Central New York Rep. John Mannion (D-Geddes) faced a friendly crowd at his first town hall meeting Monday, and ended the 90-minute event with a call to action.
The town hall at Chestnut Hill Middle School in Liverpool followed many of the same rules as other town hall meetings held by members of Congress across the country. Attendance was limited to residents of the 22nd Congressional District; those who wanted to attend had to fill out an application; the location of the town hall wasn’t given until attendees' applications were approved, which Mannion’s office said was for “security reasons.”
Mannion answered nine questions, which were all pre-screened by staff. Nearly all of them concerned about the impact of the Trump administration on central New Yorkers. Bill and Jeanne Sokolowski of Liverpool wanted to be reassured about whether Medicare and Medicaid would continue to be available for their disabled son.
“We lose lots of sleep every night,” Sokolowski said. “Lots of sleep. I'm on the phone probably every other day calling senators, congresspeople, all the time, trying to get people to listen and telling them how important this is.”
Mannion said he believes the nation is facing a constitutional crisis at the hands of the Trump administration, and that has resulted in him being a more partisan member of Congress than he wanted to be.
Mannion said one of his greatest concerns is cuts from Medicaid, something that’s on the table as Congress considers a budget vote. He encouraged them to share their story, and asked everyone in the crowd that if they don’t like what’s happening in Washington, to elevate the message.
“Tell it to your friends, tell it to your neighbors,” Mannion said. ”It's not easy. Write a letter to the editor. Share things on social media. Join an organization. It could be a religious organization. It could be a veteran’s organization. An environmental group. A union. A diversity group."
Donna Vallese from Jordan said it’s important that people realize they have options beyond despair.
“A lot of people don't know what to do,” Vallese said. “They don't know how to get involved and I think his call to action to join organizations…there's Indivisible. There's all sorts of organizations that are doing work toward trying to restore our democracy. And so it was really good advice."
On other topics, Mannion told the crowd he’s 95% sure all the federal Chips and Science Act funding will be available for Micron to build the first semiconductor chip plant in the Town of Clay, and he’s very confident the money will be there for the second one as well.
Mannion’s office says there will be other town halls with the freshman Congressman in the future.
