Latest news with #BoonvillePublicLibrary
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Messmer to hold telephone town hall Tuesday; opponents are ready for it
EVANSVILLE — Under fire from his political opponents for a perceived lack of accessibility, 8th District Congressman Mark Messmer plans to show up Tuesday night. Well, kind of. Messmer isn't going to hold a public town hall, but he does plan to stage a live telephone town hall meeting from 5 p.m. CST to 6 p.m. Tuesday. The purpose: "to discuss the issues most important to YOU," states Messmer's social media. Those who want to participate can sign up to do so here, on a link that offers them the chance to "speak directly to Rep. Mark Messmer" if they will first provide their names, phone numbers and zip codes. More: Dems think they have a shot at winning 8th District in 2026 -- and a possible candidate Messmer would not speak with the Courier & Press when the newspaper asked him by email to discuss his objectives with the event, the points he anticipates making and his counter to political opponents who say he is inaccessible. He did send an email in return. "I look forward to hearing from my constituents and discussing important issues affecting Hoosiers in the 8th District," it stated. Accessibility to constituents and media has emerged as an issue with Messmer. Messmer's staff asked employees at the Boonville Public Library to call the police on constituents during a mobile office hours event — even though the mostly older attendees weren't breaking any rules, the library said. Messmer also has refused to speak to the Courier & Press, which serves by far the largest county in his 21-county district. Why? He sent the newspaper an email saying it reported he didn't debate his 2024 election opponents when he did. Messmer cited a single joint public appearance with his two opponents, an Aug. 25 Posey County Farm Bureau event that they called a candidate forum lacking any opportunity for rebuttal among candidates. Other than that event, which occurred three weeks after the Indiana Farm Bureau's political action committee endorsed Messmer, he would not appear on the same stage with his opponents. In March, hundreds of people attended an anti-Messmer rally in Evansville at which the first-term Republican congressman was pilloried for not having held a town hall meeting three months into his tenure. More: Anti-Messmer rally in Evansville targets Trump and Musk But most of those people are Democratic activists who likely never voted for Messmer and never will, said Khyle Moers, chairman of the Vanderburgh County Republican Party. It doesn't mean voters as a whole are disenchanted with Messmer. "He's certainly visible, and I think members of his office are pretty available," Moers said. "I think some of the people that are really critical of, just all of our elected officials in general — and I'm talking to people that have like, really hyper-critical, very outspoken opinions of our elected officials — it's typically the same folks over and over again. There are people in those groups that you're just not going to make happy with anything that you do." 8th District Democratic Chairman Dave Crooks told the Courier & Press in March that Democrats think Messmer already has made himself politically vulnerable over the accessibility issue. The people who will attend an Indivisible Evansville event at McCollough Public Library to coincide with Messmer's telephone town hall may not be happy with anything he says. Indivisible is encouraging supporters to register to speak with Messmer. They call their event "A Mass Call-In for Real Accountability." "Rep. Mark Messmer is holding a 'tele-town hall' where he controls who speaks, screens out tough questions, and avoids the public eye," Indivisible states on Facebook. "While he hides behind a phone line, we're showing up together to demand answers, speak truth, and make our voices impossible to ignore." More: Messmer has no apparent plans for public events during two-week recess It's not as if Messmer will get no representation at the event. The opposition activists say he will be represented by a large milk carton, a criticism meant to say he is missing and can't be found. "We'll be together in one space, amplifying our concerns and exposing the truth: Messmer is still missing from the communities he claims to represent," their statement said. This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Messmer to hold telephone town hall Tuesday; opponents are ready for it
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Messmer's office wanted Boonville library to call police on constituents; director said no
EVANSVILLE – Staff members with Rep. Mark Messmer's office asked employees at the Boonville Public Library to call the police on constituents during a mobile office hours event – even though the mostly older attendees weren't breaking any rules, the library's director confirmed Wednesday. Director Brooke Bolton told the Courier & Press she refused the request. 'We told them that (the constituents) had not broken any of the rules of our library and we would not call the police unless the rules of our library were being broken,' she said. 