Town Hall Meeting

Kristin and I went to our first town hall meeting held by our congresswomen Jackie Speier in Half Moon Bay. It was in the brand new gym at Cunha and every seat was full with people sitting on the floor. I read a post saying they thought 1,800 people were in attendance. You had to preregister to get in... I wonder how many would have come if it didn't require a ticket (tickets were free).

I have mentioned before that Jackie is a Mercy Alum and after seeing her take questions, listen to her constituents, and answer will well thought out answers, I am even more proud to be apart of her sisterhood. Jackie reassured us that her faith in the court system to uphold the Constitution will come through and protect our rights and our democracy. She shared her story of why she supports women's rights and is against gun violence. She told us that she believes the country needs a private investigation into Russia's involvement in the last election and that she is going to do what she can to make that happen. She hugged an Indian man who was born in California and after the shooting yesterday felt like he didn't belong in his own country. She offered to help a Syrian women who is seeking asylum. I could go on and on about all the positive things she is trying to promote, but I was most impressed with how polished she was but also empathetic. I think that empathy for constituents is something Hilary was missing. Jackie is the real deal doing her best for us in District 14 and also for our country.

A few interesting things I noticed and I am going to throw out there. The people in the room were overwhelmingly older white people. Very few people my age were in attendance, a couple kids there with parents. Only a handful of latinos in the crowd, even though Half Moon Bay has a huge Mexican population. I would be curious to see how many opted to take the offer to have Jackie's talk translated into Spanish. There were two well-deserved standing ovations, and only one pro-Trump supporter stood up to speak. She told us to keep calling and writing letters, not emails!

It was fun to see democracy in action today. I am rooting for you Jackie and our country! Thanks for representing us.