On Kevin Kiley Town Halls

Dear citizens of California’s Third Congressional District,

As far as I can tell, in the two-plus years he has been in Congress, our Congressperson (I will not call him our “representative”, for that presumes something that does not match with reality), Kevin Kiley, has not held an in-person town hall, nor has he agreed to a public forum or debate with any campaign opponent. It’s time we asked ourselves why that is.

We do know that the Republican leadership has recently instructed House of Representatives Republicans to stop conducting in-person town halls, because, when they do, they face the wrath of the people they were elected to represent. However, Kevin Kiley apparently didn’t need those directions, because he wasn’t engaging in this democratic activity from the beginning.

Recently Kiley has conducted a couple of what he calls tele-town halls, whereby constituents can “join” him via telephone, hear a handful of people ask questions or make comments, and hear Kiley’s pre-planned responses. In fact, Kiley brags about how many people are on these tele-town halls — which are basically listening events for the constituents — and claims that these are proof of his transparency. Oh, and he made sure that he got extra credit for adding a whole 30 minutes to one of these events, because there were so many people on the call.

So, what is the problem? Why does Kiley prefer his tele-town halls to actual in-person town halls? Well, the reasons are numerous. First of all, it’s easier for him: he can just sit in his office for an hour or so, and talk on the telephone — rather than having to actually go out into the district he has been elected to represent and serve. Second, he doesn’t have to worry about someone raising a question or complaint for which he hasn’t already prepared an answer: his staff can select those questions that fit nicely with his already scripted statements. Third, he doesn’t have to actually face people and come face-to-face with displeasure, anger, disgust — thus, allowing him to claim that all is just hunky-dory in the district. Fourth, there are no follow-up questions, and no real-time fact-checking — meaning that he can say pretty much whatever he wants to say, whether it is factual or not. Which leads us to reason number five: he never has to answer for the lies, misdirection, and misinformation that he puts forth in e-mails and public statements — because no one is ever given the opportunity to challenge him in person.

Oh, we do know that Kiley is willing to meet with actual people. Of course, they have to be strong backers of him, and come with open wallets. He will give them all they time they want. But, for the “regular” people of Congressional District 3, an hour or so on the phone, listening in with hundreds of others, is all that he will offer. But, he will brag about how many people listened, and how wonderful an experience it was to “spend time” with his constituents.

There have been some Republican Congresspersons who have, at least briefly, ignored the instructions of Republican leadership, and recently held in-person town halls. And, in pretty much every circumstance, they have been faced with angry, disillusioned, and very vocal citizens — sometimes to the point where the legislator has had to make a hasty retreat. Those Congresspersons at least showed a modicum of courage. Not Kevin Kiley, though. Instead of doing what he should have been doing for the past two-plus years, which is to hold in-person town halls in every county within District 3, he has been hiding from all of us. I think that he has rightfully earned the sobriquet of “Triple-K” — Kevin Kiley, Koward.

Paul Guffin

Downieville