Lungren Townhall Meeting Draws Large Audience

Meeting preceded with demonstration

For Republican Dan Lungren being a member of congress and facing a hotly contested election, conducting a townhall meeting can be an opportunity or risky endeavor. At last night's meeting Lungren faced tough questioning as well as a some supports from the 100-plus people who crowed the Elk Grove City Council Chambers.

Lungren, a four-term Congressman representing California's Third Congressional District is facing a nationally highlighted contest against Democratic Challenger Dr. Ami Bera. With a redrawn district boundaries, the district is now more urban and has a slight Democratic registration advantage.

In the 90-plus minute meeting, Lungren listened to over 30 questions from the audience and then attempted to answer them. While there were a wide array of questions, since the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan and the presumptive Republican Vice Presidential and Lungren's support of Ryan's controversial budget which includes Medicare changes.

After listening for over an hour, Lungren took about 20 minutes to address the questions. The congressman emphasized Ryan's Medicare proposal will not affect those currently in the system and only those under 55 years of age will be subjected to any change that might take place.

Lungren acknowledged his support for Ryan's budget and said not addressing fiscal and budget problems could be disastrous. "We are on a guide path towards Europe, he said.

One question Lungren did not address during his response time came from Elk Grove resident Mario Moreno regarding what he has done in Congress to address the foreclosure crisis that has hit Elk Grove hard.

After the meeting Moreno said he was disappointed that Lungren did not address his question.

"He did not address the high foreclosure rate," Moreno said. "He has not taken any action on it."

Moreno said before the meeting he was undecided on who he would vote for in the coming congressional election. After failing to respond to what he has done to address foreclosure problems, Moreno said he would not be voting for Lungren.

Side notes:

- Although there were some heckles while Lungren addressed the questions, compared to other townhall meetings in the last few years conducted by both Democrats and Republicans, this meeting was relatively calm.
- There were three Elk Grove police officers present in the council chambers during the entire session.
- Lungren sat on the dais far from the audience. In past townhall meetings conducted in the city council chambers, Lungren stood directly in front of the audience.
- Preceding the meeting about two dozen protestors held a demonstration outside city hall. The demonstration was organized by a SuperPac called CREDO. Read about the demonstration here.