Dave Reichert Won't Host Town Hall, So Rep. Pramila Jayapal Will Do It For Him

ISSAQUAH, WA - Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert has refused to hold a live town hall meeting, despite numerous requests from constituents. So, a group of activists in his district have asked another member of Congress to hold a town hall for him.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who represents Seattle, Shoreline, and Vashon Island, will meet with Reichert's constituents on Saturday at Green River Community College in Auburn. The town hall was organized by the left-leaning Indivisible group in Reichert's district, which straddles the Cascades and includes Bonney Lake, Issaquah, Enumclaw, and Eastern Washington cities like Ellensburg and Wenatchee.

"Rep. Dave Reichert declined his constituents’ invitation to attend. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of the neighboring 7th Congressional District has graciously accepted the invitation," Indivisible's Chris Petzold wrote in a press release. "She acknowledged the importance of constituent engagement and will provide an update with the latest news and events from D.C., and answer questions about a range of issues, including health care, tax reform, public education, the environment and President Donald Trump."

Reichert's office did respond to a request for comment from Patch.com on Saturday's town hall.

This is the latest in a series of actions by the Indivisible group to goad Reichert into hosting a town hall. Reichert has provided several reasons for not meeting with constituents in a town hall setting. He's cited public safety, and said that he believes live town halls are unproductive. He has met with small groups of constituents - including members of Indivisible groups - at his Issaquah office.

On Feb. 23, Reichert hosted a town hall via Facebook Live. That came after constituents held an "empty chair" town hall for Reichert on Feb. 20 in Cashmere (they held another empty-chair town hall in Covington in April). But many were unhappy with the Facebook event because Reichert was interviewed by KCTS' Enrique Cerna, not by constituents. Cerna interview Reichert again in May after Reichert's no-vote on the House's Obamacare repeal.

Reichert is the only Seattle-area member of Congress not to hold a live, in-person town hall (he did a telephone town hall in March). Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, who represents Southwest Washington, has not held an in-person town hall, but did host a call-in one. Democratic U.S. Reps. Adam Smith, Derek Kilmer, Suzan DelBene, and Jayapal have held or will hold in-person town halls in the Seattle area.

The Saturday town hall begins at 3 p.m. at Green River College, 12401 SE 320th St., inside the Cascade Room at the SA Building. The town hall costs $5 to attend to cover the cost of the rental; any proceeds will go to the Auburn Food Bank.

Aside from Jayapal, the town hall will feature Mercer Island's Julie Negrin, who has pledged to give up her cancer treatments as a protest of the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (also called Obamacare).

Image via U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal