A town hall-style meeting was held featuring 10th Congressional District Representative Jeff Denham, California Assemblyman from District 12 Heath Flora, District 2 Stanislaus County Board Supervisor Vito Chiesa and Turlock Mayor Gary Soiseth. The town-hall took place at Larsa Banquet Hall In Denair, California.

This meeting was the first time that Congressman Denham hosted a one-on-one with his constituents since President Donald Trump took office this past January.

At the entrance of the hall there were many protesters. Some of them walked around handing out pink stickers that read “I stand with Planned Parenthood,” while others held pink signs that stated the same. Many attendees also wore white shirts which read “be the change” with the word Turlock underneath.

There were also counter protesters who stood in front of a large banner that read things like “Are you going to take us to war?” One of the counter protesters held a large Trump sign while another held a handmade sign which read “no sanctuary.”

The event drew people of many ages, backgrounds and positions. One of those who attended the event was a California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State), professor from the English Department, Dr. Matthew Moberly.

“I’ve never been involved with politics […] This is the time to be involved, so I felt like I couldn’t just do nothing anymore,” Dr. Moberly said, adding, “I feel like [the constituents] are like me.  A lot of people who have never really gone to things like this and then feel compelled to now.”

Another person who attended the event was the Vice President of the Latino Community Roundtable of Stanislaus County, Maria Juarez Moss. She attended the event because she is very concerned with our current leadership.

“Honestly, I really don’t have an expectation because this feels like we are only going to get what they want to give in this particular point in time,” Moss said. “This wasn’t slated for anything meaningful. You don’t schedule a town hall with one thousand people for one hour and expect to convey content to make anybody really happy.”

Two local high school students, Andrew Wright and Melissa Mendez, decided to attend due to their interest in politics and interest on the people’s general opinion on Denham.

Mendez said, “We have been hearing a lot about the tumultuous goings on in Washington D.C. and even in other town hall meetings with other congressmen and their constituents, so I’ve been wanting to see if that sentiment is all over the United States or if it’s just in select communities. And whether it’s here in Turlock.”

Wright expected a lot of division and rowdiness throughout the crowd.

“I already saw it outside with the Planned Parenthood versus the people that are very anti-Planned Parenthood. The signs were already going up,” he added. “People were getting into arguments in the middle of the line. This is supposed to be a civilized discussion and people are already resorting to using their bitter remarks because of their personal dissociative opinions. It’s sort of a mob mentality for both sides.”

Gil Esquer, Turlock City Council representative for District 2 was also in attendance. He saw the importance and value that events like this have for our country.

“This is America in action. These town hall meetings are where we are supposed to have an opportunity to express our opinions and get some answers. It’s supposed to be the basic American Democracy,” Esquer expressed.

When asked if he was going to speak out about an issue or topic, Esquer stated: “I’m here to listen and find out what is going on. I’m not here to talk. I’m here to listen.”

As the event started, Denham began to introduce himself and it was only a matter of seconds before red and green cards began flying up. The question-and-answer portion had not even begun yet.

Denham was asked questions about infrastructure, immigration, healthcare and other relevant topics concerning the constituents. Throughout the town hall, Denham was being drowned out by the divided crowd repeatedly chanting things like “do your job” and “answer the question.”

When asked about climate change Denham stated that he did believe in it, unlike President Trump who does not believe in man-made climate change.

There was also mention of Trump’s taxes and whether Denham would make him release his tax returns. To that, Denham simply responded by stating that just like he did not force former President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate he would not force Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

Immigration was brought up and Denham said that he was for “comprehensive immigration reform.” He added that that started with securing the border to which the crowd responded by chanting “no wall.”

Mayor Soiseth discussed wanting to make refugees feel safe and welcomed as well as the Thousand Flag Initiative and what Turlock needed to do in order to compete with other college towns.

He responded by stating that there needed to be more jobs for college graduates to stay in Turlock and that bridging the divide between the college and town would also help.

While Soiseth responded questions, some individuals in the crowd would yell out “Run for congress! You have my vote!”

On the other hand, Flora and Chiesa tackled questions about Pell Grants, scholarships, student loans and affordable college. They stressed the value of high school graduates being prepared to join the workforce whether they decide to go to college, attend a vocational school or go straight to work.

Flora also made it clear that he is for affordable education and balancing budgets.

Overall, this event brought together those from surrounding areas in order to have their voices heard.

Moss wanted to make it clear to the younger generation that attending events like these and being involved in politics is important.
“Our organization is working on targeting you young people because the problems that are created right now, you guys are going to inherit” Moss stressed. “Every voice does matter and every voice does count. Congressman Denham only won by 2.7% in this last election and we are in a county that is 46% latino. Young people can make the biggest difference if they want it to be. You guys have a lot of power, I just don’t think you guys all quite know it yet.”