With political fervor running high around the country in the wake of the November election, there was considerable interest in Tom Emmer’s 6th Congressional District town hall meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in Sartell.
Such was the build-up to the event that Emmer, who represents Annandale and a sprawling district that encompasses much of the north and west metro up through St. Cloud, sent out a preemptive message through his chief of staff before the meeting warning that if there were disruptions, violence or threats the meeting would be called off.
Emmer’s chief of staff, David FitzSimmons, said reports from town halls around the country have been "troubling."
"What should be an open and respectful forum to discuss ideas and opinions have often turned into shouting, chanting, and other disruptive behavior, from which no one benefits," FitzSimmons said.
While groups such as Take Action Minnesota, Indivisible Minnesota Congressional District 6, Stand Up Minnesota and Expect Resistance helped organize "protests," according to the St. Cloud Times, Annandale area residents who were among a crowd of up to 1,000 people waiting in line before the doors opened felt the evening was a pleasant one.
"We viewed ourselves as constituents. We kind of got labeled as protesters, but that’s not why we were there," said Midge Nusbaum of Annandale. "For being a large group like that, people were very well behaved. There really weren’t any conflicts with people. I think people in the crowd were largely in opposition to many of Trump’s policies, so perhaps if there had been more Trump supporters it might have been more contentious, but it wasn’t that way."
After the meeting Emmer issued a statement thanking participants for their civility.
"After so many disruptive town halls across the country over the past month, it is refreshing that tonight’s event was productive, with Minnesotans willing to have a healthy dialogue about the future of this country," he said.
Standing room only
While somewhere around a dozen Annandale area residents made the trip up to Sartell, Vicki Morgan was the only one who actually made it inside the council chambers, where there were 77 seats set up. Another 30 to 40 people crowded into the lobby outside the chambers, but there was no sound system to project the discussion beyond earshot.
Morgan arrived at the Sartell City Hall around 4 p.m., three hours before the scheduled start time, and was about the 20th person in line waiting for the doors to open, which did not occur until shortly before the 7 p.m. start. She passed the time by visiting with those around her, singing along with songs like "God Bless America," and watching a large press contingent interviewing the crowd.
She said she was asked at least three times by members of the media if she was being paid to be there, and members from some of the organized citizen groups went along the line passing out nametags for participants to write their ZIP codes on to represent their residency in the 6th District.
"I give Emmer all kinds of credit for the courage and the willingness to hold a town hall meeting, which representatives across the country are avoiding," Morgan said.
She added that some people in the crowd were prepared to tape their mouths shut as a symbol of being silenced if the meeting was called off, but there was little animosity and no need for such action.
"It was congenial," Morgan said. "People have strong feelings, but many of those people have been coached in civil discourse."
She added that her sister was there advocating for a climate change lobby and approached Trump supporters as well as liberals, and found a civil reception from all.
Marsha Anklam of Fair Haven was among those who did not make it into the meeting.
"I felt like just showing up made a difference. That’s why we went," she said. "We didn’t really think we’d get in, but I’m glad we went."
Anklam and a few friends arrived about 6 p.m. and guessed there were already 300 people standing in line. Nusbaum added that she quickly realized she had little chance of getting inside, but waited until after 7 p.m. anyway. She wasn’t disappointed by the turnout, even though it limited her own participation.
"I was encouraged by how many people were there, because typically in this area of Minnesota we don’t have very many progressive people that come out," she said. "So it was nice to see such good support, and really a cross section of people from all ages and backgrounds and people of color. It was a fairly diverse crowd, which is hard to achieve in Central Minnesota."
While most of the crowd dissipated after the council chambers were filled, as the temperature dropped and rain began to fall, Morgan said she could hear chants from outside from time to time. Nusbaum and Anklam didn’t linger long after 7 p.m., but said they still felt their appearance was worth making the trip.
"I think with much of our current rhetoric coming out of our government with the press being the enemy and things like that, that it’s important to demonstrate what it is to be a democracy. And showing up for town hall meetings is a way to do that," said Nusbaum.
"Not a lot happened, but that’s OK too," said Anklam. "I don’t think anyone wanted to have trouble. That wasn’t the intent."
Discussion
Inside the council chamber the seats were reserved for constituents, but perhaps 30 members of the media also crowded in to line the walls. There were at least six uniformed police officers inside to monitor the proceedings as well.
The meeting itself lasted a little over an hour, with approximately 20 minutes of the discussion focusing on the Affordable Care Act and efforts to repeal it. Two or three people spoke about the hardships they would endure if it were repealed and others also expressed concern, but Emmer was firm in his response that it would be repealed. He added that efforts would be made to lower premiums and keep health care accessible.
Others in the audience asked questions about immigration, with one individual in the tech industry saying he makes less money now than he did 20 years ago because of an influx of Indian workers who were willing to work for less money. Emmer criticized the rollout of President Donald Trump’s immigration measure.
Morgan handed over 20 cards from members of the Climate Change Lobby St. Cloud chapter, listing reasons they were concerned about climate change, and asked if Emmer would be willing to join the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus and consider supporting the carbon fee and dividend approach.
Emmer was non-committal but said all could agree that clean air and water were important and that a goal must be to leave the environment in better shape than at present. He drew boos when he said that scientists are evenly split on the causes of climate change, however.
Other issues discussed included keeping postal service active on six days a week, which Emmer supported, and whether or not Emmer would support an impeachment of Trump if necessary. To that, Emmer said he would consider it if and when the situation warranted it.
There was also some talk about Trump’s efforts to limit government regulations. Emmer said he did not believe Trump’s rule, that any new regulation must be accompanied by the elimination of two regulations, made sense.