Dear Greg: Hit the Road

The Hon. Greg Walden

2182 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Greg,

We, the citizens and voters of Bend, have decided to try to reach you by letter because you’re an awfully hard guy to see in person.

The problem isn’t that you don’t visit your home district often enough. We notice there’s a neat little Google Map linked to your congressional website that’s titled “Where’s Walden?” (very cute, Greg) and shows all the places in the district (and many outside the district) that you’ve visited in the past couple of years.

Judging by all the flags and push-pins stuck in this map, you sure do get around. You’ve been to town halls in Mitchell, Long Creek, Rufus, Arlington, Ontario and Eagle Valley, among other places. You’ve found time to attend the Miner’s Jubilee Parade and the Americans for Prosperity Hot Air Balloon Rally in Baker City and the Union County Business Leaders Breakfast in LaGrande. You’ve toured the Boise Cascade mill in Elgin, Interpath Laboratory in Pendleton and the Wallowa Lake Dam in Joseph.

But somehow you haven’t been able to squeeze in a town hall meeting in Bend. And that hurts, Greg.

It’s not that you don’t know where Bend is. For a while we thought that could be the problem, but the map shows you’ve been in our neighborhood on many occasions – for meetings with the Bend and Redmond Rotary Clubs and the Oregon Concrete and Aggregate Producers Association and the Central Oregon Visitors Association, among many others.

But there hasn’t been a single town hall-type event in Bend where all of us – you know, the general public – could go to see you in the flesh, maybe shake your hand, ask you a few questions about the issues of the day. You only seem interested in meeting with business groups.

Why is that, Greg? What have we done to deserve the cold-shoulder treatment? We’re your constituents too. Why won’t you give us a little love?

Just this week you were in Bend again to have a closed-door meeting with one of your favorite groups, the Chamber of Commerce. We’ve been told that a group of citizens was standing outside in the cold begging to talk with you, but you evaded them and snuck into the building by the back door.

The back door, Greg. That was a real slap in the face.

We can understand why a right-wing Republican like you is more comfortable hanging with your Chamber of Commerce bros than with ordinary working, taxpaying folks, and that’s okay. And we understand that the folks out in Mitchell and Rufus are entitled to some attention from their congressman too. But when you treat us as coldly as you’ve been doing for years – well, it’s more than we can take.

You’ve ignored our pleas one time too many, Greg. This is an abusive relationship that has gone on way too long, and we’re ending it here and now. We’re giving you THE BOOT. Pack your stuff and go move in with the Chamber of Commerce.

This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2012.

Seems to me he is meeting with those who would have the biggest impact on the most important issue we face……creating and sustaining jobs. I’d sure like to see his limited time spent where it can be most productive rather than with you and your Occupier crowd. All you want is to create some spectacle.

This week Walden had a townhall open to all district constituents via call-in. Did you or your paper have someone participating in the call so that you could report on the questions asked and the answers given? Right, I didn’t think so. That would have taken some work/effort and wouldn’t have fit your editorial template. Heck you could have asked him when his next town hall in Bend was scheduled. HBM would have been on it.

And don’t give me this crap about people waiting out in the cold this past week. It’s been beautiful. Several of the 300+ days of sunshine we get each year.