By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
After repeated requests for a town hall to hear from constituents, Congressman Bob Latta said he has no intention of holding a town hall – nor does he believe such events would be a true reflection of people in his district.
“At this time, I will not provide a platform for orchestrated disruptions to create media spectacles,” Latta, R-Bowling Green, stated in an email to BG Independent News on Tuesday.
Instead, Latta said he would continue his practice of holding “courthouse conferences” to talk with constituents one-on-one. Repeated requests to his office have gone unanswered about when the last such “conference” was held in Wood County.
Wood County isn’t the only part of the Fifth Congressional District to get the cold shoulder.
Last week in Norwalk, nearly 200 people attended a town hall meeting, sponsored by a local constituent group. The event was slated to be a town hall with Latta, but he failed to answer the group’s invitations.
So instead, the group formed a panel of local experts on topics of concern about the government. Most of the questions concerned the fear of ramifications from proposed federal budget cuts, loss of Social Security benefits, potential defunding of veterans benefits, cuts to several agricultural programs, and immigration issues.
Latta’s resistance to answering constituent questions goes further than refusing to attend a town hall. BG Independent News’ requests for an interview with Latta have also gone unanswered. When approached after a recent economic development meeting in Bowling Green, Latta said he is very busy, and interviews need to be scheduled with his D.C. office. Multiple calls and emails on the topic have failed to yield an appointment.
In Bowling Green, the League of Women Voters issued a statement telling Latta it is his duty as an elected representative to hold a town hall.
“A politician who refuses to listen to their constituents is no representative at all,” the organization stated.
“Members of U.S. Congress conventionally use congressional recesses to visit their districts and hold town halls so constituents can hear from their elected officials and directly express their interests and concerns. Not holding these public forums is patently undemocratic,” the LWV said.
According to the Associated Press, Republicans generally hold fewer in-person open town halls than their Democratic counterparts, opting instead for more controlled settings, such as telephone town halls, that minimize the risk of public confrontations.
So frustrated voters resort to phone calls and letters – flooding many congressional offices about their concerns. The pushback in recent weeks has come not only in highly competitive districts but also in deeply Republican ones.
House Speaker Mike Johnson urged Republican lawmakers to skip town halls that have been filled with protesters upset with the Trump administration’s slashing of federal government jobs and services to the public, according to AP.
Not holding town halls is nothing new for Latta. Despite requests from his constituents, at least for the last decade he has refused to hold open meetings, instead opting for carefully orchestrated telephone town halls with screened questions.
So local citizen organizations are moving instead to alternate plans. For three weekends in a row in Bowling Green, events are scheduled to bring attention to their missing congressman.
- April 5 – Wood County Hands Off Protest, at the four corners of downtown Bowling Green, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., to voice opposition to Trump administration attacks on Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, jobs, bodies, fair elections, veterans services, clean air and energy, schools, free speech, LGBTQ+ rights and immigrants.
- April 12 – Town Hall at Peace Lutheran Church, 1021 W. Wooster St., from 2 to 4 p.m., moderated by retired news broadcaster Jerry Anderson, and organized by grassroots groups, with Latta being invited to attend. Constituents are encouraged to submit their questions/concerns in advance at https://tinyurl.com/dist5townhall. Postcards will also be available at the event for handwritten messages. Partnering to organize this non-partisan event are groups like BG Persists, Indivisible Bowling Green, Peace Lutheran Church, and the League of Women Voters of Bowling Green.
- April 19 – Biking with Bob, starting at noon at Arlyn’s Good Beer, 520 Hankey Ave., Bowling Green, for a bike ride in celebration of Earth Day and in protest of Latta’s refusal to hold an in-person town hall.
This is not the first time Latta has taken heat for refusing to hold a town hall. Back in 2017, during the start of President Donald Trump’s first term, and rising concerns about the fate of the Affordable Care Act, local citizens started out politely asking for a town hall meeting with Latta.
When they kept getting put off, the citizens held several protests outside his Bowling Green office, and kept trying to get on their congressman’s schedule. The office kept releasing statements about how much Latta values citizen input – but when he held his next telephone town hall, only supporters were notified in advance.
