Residents of the First Congressional District will get a chance to talk to their congressman Thursday afternoon by way of a “Tele-Town Hall” telephone conference.
The Tele-Town Hall event is being held by U.S. Rep. Phil Roe on February 11, from 2:30-2:30 p.m. This event had previously been scheduled to take place in January but had to be rescheduled.
During the conference call meeting, callers will be able to ask Roe questions and he will answer as many as he can, during the allotted hour, Roe staffer Tiffany Haverly said.
To start the call, Roe will take a few minutes to update everyone on recent legislation and votes, then he will begin to take questions.
“This call will specifically address the concerns of senior citizens in Tennessee’s First Congressional District, but all constituents are welcome to join the call,” Haverly said.
Roe will begin the call by giving a brief update on activities in Congress and will then begin taking questions. Callers who wish to ask a question will need to push *3 on their dial pads and they will then be transferred to a staff member who will take their question. If no caller ahead of them has the same question, they will be put on the line to ask Roe their question directly.
“We do that to make sure that we can get to as many concerns as we can,” Haverly said, adding oftentimes when there is an issue that affects a lot of people, many callers may have the same question. Having the questions taken down by staffers helps ensure that each question is only asked once so several issues can be talked about.
“We only have an hour and he wants to hear from as many people as possible,” Haverly said of Roe. “That is his favorite part of these calls, getting to talk to the voters.”
One of the reasons Roe holds these teleconference meetings it to help him touch base with his constituency while he is working in Washington D. C., Haverly said.
“He does several of these a year,” Haverly said. The calls are just one way Roe works to keep his constituents informed of what is going on in Washington and answer their questions and concerns, Haverly said.
While the Tele-Town Hall conference calls provide an easy way to touch base with voters from the capital, the meetings do not replace the traditional town hall community meetings, Haverly said. Roe will continue to have traditional in person meetings when he is in the district, she added.
“This helps those who might not be able to make it out to a regular town hall meeting,” Haverly said.
Those who wish to participate in the Tele-Town Hall should call 1-877-229-8493 at 2:30 p.m. on February 11 and enter ID code 19641. The number will not be a working number until the call is scheduled to begin, Haverly said.