Barrett defends his record of meeting with constituents

(This story was updated Sunday to reflect how many people the town hall's organizers said attended the event based on a sign-up sheet. Also, this story  has been corrected to fix the spelling of the last name of Tessa Paneth-Pollak, a coordinator for  Indivisible Michigan 7 District, which organized the event. Also, a typo is a headline incorrectly said the town hall was held "with" him instead of "without.")

SATURDAY, March 22 — U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, defended his record today of meeting with constituents.

Later in the day, Lansing-area constituents held a town hall meeting without him. Its organizers said he never responded to an invitation to participate.

In a written statement this morning, Barrett said, “Since taking office two months ago, I’ve traveled to every county in my district multiple times in a sincere effort to meet with constituents from all walks of life. I’ve visited small businesses, schools, hospitals, non-profits, military units, veterans’ groups and local governments.

“My team and I have also responded to more than 20,000 phone calls, letters, and emails while meeting with dozens of people from mid-Michigan every single week. Just 12 days ago, we hosted an interactive town hall with nearly 2,000 of my constituents, and I look forward to hosting another event again in April,” the statement added.

“While we have seen organized agitators try to disrupt and plunge public events across the country into chaos, I’m focused on getting results and will continue looking for meaningful ways to engage everyone in our community — even those who disagree with me.”

Asked for comment on Barrett's statement, Tessa Paneth-Pollak, a coordinator of Indivisible Michigan 7 District, which sponsored today's town hall, said, "The conduct of the people who attended today's town hall should show Tom Barrett that he has nothing to be afraid of from meeting with his constituents and that we are not agitators but citizens who it's his job to represent."

Added Paneth-Pollak, "We had a lot of moving and meaningful testimony from constituents of his who called his office regularly about real problems and are not hearing back."

Organizers said more than 300 people signed in at the two-hour event at Wilson Hall's auditorium on Michigan State University's campus. It was sponsored by Indivisible Michigan 7, a 7^th Congressional District branch of the national progressive political organization Indivisible. 

Yesterday, about 200 protesters gathered outside Barrett's downtown Lansing office for a second time to demand he participate in a town hall meeting in person. A group of them presented Barrett's staff with a petition they said had 1,800 signatures.  

Organizers of today's event said Barrett was invited to attend but did not respond. An empty chair marked Barrett’s absence.

Another town hall is scheduled in Lansing for April 22 sponsored by several organizations. Barrett received an invitation to that one yesterday, said Curtis Hamilton, who helped deliver the petition.

While a few constituents were allowed into the office yesterday to speak with Barrett’s staff, they received no answer to the invitation. Barrett was not present.

Barrett held a telephone town hall last week, but many constituents never received the number. Barrett’s spokesperson said there had been a glitch.

Barrett is one of many Republican representatives who avoided in-person meetings after angry voters flooded town halls during the first congressional recess. House Speaker Mike Johnson has encouraged Republican representatives not to hold in-person town halls.

David Hopkinson, an Indivisible Michigan 7 organizer, said he believed the group “could do it responsibly.”

“I don’t think we have to have people yelling at them,” he said.

Hopkinson said he believed Barrett was failing to perform his job by allowing billionaire Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency to affect federal funding.

“Congress has a role in our form of government, and they’re deciding, ‘Yeah, we’re just not going to do it, we’re going to let Trump do whatever he wants,” Hopkinson said.

Hamilton said after the meeting that the group had met with Ron Kendall, Barrett’s district director.

“He’s a good listener, and he does understand our points,” Hamilton said. “But as far as him speaking for the representative, he will always not do that.”

Hamilton said he would follow up with the office to urge Barrett to attend the meeting.

Hamilton also noted that given Barrett's slim victory last November, he would be wise to acknowledge constituents’ concerns. Barrett received 50.3% of the vote, beating Democratic candidate Curtis Hertel by under 17,000 votes in the decidedly purple district. Barrett lost in 2023 to Democrat Elissa Slotkin, whom voters elected to the Senate last fall.

While Hamilton and others spoke with Barrett’s staff, protesters chanted outside the office, urging Barrett’s staff to “save our vets.”

One protester, a Vietnam veteran named Rip Augustine, said he was upset by the removal of Charles Rogers from the Defense Department website.

Rogers, a Black man and Medal of Honor recipient, was a lieutenant colonel when he rallied his men in defense of an army base in 1968 and led his battalion despite multiple severe injuries. He was scrubbed from the website as part of a purge of material promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, though the pictures were returned following backlash.

“Musk and those punks put a ‘DEI’ in front of his name and took it down,” Augustine said. “It makes me furious to see this disrespect of Vietnam’s veterans.”

Augustine said he was glad to see the websites restored but demanded an apology.

Another Vietnam veteran, Jack Devine, said he was concerned Musk’s budget cuts were too severe.

“It’s a pretend department,” he said. “It’s actually a wrecking crew. They’re just going in and tearing things up with no rhyme or reason. They don’t care about the consequences.”

Nichole Keway Biber, who works with Clean Water Action, an environmental advocacy group, said she was protesting cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“We’re the ones who are drinking the consequences” of environmental deregulation, she said.

Many expressed a hope that Barrett would be understanding — if they could get him to the table.

“We feel that he is not listening and he is going through filters,” Hamilton said. “We just want to talk to him unfiltered.”