{"id":1051,"date":"2017-04-22T18:35:55","date_gmt":"2017-04-22T22:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=1051"},"modified":"2017-04-22T18:35:55","modified_gmt":"2017-04-22T22:35:55","slug":"alexanderin-face-of-collinss-refusals-to-meet-constituents-hold-town-hall-without-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2017\/04\/22\/alexanderin-face-of-collinss-refusals-to-meet-constituents-hold-town-hall-without-him\/","title":{"rendered":"ALEXANDER\/In face of Collins\u2019s refusals to meet, constituents hold Town Hall without him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2T6ILlXUoGc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Press release<\/p>\n<p>(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 \u201cWhere\u2019s Chris Collins?\u201d billboard campaign, Rep. Collins has stated that he \u201cnever will hold a town hall.\u201d 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\u2019s delivery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s 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\u2019t do the right thing and hold a town hall, so we did it for him,\u201d said Michelle Schoeneman, a constituent of Collins and representative of Citizens Against Collins.<\/p>\n<p>Anticipating the congressman\u2019s 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. \u201cIf people can\u2019t 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,\u201d said Capozzi, expressing her concern that Rep. Collins\u2019s support for the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act would stifle entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s refugee and Muslim ban and its plans to build a wall along the Mexico border, while deflecting attention away from the administration\u2019s troubling ties to Russia and stonewalling efforts to investigate them.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf 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\u2019s 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?\u201d remarked Ren\u00e9e Sutton, a constituent of Collins\u2019s and a member of Indivisible NY 27th.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 \u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"continue-reading-button\"> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2017\/04\/22\/alexanderin-face-of-collinss-refusals-to-meet-constituents-hold-town-hall-without-him\/\">Continue reading<i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[53],"tags":[152,284,285],"class_list":["post-1051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alexander","tag-chris-collins","tag-ny-27","tag-town-hall"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-gX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68716,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/05\/hawley-announces-town-hall-schedule-in-genesee-and-monroe-counties\/","url_meta":{"origin":1051,"position":0},"title":"Hawley announces Town Hall schedule in Genesee and Monroe Counties","author":"aka","date":"October 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) is hosting three town hall events in Monroe and Genesee Counties on Saturday, October 11. Hawley will take the time to meet with constituents and discuss the issues that matter to them the most. These events will give the community the opportunity to let\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Genesee County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3629,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2018\/02\/16\/wny-turn-27-blue-endorses-nate-mcmurray-for-congress\/","url_meta":{"origin":1051,"position":1},"title":"WNY\/Turn 27 Blue endorses Nate McMurray for Congress","author":"aka","date":"February 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Press Release Turn 27 Blue proudly endorses Nate McMurray for Congress. For the first time in a generation, Democratic leaders, who normally endorse, have joined ranks with grassroots activists to make a strong endorsement in this year\u2019s congressional race. We believe that Nate has what it takes to represent the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Nate McMurray\"","block_context":{"text":"Nate McMurray","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/tag\/nate-mcmurray\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/nate.jpg?fit=1179%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/nate.jpg?fit=1179%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/nate.jpg?fit=1179%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/nate.jpg?fit=1179%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/nate.jpg?fit=1179%2C1135&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78085,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/orleans-county-assemblyman-steve-hawley-to-host-town-hall-meetings-in-barre-clarendon-murray-holley-and-kendall-on-aug-8th\/","url_meta":{"origin":1051,"position":2},"title":"ORLEANS COUNTY\/Assemblyman Steve Hawley to host Town Hall Meetings in Barre, Clarendon, Murray, Holley and Kendall on Aug. 8th","author":"aka","date":"August 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) will host three town hall meetings on Saturday, Aug. 8, providing residents with an opportunity to receive updates on state and local issues, ask questions and share their concerns. \u201cOne of the best parts of representing our communities is having the opportunity to meet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barre","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/barre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/VNS.jpg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63755,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/genesee-county-concerned-citizens-of-ny-24-hold-town-hall-in-batavia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1051,"position":3},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Concerned Citizens of NY 24 hold Town Hall in Batavia","author":"aka","date":"April 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Congresswoman Claudia Tenney's cardboard cutout remained silent during a GLOW Region Community Town Hall at the ARC GLOW Community Center on Wednesday night. The congressional representative did not respond to an invitation to attend the event or send a representative. The 280 attendees listened to representatives from the education area,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Batavia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250415_192604-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250415_192604-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250415_192604-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250415_192604-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20250415_192604-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78247,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/orleans-county-hawley-to-host-town-hall-meetings-in-barre-clarendon-murray-holley-and-kendall-on-aug-8th\/","url_meta":{"origin":1051,"position":4},"title":"ORLEANS COUNTY\/Hawley to host Town Hall Meetings in Barre, Clarendon, Murray, Holley and Kendall on Aug. 8th","author":"aka","date":"August 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) will host three town hall meetings on Saturday, Aug. 8, providing residents with an opportunity to receive updates on state and local issues, ask questions and share their concerns. \u201cOne of the best parts of representing our communities is having the opportunity to meet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Barre&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Barre","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/barre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":555,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2017\/02\/11\/congressman-collins-visits-town-of-batavia-fire-department-to-push-for-a-firefighter-cancer-registry\/","url_meta":{"origin":1051,"position":5},"title":"Congressman Collins visits Town of Batavia Fire Department to push for a Firefighter Cancer Registry","author":"aka","date":"February 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release Congressman Collins and Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) recently introduced this bipartisan legislation that would authorize $2,500,000 in federal funds from FY2018 through FY2022 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC would utilize these funds to create a national cancer registry to collect data\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Batavia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/20170211_1109020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/20170211_1109020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/20170211_1109020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/20170211_1109020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/20170211_1109020.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1052,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}