Long to constituent: We don't need no stinkin' town hall meetings

As I noted in a recent Turner Report post, Billy Long aides have said that the Congressman has elected not to hold any traditional town hall meetings, claiming that he doesn't need them since he can reach so many more people through telephone meetings. Of course, what has gone unsaid is that it is much more difficult to screen constituents at a town hall meeting, while it is relatively simple to do so over the telephone.

The congressman's intentions were confirmed with this e-mail sent to a constituent who asked why Long was not holding any town hall meetings:

Thank you for contacting me about holding town hall meetings. I sincerely appreciate the benefit of your views.


America has a long tradition of Constitutional representative government where the people select people, out from the body of the general public, to go to the halls of institutions from the Courthouse to the White House to act as stewards of our local and national affairs in accordance with rule of law. These citizen-officials exercise their limited powers at the consent and pleasure of the public. In order to be responsive to the public it is necessary that our elected officials to listen to the public regularly; own halls are one way in which some representatives attempt to listen to the public.

With the advent of modern technology, we have more options available to us than we did at the beginning of our nation when meetings required expensive, slow, and exhausting travel over non-existent roads using beasts of burden. I have begun to use modern technology to bring together large numbers of citizens to get their views and keep them informed of what is happening inside their government. At my last Tele-Townhall event more than 12,000 individuals in the Seventh District participated in an hour-long event. I hope to repeat this process regularly because I want to be your eyes and your ears in Washington so that you will know exactly what is going on behind the scenes.

However, I understand that even with all our technology, events like the Tele-Townhall system have drawbacks in terms of one on one interaction and lengthy dialogue that can only be done comfortably in close informal settings. I frequently return to the Seventh District whenever the schedule of the Congress permits me to do so and have set aside blocks of time for individual meetings with constituents such as you. If you would like to meet with me individually, please contact my District Office at (417) 889-1800 and schedule a meeting.
Hearing the views of all Missourians gives me the opportunity to better understand how important issues could impact the people of Missouri and the future interests of the nation. For additional information regarding current legislation and my representation of the Seventh District, I invite you to visit my website at http://www.long.house.gov.