When U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) walked into his Feb. 22 town hall meeting in Arroyo Grande, the crowd erupted into a standing ovation.
The cheers from the audience of about 400 continued over the next two hours as Carbajal vowed to continue pushing back against much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, including efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, attempts to ramp up deportations of undocumented immigrants, and calls to dismantle the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“It’s quite a challenging environment in Washington, as you know, but all I can do is work every day with every fiber of my being to make sure your voice is heard loud and clear in Washington,” Carbajal said, to the sound of more applause.
Just one day later, the mood was very different at a similar event hosted by 35th District State Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo). It got off to a rocky start when the packed Veterans Hall in San Luis Obispo learned the format wouldn’t be a question-and-answer town hall. The crowd, some of whom attended Carbajal’s event the night before, began loudly chanting until Cunningham agreed to change the format of the meeting.
The tone remained argumentative, as Cunningham fielded questions on many of the same issues that Carbajal addressed. At one point, Cunningham jokingly referred to California Gov. Jerry Brown as “Moonbeam,” and the crowed erupted, booing loudly for what wasn’t the last time that afternoon.
“Don’t you call him that,” someone in the crowd called out. “We like him.”
While trying to find common ground with some of the members of the audience on immigration, Cunningham brought up a bill he’d submitted. It would require individuals who are convicted of forcing another person to have sex with them, by using the threat of deportation or incarceration, to register as sex offenders.
“It’s not enough,” another member of the audience shouted out.
Both Cunningham and Carbajal witnessed first-hand the fallout of the contentious 2016 presidential election, which mobilized the country’s left to demand that their elected officials resist many of the policies put forward by the White House and the Republican Party.
Concerns over perceived threats to civil rights, health care, and education drove many of those Americans to town hall meetings across the country in recent weeks. At several of those meetings, Republican lawmakers faced vocal and aggressive crowds.
“People are pissed off,” said Atascadero resident Mary Galvan.
Galvan attended Cunningham’s Feb. 23 town hall. She said she wanted to see her elected officials, including those at the state level, stand up to Trump’s agenda. During his town hall, Cunningham reminded attendees about the limits of his office, which has little-to-no say in federal legislation and policy.
“If you want me to go up and cast a bunch of protest against the federal government,” he said, “I don’t think that’s what you elected me to do.”
Many of the attendees at Carbajal’s town hall also called on him to fight Trump. Carbajal noted that he co-sponsored a bill calling for an independent investigation into the administration’s possible ties to the Russian government.
In an interview with the Sun the day after the town hall, Carbajal said he was energized by the crowd’s participation.
“It was so invigorating to see so many people step forward,” he said, “expressing themselves and sharing with me their concerns and asking me to fight hard against these issues and continue to represent them effectively and loudly in Washington.”
At the meeting, Carbajal reminded his crowd that the Republican Party was still in control of both Congress and the White House, and that any laws to reverse Trump’s agenda needed support from the other side of the aisle.
“What I hope is that there are people that are in Congress that are both Democrats and Republicans that put our country first before their party, and can find common ground on national security and what is in the best interest of the country,” Carbajal said.
This article appears in Mar 2-9, 2017.
