I was one of the many constituents attempting to attend the town hall held Thursday at the Luepke Center. We arrived around 4:20 p.m. The doors were scheduled to open at 4:30. When we arrived, the line already looped all the way around the Marshall Center and had trailed onto the greenspace beyond the pavilion where Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez had held outdoor rallies before.
In my view, her staff should have figured out a way to rig a sound system to take the meeting outside. There were just too many people left out who wanted to be heard, and to hear the explanations for the representative’s recent votes, such as on the useless SAVE Act. I also think the article grossly underestimated the size of the crowd who turned up.
Like many who campaigned and voted for Perez this last fall, I have been disappointed with many of her recent votes. I understand that Vancouver is not her only constituency, but without the vote she got in the 49th District, she would not have been elected, and she is in danger of alienating her most reliable group of supporters, as she surely would have known had the meeting been held outside.
