Declaring him “missing,” citizens seek Marino town hall meeting

Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA)

Feb. 27--SALEM TWP. -- Declaring U.S. Rep. Tom Marino missing and unavailable, about 30 citizens from his congressional district descended upon his main eastern office Monday to voice their displeasure and demand he host a town hall meeting.

With the Republican congressman in Washington, D.C., for votes, the citizens carried signs that said, "Don't Take My Medicare & Medicaid" and urged preserving the Affordable Care Act, the health care form law known as Obamacare that Marino and Republicans congressmen voted dozens of times to repeal since its passage in 2010.

Anne Stopper, 36, a South Abington Twp. stay-at-home mother of two, who organized the protest, said she has tried for two months to convince Marino's staff to commit him to a town hall meeting where citizens could express their concerns.

"Last week, he was in the district (in Williamsport), because of the congressional work break," Stopper said. "And he did a meeting at the hospital that was a closed-door event with doctors there and there were protesters out there because we've been asking for a town hall meeting. And that's a totally different group from us."

Everyone knows Marino wants to repeal Obamacare, but no one knows what he favors to replace it, despite constituents writing letters, emailing and calling his offices, she said.

"I think at first I started out frustrated," she said. "Now I'm scared. I have no idea what our health care system is going to look like ... It's the most basic thing a congressman do for you is tell you where he is on an issue and Marino seems to feel like that's not necessary."

John Hotvedt, 67, a retiree from Liberty Twp. in Susquehanna County, came to make it clear he opposes repealing Obamacare and favors protecting Medicare, Medicaid and funding for Planned Parenthood.

"We have a president in office who's not normal and is a threat to all of us," Hotvedt said. "Mr. Trump is at the head of his (Marino's) party and he's in lockstep with his party."

Nancy Ross, 83, of Herrick Twp. in Susquehanna County, said voice mailboxes at Marino's office are routinely full, preventing her from even leaving messages on her positions.

"I think the Affordable Care Act needs some improvement, but gosh it's so much better than it was before," Ross said. "Nobody knows what they want to replace it with."

Jeanette Friedman, 69, of Paradise Twp. in Monroe County, said she fears repealing the Affordable Care Act will damage her husband's fragile health. She accused Marino of cozying up to big pharmaceutical and health insurance companies.

"What can Marino do? He can not repeal the ACA and let people fix it and make it better and turn it into a single-payer system instead of turning it into garbage for everybody except for Big Pharma and health insurance companies," Friedman said. "That's what he can do, that's what he won't do."

The citizens succeeded in meeting -- five at a time, privately and with the news media barred -- with David Weber, Marino's district director and deputy chief of staff.

Weber told them the office might schedule a town hall meeting within two months, Stopper said.

Later, Ryan Barton, Marino's spokesman, issued a statement, which he said would be his only comment on the subject of town halls.

In the statement, he claimed Marino hosted "many town hall meetings throughout our 15-county district" and "numerous" telephone town halls that allow thousands of constituents from across the district to hear what is happening in Washington DC and ask Congressman Marino questions."

It did not say when Marino plans to hold his next town hall.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

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