Letter to the Editor: Where’s Walden?

What we don’t have are answers from our congressional representative, Greg Walden. We have called, emailed, and faxed our questions — and we have not received anything back of substance. We have politely asked him to come to our community and speak to us directly on many occasions. His staff continues to tell us that he plans on doing one town hall in each county per year.

That plan may have worked well in the past, but these are extraordinary times with so many of us in his district more engaged and concerned about what is going on in Washington DC. He did hold a telephone town hall on Feb. 6 but, with 4,000 callers on the line, only ten were able to ask questions.

On Feb. 3, nine groups representing thousands of Walden’s constituents sent him a letter via email, fax, his web site and by certified letter to DC. We politely asked for a town hall in Hood River during the next recess week beginning February 19th.

The letter received absolutely no response from Walden or anyone in his office. During the weeklong recess, he traveled only to Ontario (with about 48 hours notice) for a town hall.

In contrast, during the same recess, Senator Wyden conducted 11 town halls throughout the state to listen to constituents. So, we ask the question “Where’s Walden?” He is inaccessible and unresponsive thus far to his Gorge constituents. Is it because he is so closely aligned with the Trump agenda that he is not willing to listen to or act on the concerns of his constituents?

Kathy Schwartz

The Dalles