The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Reader Vincent attended Randy Kuhl's Hammondsport town hall meeting this afternoon. Here's his report:

I just got back from Randy's meeting with about a dozen people in Hammondsport. It ran almost exactly a half-hour, as scheduled although he was, not surprisingly, ten minutes late. The war question came up after a congrats for the phone meetings idea, a question about funding transportation for the handicapped, and a farm bill question.

This is the first time I've seen him in action in one of his listening sessions, and I was impressed. He's great at preempting criticism and addressing local concerns. For example, the movement in Congress is away from paying farmers not to grow crops and toward helping them through a bad year so that they can continue to provide American farm products. Specialty crops (peaches, apples, grapes) are a main concern of his. He also mentioned that the farm bill will include energy crops and that corn may not be best for ethanol production. Immigration didn't come up.

He gave a comprehensive description of the phone town meetings process. They are very cost-effective in that $2-3,000 can allow him to reach 30,000 people. 53% of live respondents to his calls participate, 35% of his calls are answered by machines. Apparently people are being called as the "meeting" is going on and he can see how many people (sometimes up to 150) are in the conference, so he can tailor his remarks and allow people time accordingly. It's a service that is readily accessible in DC. The difficulty with giving advance notice of such a meeting is that his schedule doesn't often allow large blocks of time, and he needs to keep his time flexible in order to do his work.

At no time did he hint at his party affiliation or refer to the Administration. He talked about Congress as a force that he is part of, that has altered course and is making good headway on important issues, including the war. The troops are being supported. He favors benchmarks. He wants our people out and the effort "concluded" -- no talk if victory. He asked what we would suggest. Two people rehashed the idiocy, crimes, devastation and he listened patiently, but he got no guidance. When treatment of returning wounded was criticized, he said that Walter Reed administration and facilities problems have been dealt with successfully. His concern is that injured should not have to wait months to get the attention that they deserve, but implied that that problem is also under control.

He's good.

Vincent's report is consistent with Friday's story about meetings in Cattaraugus County. In front of a small Southern Tier crowd, Kuhl is at his most effective.

For more information on the telephone town hall meetings mentioned in Vincent's report, see this post.