rep. Collins has stated that he “never will hold a town hall.” Although invited to the event, Collins did not respond to the invitation. Callers to his office inquiring about his attendance were told that his office was unaware of the invitation, despite video recording of the invitation’s delivery.
“It’s regrettable that Mr. Collins continues to ignore the calls from his constituents to engage with them in a public town hall meeting. The citizens of the 27th deserve a forum to discuss their concerns. He wouldn’t do the right thing and hold a town hall, so we did it for him,” said Michelle Schoeneman, a constituent of Collins and representative of Citizens Against Collins.
Anticipating the congressman’s absence, organizers arranged for a panel of policy experts from a number of areas, including the fields of public health, immigration, education and the environment. Ginine Capozzi owns her own consulting company and spoke on the panel as small business policy expert. “If people can’t be certain their pre-existing conditions will be covered affordably and that insurance markets are stable, they are not going to leave traditional employment, start their own businesses, and become job creators in the new economy,” said Capozzi, expressing her concern that Rep. Collins’s support for the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act would stifle entrepreneurship.
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In addition to being critical of Rep. Collins for being inaccessible to his constituents, town hall attendees were also upset about the role the Congressman has played in defending the Trump administration. Collins has been extremely vocal in numerous national television appearances defending the Trump administration’s refugee and Muslim ban and its plans to build a wall along the Mexico border, while deflecting attention away from the administration’s troubling ties to Russia and stonewalling efforts to investigate them.
Town hall attendees asked questions and displayed signs demonstrating concern about numerous issues, including the proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act, rollbacks of environmental protections and possible cuts to Medicaid, among many others.
“If Mr. Collins were here, I would be asking him about his voting record on Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights. He sponsors and votes for legislation curtailing women’s reproductive choices, yet he is strangely silent on this topic publicly. Perhaps because he is hesitant to advertise his extremist views against something that 70% of Americans support?” remarked Renée Sutton, a constituent of Collins’s and a member of Indivisible NY 27th.
The Town Hall was organized and co-sponsored by GLOW Progressives, WNY Peace Center, Buffalo Resists, Sister District for WNY, Indivisible NY 27th, Turning Election Emotion Into Action, ACTion Buffalo, and Citizens Against Collins.