Just Another Week

I’ve covered hundreds of meetings and hearings throughout my time, but one that stands out came just before the pandemic when former Congressman Ron Kind came to Whitehall to answer questions from the public. 

Of course, Kind had some ideas he wanted to sell since the top priority for most politicians is simply to keep their jobs. But the meat of the session was him taking questions from members of the public. Those inquiries ranged from questions about how the Coronavirus could impact the area (not believed to be significant at the time) to Kind’s vote to impeach President Donald Trump. 

Without going back through my notes, I don’t recall every comment that was made or every topic that was discussed. The vote to impeach, however, was something that had quite a few attendees hot under the collar and they let Kind know their thoughts.

That’s how it should be.

If citizens aren’t happy about something, the elected official should have to hear about it. I don’t recall if Trempealeau County citizens have had such an opportunity since then.

Last week U.S. Senator Ron Johnson sent a staff member to hear comments from the public. My guess is the staffer heard more than they expected, but it’s certainly worth questioning if any of the comments will make their way back to Johnson. Even if they do, how much weight could they possibly carry?  

It’s certainly fair to wonder how much of sending a staffer out is just to pretend that they’re listening to the public. Johnson’s office didn’t send out a notification of the meeting until it was too late to be published in the newspaper. 

When they did finally send out a notice, it said that members of the media were prohibited from attending. Johnson’s office also prohibited any recording devices from attendees. While sold as a restriction to protect constituents, I see it as a way to avoid accountability and pretend the complaints never existed — maybe that’s just me being a conspiracy theorist. In any case, it was a public meeting in a public meeting, therefore, the press should be allowed to attend. I’ll add that several members of the public asked that a reporter be in attendance. 

I don’t feel bad for the staffer, she surely knew what she signed up for and she collects taxpayer dollars too. But I can’t help but think it is the elected official who should have to hear the angst in the voices of the people they are elected to represent. Elected representatives should have to see the frustration on their faces and realize the stress their decisions can cause citizens. How can one accurately represent people they never meet?

There have been many instances in which elected officials have picked their spots to meet with people — particularly businesses or clubs who usually align with the politics of the elected official. Sometimes they meet with other local government officials, but it’s rare to see an elected official actually meet with members of the public. 

That should change. I call on all elected officials to be more accountable to the people they represent. I would like to see state representatives and state senators hold public hearings at least twice a year and congressmen at least once a year. I don’t expect U.S. Senators like Johnson or Tammy Baldwin to meet the public as often, but they should at least a couple of times in their terms.

I don’t think requesting elected officials to face the people they represent is too big of an ask.