By Jane Peck
Lanesboro, MN
When it is given by our U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, I found this out at his late January Spring Valley “lecture” for Fillmore County. A “town hall” means a public well-known gathering place that has been advertised to the town. A “meeting” is a gathering to exchange and discuss ideas. None of those things happened. I had hopes of sharing concerns with our representative who is elected to carry those concerns to Washington. None of that happened either.
With no public advertising for the event and no signage, the only people who found it were in political circles on both sides. -No “town” nor “public.” It was located in an ambulance building outside of town on a gravel road that only a resident of Spring Valley might know, not the whole county. Only a privileged few knew in advance of the meeting.
Citizen involvement was limited to leaving a written question for Hagedorn in the hopes it might be chosen. We were all instructed that there would be no discussion allowed. This was to be a one-way lecture and not a meeting at all! There was no gathering of public concerns to take to Washington or “representing.”
Why would one in his position do this? The only answer can be that his is afraid to face any opposition by citizens. That is a complete failure to represent all the citizens of Congressional District 1. I attended several of former Rep. Tim Walz’s town hall meetings which included lively discussion by citizens on both sides of each Q and A. We were all enriched and Mr. Walz had a deeper understanding of how to represent us. We deserve far better representation than Hagedorn’s lack of courage or skills can provide. His answers parroted Mr. Trump, displayed the common Republican fear that he might be blackballed by Trump and the party if he thinks for himself. More fear!
Tim Walz has gone on to bigger and better things, but we have an opportunity for an open-minded and courageous U.S. Representative in Dan Feehan. He showed courage in active duty service in the Mid-east. He has a teaching background like Tim Walz. And he listens!