Video: Constituents Hold 'Empty Chair' Meeting For Congressman Dave Reichert

CASHMERE, WA - About 400 constituents of U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Issaquah, held an "empty chair" town hall meeting for their congressman in tiny Cashmere on Monday night - a symbol of their apparent inability to get Reichert to meet with them.

The meeting took place at the Cashmere Riverside Center, which is off U.S. 2 west of Wenatchee. Although Congress is on recess this week, the constituents said Reichert never responded to invitations to attend a meeting.

"To reiterate, Congressman Reichert has declined the [hundreds] of invitations from his constituents to participate in the town hall meeting February 20th, headed by NCW United based in Leavenworth. He has stated he will not attend, but the meeting will still take place, as was always the stated intention," read a message on the Facebook page of Mission Indivisible group that organized the meeting.

Reichert did respond to the Cashmere town hall, saying that he would host a Facebook live event on Feb. 23 hosted with the KCTS, the Seattle public television station. Reichert will accept questions online in advance of the event.

"Meeting with constituents and hearing your concerns is my top priority. I encourage you to visit my website to schedule an appointment with me or a member of my staff," Reichert wrote in a statement on his website.

The meeting in Cashmere went on, however, complete with a chair at the front of the room and a place card for Reichert. You can watch a video of the meeting, which focuses on the Affordable Car Act, here:

Image via Mission Indivisible