To the Editor:
As a senior citizen and long time resident of CD3 I am writing to express my incredulousness about recent interactions I have had with members of Rep. Erik Paulsen’s staff.
The first incident occurred on Jan. 9, when a group of 20 constituents went to Paulsen’s Eden Prairie office to communicate our dissatisfaction with his policy positions. The response? A staff member opened her office door and sprayed air freshener into the hallway where we were standing. I have asthma and did not have my inhaler with me, so I left quickly. The staff member stated that she wanted to “get rid of the stink.” We were stunned.
In light of Rep. Paulsen recently becoming an inaugural member of the U.S. Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus, I called his Eden Prairie office on Feb. 6 and asked what Paulsen intended to do about his staff’s behavior in the air freshener incident.
The staffer replied, “That did not happen.” I told him I was there that day, I witnessed it and I am the constituent who has asthma and needed to leave the office when it occurred. The staff member replied, “You can invent any facts you like.”
I was dumbfounded by his response – that rang of “alternative facts” – and the ease with which a U.S. Congressional staff member disdainfully dismissed this constituent.
The lack of civility and respect displayed by Rep. Paulsen’s staff begs the question of how he intends to model “congressional civility and respect” in his own district.
Anne Kaphingst, Minnetonka
Minnetonka Sun-Sailor, February 20, 2018