Letter to the Editor:

(Melissa O'Rourke of Decorah has e-mailed the following Letter to the Editor):

"What is wrong with Congressman Rod Blum?  What is he afraid of?  We see that he is finally having "town hall" meetings, but he must not understand the meaning of that term.  A publicly-elected official should be able to conduct an open town hall meeting where constituents throughout the district are actually able to listen and ask questions. 

Blum's announced events are not really "town hall" meetings -- they are closed meetings, open only to special people that meet certain qualifications.  Attendees must have photo ID -- and why? -- not everybody has photo ID.  Attendees must have Internet access to register for the meetings, and not everybody has this access and expertise, especially many low-income and older Iowans. 

If someone hears about an event and shows up (thinking it is an actual "town hall") they will be turned away if they have not pre-registered and brought the required photo ID, learning after a long drive that it is not really an open event. 

The meetings are only 60-minutes in length -- why so very short?  The meeting locations do not include the northern half of the 1st Congressional District.  We live in Decorah -- so to attend in Cedar Falls (the closest location, at least 162-round-trip-miles away) we would have to leave by 4:00 p.m., get parked, get in line to have the required photo ID verified and be admitted into the venue.  Since the meeting is only 60 minutes, our chances of getting to ask a question are quite slim.  When the event ends at 8:00 p.m., then we go back to our vehicle and drive back to Decorah -- maybe arriving by 10:00 p.m.  So, we would spend about six hours -- for what? 

There is also a NO SIGNS rule -- again, what is he afraid of?  People use signs to express their opinions, which he apparently does not want to see.  

What adds to the disappointment is we see on Congressman Blum's Facebook page that he was right here in Decorah on Tuesday, April 25th.  This was posted only after-the-fact, another one of his "secret" meetings.  Why didn't he let his Winneshiek County constituents know that he was here? 

He seems to be so very afraid to just meet and interact with people who live in his district.  If you want to be in Congress, you should be willing to meet openly with the people you represent, listen to them and respond to their questions -- and it's become very apparent that Rod Blum does not want to do this.  We should remember this on election day in 2018."