It is disingenuous of Erik Paulsen to state that he is not going to host real town halls because people will “grandstand.” He is denying us the right, his constituents as a group, to have a discussion with him as a community. Given that he was elected to represent the community from which he comes, is it not within all our right to expect town hall meetings together with him as that community?
Erik tries to skirt the system by claiming that he meets with citizens and holds phone call “town halls.” To be honest, it’s a rigged system. He or his staff vet who gets to meet in person with him, for the most part, and when they do it is private and the citizen is not allowed to record the encounter.
The second are the phone calls. Which, as you will find if you start asking around, are generally not announced until a short time before those calls (meaning many parents and working citizens either don’t have the time to plan for being home or simply can’t be during those times.) Plus, those phone calls screen the questions and render the person asking a question unable to have a back-and-forth discussion with Mr. Paulsen. That’s not a conversation. This is not a town hall meeting. That is a controlled PR stunt.
My husband met with him in Washington, D.C., last year, and Mr. Paulsen actually made fun of him because we own a hybrid electric Chevy Volt car. My husband was meeting with him to discuss the need for renewable energy initiatives, and the fact that they took away so much of the funding for the Minnesota solar companies that the one we used for our solar panels on our home had to go out of business. He thought he was being funny and called our car a “coal burning car,” proving he has absolutely no education on a matter that he makes legislation on!
The fact that Paulsen won’t hold a meeting because he says we citizens will shout, or use it as a “gotcha” moment? What does the latter reason even mean? If he is so afraid of his constituents, perhaps he isn’t suited for the job and should resign.
The whole point in being a representative is to listen to his community and to work for us — not the other way around.
I am so disappointed in Mr. Paulsen’s either complete lack of understanding as to how our government should function for the people, or the (sic) he is willfully ignoring us to make sure he can keep his corporate donations rolling in.
I want this and other papers to be harder on him. If he won’t answer when we ask questions, then maybe the newspapers should be coming online to our groups and seeing the questions we have and then take them to Paulsen’s office Hound him like dedicated journalists and get answers.
Stephanie Forsyth, Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie New, April 5, 2018