ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – A group of Delta County residents is calling on U.S. Representative Jack Bergman to address his constituents’ concerns.
On Thursday, March 6, those citizens will be hosting a town hall in Escanaba. Organizer Teresa Ross says she is disappointed that Bergman did not hold any public events in the area during his recent recess.
“His last—I think he had two—town halls ever were back in 2017, eight years ago,” Ross said. “A group of us decided we would put on our own town hall.”
Town hall attendees will have three minutes to voice their questions and opinions. Bergman has been invited to attend.
“District 1 constituents have a lot of questions and concerns about what’s happening in Washington, D.C., just like the rest of the country,” said Ross. “We’re not getting answers. I think we need to shine a light on our elected officials so that we do get answers.”
WZMQ 19 reached out to Bergman’s office for comment late last week. Shortly after this article was originally posted, Bergman’s Communication Director James Hogge sent WZMQ 19 a statement on the event.
“Since first being elected in 2016, Congressman Bergman and our entire team have worked every single day to listen to constituents and to communicate the Congressman’s point of view and reasoning,” Hogge wrote. “Our office sends thousands of email replies, returns phone calls as quickly as possible, and sends out regular press releases Facebook and X posts, and e-newsletters.
“The Congressman has held town halls, community engagement events, and has had literally thousands upon thousands of in-person meetings with constituents from every walk of life and every political ideology. In fact, when this same group of activists (Indivisible) were campaigning against him in 2017/2018, Rep. Bergman would personally attend meetings at their houses and answer questions and discuss the issues that each of them found important.
“To be perfectly clear, this so-called ‘town hall’ is nothing more than a far-left democrat meeting. It’s not a town hall, it’s a political stunt. The people putting it together never formally invited the Congressman and they scheduled it for a day that he is in session – voting in D.C. This group can rest assured that after this sort of dishonesty and obscene political gamesmanship, our team will be disregarding their demands for the foreseeable future.”
However, Ross says she originally requested a town hall during Bergman’s recess. She says the individuals organizing this week’s event invited him to send staff in his place but did not receive a response.
Hogge’s statement continues, “It’s also important to note that the General is voting exactly how he said he would during the campaign. He has stood by his conservative principles since day one and quite frankly, that’s why he won his latest re-election by over 100,000 votes.
“Our caseworkers across the district have been hard at work and have recovered over $37 million for constituents struggling with the bureaucracy at federal agencies like the VA, Social Security, and the IRS.
“We encourage constituents to reach out to our office, sign up for our regular e-newsletters and press releases, and if they would like a meeting with the Congressman to make a request online at Bergman.House.Gov.”
The Citizens 1st District Town Hall will begin at 7 p.m. at the United Steelworkers Local 21 Union Hall, located at 1201 Sheridan Road. Doors will open at 6 p.m. The union is not a sponsor or an organizer of the event.
