A ROOM WITH A CROWD - A Report on Senator Merkley’s Town Hall Meeting, May 7th - By Nan Trout (Posted 05/28/09)
A welcoming crowd met with Senator Jeff Merkley on May 26th for an hour of lively discussion & passionate exchange.
A roomful of people greeted Senator Jeff Merkley at RCC in Medford on Tuesday afternoon, May 26th. Commissioner Dave Gilmour introduced Jeff, who wasted no time getting down to hearing from his constituents - the questions came thick and fast and ranged over a variety of issues.
Health care dominated the conversation for much of the hour. The room was very supportive of the Senator's support of a public insurance plan, while advocates of a single payer sytem pressed their case. Jeff answered that including the choice of a public plan was going to be difficult enough politically, and it was counter-productive to insist on shutting out the for-profit system completely when there were still millions of people reliant on such insurance.
He suggested that the best way to change legislators' minds on this or any issue is a barrage of letters and phone calls, reminding people that form letters are least effective, but personal letters either by post or on a Senator's website will be read and considered. This was a reminder that we need to contact Senator Wyden and press him to join the 28 senators supporting a public option. Jeff also reminded us that health care reform includes a lot more than just the issue of insurance.
Other questions referred to environmental concerns, money for transit systems, credit cards, our banking system now and in the past, and trade agreements. A local landowner was concerned about new definitions of waterways. Jeff mentioned that Oregon received a $75million stimulus grant to revamp and expand street car use in cities. Oregon is home to the only surviving street-car manufacturer in the nation, and this is one way of replacing cars with a vehicle that people actually enjoy using.
The most eloquent plea came from Stacy Bannerman who pleaded for better medical help for returning vets and their families. Ms. Bannerman started The Sanctuary for Veterans and Families, a non-profit initiative that provides advocacy, support, and Sanctuary Weekends for women veterans, wives of veterans and their loved ones.
As the Town Hall came to a close, a crowd of people with more to say clustered around both Jeff and Marc Siegel, his Deputy Communications Director, who was visiting Oregon for the first time. He also introduced Amy Amhrein, his regional coordinator for southern Oregon - who we all remember as the champion campaign director for Peter Buckley, an Ashland School Board Member, and past director of LCV.