Missoula Town Hall
Last night (3.17.25) I felt hopeful for the first time in months! WHY? Missoula held a town hall at the public library. Senators Daines and Sheehy and Representative ZInke were no shows, despite being invited and even being given the option of sending aids. But, the turn out of concerned voters was amazing. It reminded me that Montanans do care!
Many pertinent questions were asked of the cardboard heads sitting in lieu of our actually representatives! And it was filmed by MCAT so will be available for others to see. Here are a few of the questions they were asked (paraphrased):
What are you going to do about the research money that has been taken away from the University of Montana?
What are you going to do to restore National Park jobs before summer hits give that our national parks are a $50+billion dollar industry and tourism (mostly because of the parks) brings $5.45 billion into Montana alone?
How do you plan to protect Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid especially given that in some counties more than 40% of the residents depend on medicaid and more than 20% rely on Social security and medicare?
How are you planning to protect students with disabilities when this administration guts the Dept. of Education?
What are you doing to make sure veterans get the services they are owed from this country–for the service they have already given?
How are you going to fix the mess this administration’s tariffs and USAID cuts are causing for Montana farmers?
Because we were on a strict time schedule not all the questioners has a chance to speak. The questions we didn’t get to were written down so they too could be sent to Daines, Sheehy, and Zinke in Washington. I’ve been asking similar questions of my representatives whenever I see them (or rather their staff) post on social media. Like the no shows at the library my questions are never answered on their posts and honestly, I was beginning to feel discouraged. The Town Hall last night reminded me that I’m not alone. It also provided me with some ways I can connect with people in the future.
I attended the Town Hall with my son. His age demographic was definitely in the minority. But, chatting with him afterward, he came up with a few ideas right off the top of his head to help the gray hairs connect better with younger voters! That conversation only fueled my excitement!
This journey is just beginning. The hermit that I am has made contact. Now, I just need to keep pressing in.