Tom Suozzi to host town hall in Williston Park

Noah Manskar
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) speaks at a town hall meeting in Plainview on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (Photo by Noah Manskar)

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi will hold a town hall in Williston Park next Monday, his first in the Town of North Hempstead since taking office.

Suozzi, a Glen Cove Democrat, has hosted meetings every month since February to hear from constituents in the North Shore’s 3rd Congressional District. The June 19 event at American Legion Post 144 will be Suozzi’s fifth town hall since taking office.

The town hall meetings, organized by Suozzi’s political campaign, coincide with his “Heard in the Third” initiative, an effort to get constituents organized to effect political change following the election of Republican President Donald Trump in November.

“I was heartened and encouraged by so many people who expressed interest in getting more involved,” Suozzi said on a flier promoting the Williston Park event. “I hope to see you there as we try to cut through the clutter and tackle big problems together.”

Suozzi has pledged to hold a town hall each month through November 2018, except in August and December. So far he has held more than Long Island’s three other representatives.

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) held one in March; Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) held a phone call for constituents the same month; and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) held a phone call in February and two in-person events in April.

Town hall meetings in congressional districts across the U.S. drew national attention earlier this year as progressive activists angrily confronted many Republican representatives in their home districts. Suozzi has faced some pushback from local progressive activists who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in his unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign last year against Hillary Clinton.

The Williston Park town hall will bring the former Democratic Nassau County executive into a village that Trump won by a large margin in November.

But Kim Devlin, a Suozzi political spokeswoman, said the congressman, who ran on a message of bipartisan problem-solving last year, “wants to hear from constituents on any issues, any questions.”

“These town halls are for everyone who lives in Congressional District 3 no matter their party registration, no matter who they voted for for president last year and no matter what side of any issue they stand on,” Devlin said.

Suozzi’s town hall runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, June 19, at American Legion Post 144, located at 730 Willis Ave.

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