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BSR04202017

8 APRIL 21 – APRIL 27, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP Donovan constituents organize town hall BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK [email protected] A huge crowd was on hand on Wednesday evening, April 19 for a standing-room-only, constituent organized town hall meeting held to address the concerns of the 11th Congressional District. The only person seemingly missing was the district’s representative. Born out of Congressmember Dan Donovan’s refusal to host any in-person town halls on this side of the Verrazano, the first-ever NY 11 Town Hall – organized by progressive grassroots organization Fight Back Bay Ridge – brought issues to the forefront via a panel of experts there to field questions on issues from housing and immigration to women’s reproductive rights and bullying. Three of the evening’s hottest topics were healthcare, education and the environment. While Donovan himself was also a flashpoint (attendees were greeted at check-in with pre-addressed “Wish U Were Here” postcards, ready to be personalized and sent to the pol’s district office), the evening did not go by without some praise for him – one of many reasons, organizers say, they wish he could have been there. On health care, for instance, panelist Mark Hannay, director of Metro New York Healthcare for All, noted, “I also do want to thank Representative Donovan for the position that he took. He stuck his neck out in his conference and he seems to be holding firm on that. We may have differences in opinion with him on a variety of issues, but I think that, in this case, we owe him thanks." Furthermore, panelist Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, commended Donovan for sending a letter of support for the Community Development Block Grant that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of development needs. Donovan formally declined his invitation to the event, calling town halls “disruptive forums” during a Monday, April 17 tele-town hall. See sidebar on this page. However, the event was both informative and peaceful (minus a brief period of friction between the crowd and Republican City Council hopeful and former aide to Donovan Liam McCabe, who, acting out of format, first asked for a show of hands of Trump voters, then introduced himself as “maybe the only Republican” in the room and finally followed up with the question, “How do we stop Bill de Blasio’s disastrous policy on homelessness?”) “I think it was spectacular,” said Fight Back Bay Ridge member Sally McMahon, who – alongside fellow member Rebecca Goldberg Brodsky – emceed the event. “The guests, the audience, and seeing how the volunteers pulled everything together – everything was spectacular.” Since its founding in November, 2016, Fight Back Bay Ridge has been at the forefront of many a local protest, and credits itself for leading “a successful campaign to defend healthcare while forging ties across New York’s 11th Congressional District.” Its goal, organizers say, “is to strengthen the community and ensure that all voices are heard by our government.” BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Meaghan McGoldrick The SRO crowd at the constituent-organized 11th C.D. town hall. Donovan hosts second tele-town hall with constituents BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK [email protected] Healthcare, student loan forgiveness and President Donald Trump’s tax returns were among the issues addressed by Congressmember Dan Donovan on Monday, April 17 when he dialed into nearly 50,000 households within his district lines for his second tele-town hall of the year. On the line, Donovan, whose district encompasses Staten Island as well as a swathe of South Brooklyn, fielded questions for close to an hour, during which, his office says, he was connected to 13,524 people on both sides of the Verrazano. The pol also used the platform to plug a number of bills he is currently pushing – including one that would raise the penalty for drug dealers peddling Fentanyl — as well as poll participants on issues such as the Affordable Care Act. Issues raised in between by residents varied from funding for Planned Parenthood and the environment to the handling of South Brooklyn’s opioid addiction epidemic. One subject that was revisited often was Donovan’s stance on the now-tabled replacement plan for the ACA, the American Health Care Act. “My goal in repairing our broken healthcare system is to help the people who were harmed by the ACA without harming the people who were helped by it,” said the pol, who was thanked more than once on the line by phone-ins who were happy about his opposition to the plan. “I still think we can do that. I just don’t think that the replacement plan that was put forth is something that would’ve accomplished that.” The tele-town hall itself was also highlighted as an issue by one Bay Ridge resident. While the method of communication has received some push-back from constituents claiming to have had issues dialing in, or from those who have argued that the tele-town halls – which are primarily promoted online and on social media — leave a number of the pol’s constituents in the dark, Donovan has contended time and time again that the practice is the most effective way to ensure “clear communication.” “I’ve always said that being a representative in elective office means that you have to listen to the people, and this is a great way for me to hear directly from you about your concerns, answer your questions and for you to let me know what’s important to you and your family,” Donovan said in his introduction, later using the same argument to support his decision not to attend what organizers referred to as a “constituent-organized” District 11 town hall planned for Wednesday evening, April 19 in Bay Ridge, referring to events of its kind as “disruptive forums.” “The last time we did one of these tele-town halls, 14,000 families listened for an hour, there was no disruption, everybody got to express their concern without people interrupting,” he said, noting also that, in the 10 days prior to the tele-town hall, he had met with over 100 constituents for one-on-one meetings. “I find this to be a much more effective way of communicating and having my residents communicate with me, rather than just going to a town hall and having people shout at one another.” When asked whether or not he will be able to speak up against President Trump for things that are not advantageous to his constituency, Donovan said simply, “The people of the 11th Congressional District are my priority.”


BSR04202017
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