- Congressman Tom Barrett became a member of the United States House of Representatives in 7th congressional district in 2025
- On March 11th, Congressman Barrett held his first town hall meeting virtually which some neighbors say they were not able to join due to capacity
- In an attempt to urge Barrett to hold the next town hall in person, neighbors gathered outside his office Friday to have their voices heard
- In the attached story, I spoke with neighbors about why a face to face town hall is important to them
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Friday afternoon, this sidewalk outside of Congressman Tom Barrett's office looked like this as neighbors gathered to urge Barrett to host an in person town hall.
I'm your Lansing neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence here with why neighbors want their concerns heard face to face.
"They've got to start listening to the people and we are the people," said Kristine Jory.
Petitions and picket signs were flying across the crowd of some of our neighbors in the 7th congressional district, represented by Republican Congressman Tom Barrett.
"Right now we feel like we're being shut out by our representative," said Jane Benkarski.
Earlier in the month, Congressman Barrett held his first town hall virtually, which some neighbors like Curtis Hamilton did not take kindly to.
"I tried to sign up for that telephone town hall and I couldn't get in. There were thousands of people that signed up and you couldn't get into it," said Curtis Hamilton.
And at a time of major change in the federal government, neighbors I talked with say they have unanswered questions.
"Public education is on the top of my list," said Benkarski.
To get these questions answered, this group created a petition that now has over 1,800 signatures.
"What do you hope comes of this?" I asked.
"Well we hope he joins us at our April 22nd town hall, that's the goal." Hamilton said.
We reached out to Tom Barrett's office for comment and did not hear back by the time this story aired but Representative Barrett did post a response on X saying
"Since taking office two months ago, I’ve traveled to every county in my district multiple times in a sincere effort to meet with constituents from all walks of life. I’ve visited small businesses, schools, hospitals, non-profits, military units, veterans groups, and local governments. My team and I have also responded to more than 20,000 phone calls, letters, and emails while meeting with dozens of people from mid-Michigan every single week. Just 12 days ago, we hosted an interactive town hall with nearly 2,000 of my constituents, and I look forward to hosting another event again in April. While we have seen organized agitators try to disrupt and plunge public events across the country into chaos, I’m focused on getting results and will continue looking for meaningful ways to engage everyone in our community — even those who disagree with me."
But these neighbors are hopeful that their public plea for answers will lead to a in person discussion with their congressman
"It's so many questions in fact the list just gets longer and longer," said Jory.
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