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Local protesters meet with Stefanik staffer (update)

Also rally outside her Plattsburgh office

Tri-Lakers rally at Trinity Park in Plattsburgh Friday afternoon, before some of them met with North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik at her Plattsburgh office Friday. (Photo provided — Patricia Martz)

(Editor’s note: This article has been updated with a comment from Tom Flanagin, spokesman for Rep. Elise Stefanik.)

Tri-Lakes progressives are keeping up their full-court press on North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and several small groups met with a liaison of the Republican representative at her Plattsburgh office Friday.

Fewer than 48 hours after she moderated a town hall in Glens Falls, Henrietta Jordan of Keene Valley was one of the locals who met with Joel Wood, a staff member of Stefanik who works out of her Plattsburgh office.

Outside the office, these constituents rallied once again.

“Well, we want clean air, and we want clean streams,” sang the protesters. “We want affordable health care for folks in our town, we want a town hall meeting where we all sit down.”

Around 50 people attended the rally throughout the early afternoon outside of Stefanik’s office at 23 Durkee St. in Plattsburgh, to which some had marched from Trinity Park. Once there, they were greeted by Wood, who allowed them to come inside in small groups of two to four at a time.

The meeting with Wood was a next step in the goal of meeting with Stefanik, for leaders of local progressive groups like Jordan, of the Keene Valley-based Unite the North Country.

Stefanik was not present at her office in Plattsburgh Friday or at the Glens Falls town hall Wednesday. She was unable to attend either event because she was traveling on a congressional delegation trip for new members of the House Intelligence Committee that had been scheduled in early January, Tom Flanagin, the congresswoman’s spokesman, told the Enterprise.

“Congresswoman Stefanik encourages constituents to contact our office and share their opinions, which is why we also proactively visit with constituents across the district at Coffee With Your Congresswoman events, small business visits, farm and school stops, and more,” Flanagin wrote in an email to the Enterprise Friday night. “Last term she made over 500 visits across the district. This is in addition to teletownhalls where we reach tens of thousands of constituents at a time. She will continue to reach out to constituents like this during her second term.”

Jordan and Emily Martz, a co-founder of the Saranac Lake-based progressive group Now What?, were thankful that Stefanik’s office took the time Friday to meet. Jordan, a former Democratic Vermont state representative from 1999 to 2003, described Wood as very personable and said he answered questions and took detailed notes that he said he’d pass along to the congresswoman.

Jordan and Martz also said they were pleased to hear from Wood that Stefanik is opposed to dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency and that she is opposed to HR 610, proposed legislation to distribute federal education funds in the form of vouchers and to repeal nutrition standards for schools.

But Jordan and Martz said they still doubt that Stefanik will meet with constituents like them, in any setting.

“People’s expectations for how an elected representative should respond to them have been raised,” Jordan said. “People have a better understanding of what representative democracy means and the fact that our reps are working for all of us. And in order to do the best possible job, they need to listen and talk. And it can’t be just one sided. They have to get out here and understand what makes our communities tick.”

Martz praised Stefanik for meeting with business and environmental groups in the area, but she was critical of Stefanik’s tele-town hall approach to fielding questions from constituents. Jordan and Martz said they feel the tele-town halls are too random and sudden for constituents to respond accordingly. Both said that when they were only notified that they had been selected for a tele-town hall several weeks ago, it was 10 minutes before the call was about to start.

“I don’t think it’s a great way to communicate with constituents,” Jordan said.

Martz and Jordan were joined Friday by Teresa Cheetham-Palen of Keene and Jen Kazmierczak of Keene Valley, both members of Unite the North Country. Jordan explained that Cheetham-Palen, a former member of the Keene school board, asked Wood about education, Jordan about health care and Kazmierczak about how the congresswoman communicates with constituents. Martz said she planned to ask Wood about several environmental issues but decided she’d rather have a conversation directly with the congresswoman.

“I get that she has limited time and Joel (is) there to talk with constituents — that’s his job,” Martz said. “But if she decides she will be having small group meetings, I would rather have the dialogue with her. I respect there is only so much time she has, but it’s time for a dialogue, time for her to come to us instead of questions going through staffers.

“What we did today felt good,” Jordan added. “I think we were able to send a message, but it’s not as interactive.”

Stefanik and Martz also expressed frustration with how Stefanik described protesters in a Feb. 14 Facebook post. In the wake of several rallies across the North Country, including one Martz helped organize in Lake Placid, Stefanik wrote a 500-plus-word Facebook post explaining how she communicates with constituents while also criticizing some she dubbed “a small number of activists” who “hijack and ambush community events for the sole purpose of political theater.” She’s also said these activists had harassed her staff and raised the possibility of pressing charges. Stefanik did not give details of the harrasments.

Jordan and Martz said they were insulted and disappointed by the post.

“What’s been happening in our region are peaceful rallies, and Glens Falls is the best example of that,” Jordan said. “Groups and individuals coming together and coming to her individually when there are concerns — just wanting to be heard.”

It’s not just Republicans. Vulnerable Dems in Congress also lay low as town hall angst rages.

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