Commentary: Today, Thursday February 16, there will be a peaceful action at the Las Cruces office of Congressman Steve Pearce at 1:30 pm. This action is aimed at delivering letters airing a variety of concerns and to ask the Congressman to come to where his constituents are to hold face-to-face meetings.
A number of folks from around CD 2 are planning on attending this action as many communities do not have a staffed office in their towns to speak with congressional staff directly. The Congressman held a teleconference last night where he failed to address many hundreds of people’s concerns, as well as failed to commit to organizing any town hall meetings in the district.
Here are just some of the reported experiences people around CD 2 had while trying to participate in Congressman Pearce’s teleconference.
- "After registering for the call, my phone was available from 6 to 9:30. No one called - however, now Pearce & staff have my phone & email". Laura
- "My wife and I both registered our cell phone numbers and home phone, but the call only came to our land line. I wonder if this was a way to skew the audience toward an older and more rural audience. That is a method used for some types of polling" Daniel
- “It is now 6:48 PM. I believe I can safely say I will not be called to listen to the Pearce Tele-Town Hall, much less ask a question.” Jean
- "I signed up for the town hall online, using my cell number. I never got a phone call on my cell" Barbara
- "I live in Las Cruces, and I just tried to participate in Steve Pearce's Telephone Town Hall. I signed up for it many days ago, and I did get called to participate. After a few minutes I hit the *3 to let them know I wanted to ask a question. I was then kicked off the call. I couldn't get back on" Kristen
- "None of our group in Carlsbad got call backs. This was really disappointing." Group in Carlsbad
- “I did not, and 2 others of my group (thus far) have reported that they did not get on the call.” Wanda of Mimbrenos
In recent weeks, members of the community have attempted to walk into Congressman Pearce’s office only to find the door locked and no sign of staff to help them. It is with that concern in mind that we ask the members of the press to attend this action to ensure that even if no one is present to open the door, the actions taken today are recorded and the process of democracy remain transparent.