On April 21, U.S. Representative (5th District) Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire held a telephone town hall open to the public to discuss recent updates on Social Security and Medicare in Congress.
Esty’s message was simple.
“My office is here to help,” she said throughout the 1-hour live conversation.
Esty prides herself as a champion of the elderly, something that goes back to her local politic days when she was elected to the Cheshire Town Council (2005-08).
In those early days of her political life she promised to help senior citizens, do her best to keep taxes low and be a voice for them on the Town Council. Senior citizens certainly helped Esty get elected in town and she kept her promise, helping design and pass a budget that protected lower-income seniors from property tax increases.
My point here, no matter what your view of Esty is these days, is that Esty understands it when it comes to being an elected official in the 21st Century – connecting and interacting with her constituents.
While some political pundits in Connecticut continually discuss how tough it’s going to be for Esty to be re-elected this fall, in my opinion Gov. Dannel Malloy has a tougher uphill battle on his hands to get re-elected than Esty.
Esty has reinforced the ever evolving and improving campaign model where knocking on doors and getting up-close and personal with voters is key in getting elected.
My job as a sportswriter for the New Haven Register has taken me to all four corners of this state and I’m probably one of the few sportswriters, if not the only one, in this state who routinely talks politics. One of the common complaints among people I’ve talked to is the disconnect many politicians have with their constituents.
Whatever your views might be of Esty, the bottom line is her connection with people in her home town and in her district has never wavered. She has always been approachable, listens to and addresses the wants and needs of her constituents even if it means going against party lines when voting on issues that hit close to home.
She does what’s best for her constituents, no matter what the political consequences, and in an age when so many politicians seem to have their own agendas, that is extremely refreshing to see. It is the combination of connecting with constituents and addressing their needs that will ultimately get her re-elected…in my opinion.
On April 21, she wasn’t actually knocking on a door but it was the next best thing. She connected with people by phone and not with an irksome robocall or with volunteers making calls for her but with a personal live call.
I was actually on her town hall phone call the entire hour and her opening remarks stressed her desire to protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security.
“I’m working to make sure seniors have access to the healthcare services they need and the retirement security they deserve,” Esty said.
Esty went on to take question after question. If she didn’t have a complete answer for a caller, she made it a point to have the person submit their contact info so she could get back to them with an answer. If a caller went off subject, as they tend to do in a live event, Esty never wavered and took their question.
Your reaction might be she only did the town hall call because it’s an election year.
Obviously, but it’s not the only time she did a town hall call. She did one in November asking constituents to voice their concerns and what important issues they wanted lawmakers to discuss.
The telephone town hall isn’t a groundbreaking venture here.
The key is she takes advantage of what’s out there to interact with people and on April 21 she did her thing- personally connecting with constituents.
Cheshire residents may check out the entire www.Cheshiredem.org site on a regular basis for its updates on issues affecting the town.
This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.
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