Tuesday evening, a crowd of over 300 people packed into the Athens-Clarke County Library for an event hosted by local Democratic organizations.
At the town hall meeting, residents were asked to pose questions to District 10 Representative Mike Collins. The Republican lawmaker was invited but did not attend.
Spencer Frye, state representative for District 122 and member of the Democratic Party, moderated the event. He had harsh words for Representative Collins.
“I would like to go on record saying, Congressman Collins, I am very disappointed in you as an American, as an elected official, and as a Georgian, that you are unwilling to come forward and speak with your constituents at this time.”
The event also featured four local residents who say their lives have been impacted by President Donald Trump’s policies. Mark Farmer is a professor of cellular biology at the University of Georgia and a Winterville resident. He said that he is concerned about firings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Agriculture.
“With the current threat that the bird flu poses to the $28 billion poultry industry in Georgia, and the potential for the H5N1 virus to infect humans and cause a deadly pandemic, how can you justify the firing of these essential workers, many of whom live and work in District 10?”
A spokesperson for Congressman Mike Collins said that the representative last held a town hall with constituents in February, and that his commitment to Georgia’s 10th District is “unquestionable.”
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with WUGA News