'I didn't see or witness anything that was hostile.' The event took place from 1-3 p.m. Tuesday at the library in Boonville. Mobile office hours usually provide voters a chance to speak to representatives of their elected officials and express concerns. Two staffers for the Eighth District Republican were at the library, but they repeatedly declined to meet with more than one constituent at a time, an attendee told the Courier & Press. Bolton said the request to contact authorities came not from the staffers on hand, but via a phone call to the library from a Washington, D.C. area code. She identified the person she spoke with as Michael Curcio. The website LegiStorm lists Curcio as Messmer's chief of staff. A spokesperson for Messmer didn't respond to a request for a comment Wednesday. It's just the latest bit of silence from the congressman, who has repeatedly declined to speak to the Courier & Press. Kristina Bickle, founder of Evansville Resistance, was one of about 15 people in attendance Tuesday. She took several videos of exchanges with Messmer's staff that she forwarded to the Courier & Press. She said the trouble started when she and others wanted to meet with the reps as a group so everyone could hear their questions or concerns. But the staffers refused, only agreeing to meet with people one at a time in a room so tiny she described it as a 'closet.' 'They had picked the smallest room in the building,' she said. '… They wouldn't let married couples go in together.' According to Bickle, the staffers turned down several offers from library workers to move them to a larger room so they could accommodate more people. Eventually they gave in and shifted to a conference room, but they still wouldn't let in more than one person at a time. Bickle said the Messmer staffers barred all recording devices and kept the door closed anytime a constituent came inside. 'We just felt like that was not right. Nobody was getting loud or hostile, but everyone was very, very upset about this situation,' she said. 'One man was crying – not so much about the situation, but that his constitutional rights had been violated. Meaning our country is in trouble.' She believes the staffers asked the library to call police so it wouldn't look like the request was coming from Messmer's office. And it was all for a group "that was mostly senior citizens." "That's absurd," she said. Most of the videos from Bickle show constituents standing outside the original room and asking the Messmer staffers to meet with the entire group at once. Bickle said the group voted, and all of them wanted a public meeting instead of private conversations. In one video, a man and two women repeatedly ask the staffers – a woman and young man – to come out. 'Nobody wants a one-on-one meeting out there,' the man says, gesturing toward the other attendees. '… We've got people here who are going to walk away if it's not a public meeting." 'OK,' a staffer says. In another, a different man with gray hair and a flannel shirt addresses them. 'You should be here to talk to us. We've called Messmer's office and we don't get any answers,' he says in an even tone. '… Let's go to a place where we can all talk. We'll be civil.' According to the videos, the exchanges are largely calm and never reach the point of screaming or arguing. They do, however, show some moments of frustration. At one point, as the staffers continue to evade a group discussion, an elderly woman interjects. 'It's about time you Republicans grew some damn balls,' she says. Another video shows Bolton – who had to be called in on her day off – addressing the attendees as they wait outside the hall. She reminds them the library has no say over where Messmer staffers meet and thanked the constituents for being respectful to library staff. She told the Courier & Press Messmer's office reserved that specific small room. They were told how many people it could hold. The people at the library Tuesday aren't the only ones struggling to get answers from Messmer. Earlier this month, he didn't respond to multiple messages from the Courier & Press asking him his thoughts on potential Medicaid cuts that could affect thousands of people in his district. He dodged another interview in December, with a spokesman saying he would only take questions written in advance. During last year's election, he declined to debate his opponents and didn't have any public events in Evansville. He hasn't announced plans to hold a town hall, either. Those have been hard to come by in the Evansville for years. Courier & Press archives show that Messmer's predecessor, Rep. Larry Bucshon, only had five of them in the city during his 14 years in office. And according to a report from Politico earlier this month, the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee has ordered GOP officials not to stage any town halls in the near future. In Messmer's absence, some Evansville residents plan to have a 'people's town hall' instead. The 'Messmer's Missing' rally is scheduled for March 22 at 1 p.m. in front of the congressman's local office at 20 NW Third St. In a news release, organizer Wendy Bredhold said residents are encouraged to bring any written comments they have for the congressman. They'll then be passed along to his office the following Monday. If Messmer agrees to hold an actual town hall, she said, they'll cancel the event. 'Elected officials should be accessible to the people they serve, yet he refuses to face his constituents,' the release states. 'We're showing up anyway.' Bickle said she told Messmer's staffers about the protest as the library event ended Tuesday. They left promptly at 3 p.m., she said, even though some constituents were still waiting to speak to them. 'I feel like he's forgotten he works for us,' she said. This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Messmer's office wanted Boonville library to call police during event
