Roughly 200 people gathered in downtown Bowling Green Sunday night for a mock town hall meeting and called on U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie to respond to their concerns.
The town hall was hosted by SoKY Indivisible. The grassroots organization said it was holding the event because they feel that Guthrie had not responded to their requests to hold a town hall.
In addition to Bowling Green, Guthrie’s 2nd U.S. House District includes Elizabethtown, Fort Knox, Glasgow, and Owensboro, covering 18 counties in west central and south central Kentucky.
In a statement to WKU Public Radio, Congressman Guthrie said his district’s voters overwhelmingly supported President Trump's campaign promises to overhaul the federal government.
"American people and voters from across Kentucky’s Second District gave President Trump a mandate to govern and to fix the problems created over the last four years. I am confident that my work in Congress, and as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, will help to deliver President Trump’s America First agenda and restore fiscal responsibility to the government,” Guthrie said in the statement.
The event was moderated by Ashlea Shepherd and included a panel discussion from community leaders and educators and a stand-in for Congressman Guthrie who was sporting a chicken suit.
During the town hall residents took turns and spoke over the course of 90 minutes about issues like cuts to funding and jobs at the Veteran Affairs Department and national park system, as well as the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education. Attendees held signs, ask questions, and discussed with the panel members the best solution to local issues, and voiced their frustration about federal policies from the Trump administration.
LaCretia Dye, a resident of Bowling Green who attended the event, said she’s concerned about how federal policies will impact communities in Bowling Green.
"Especially since Bowling Green is an immigration center we have people of all backgrounds and differences," Dye said. "We have people being harmed by our current administration and they're our family, they're our community. There is also the issue of the Department of Education being lost."
Dalla Emerson, Director of Food Services for Bowling Green Independent Schools, said she attended the town hall because she’s concerned about Republican plans for tax cuts.
"I just want to know what is driving the tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the kids, the elderly, the veterans, the national parks, all of this," Emerson said. "We're taking away basic things from the population and giving it to people who have no need for it. So, I just want clarity."
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