Some northern Arizona residents protested outside by-appointment meetings with Congressman Eli Crane staffers earlier this week.
They’re critical of the second-term Republican for not holding public town halls.
With chants of “shame on Crane,” more than 80 protesters gathered outside the Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library on Monday where Crane’s staff were meeting privately with constituents.
The crowd also gathered signatures for a petition calling on the congressman to hold local public meetings.
Protesters say Crane hasn’t ever held an open town hall in Flagstaff.
Local resident Marilyn Weissman helped organize the rally.
“While we're supportive of constituent services, we want him to show up here and have a town hall, cause we want him to answer for all the horrible things that the Trump administration is doing, that he supports,” Weissman says.
Weissman says she’s angry over layoffs at the U.S. Forest Service and Veterans Administration, and says she worries about cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.
Weissman says she believes it is ironic that Crane is using constituent services to help residents obtain their veterans’ or social security benefits while those programs are at risk of being cut.
“We think it's pretty hypocritical. That's part of what we're saying. He's a coward, he's a hypocrite, he's not really for the people,” Weissman says.
Kathy Flaccus, a retired high school science teacher, also attended the rally.
She says she worries about the Trump administration's recent actions against the Department of Education.
“Those federal dollars were critical to our students so, yeah, add that to the list of the many things that appall me about Eli Crane. Why didn’t he stand up for our students?” Flaccus says. “I would really love to hear his explanation for his inaction on our behalf.”
Flaccus says she requested one of the meetings with Crane’s staff on the same day his office announced the constituent services.
Flaccus says she was told all the appointments had already been taken.
The Flagstaff protest followed a similar rally earlier this month in Cottonwood.
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has dissuaded members of his caucus from holding town halls after several public meetings across the country became rallying points for opposition to the Trump administration.
Crane’s office did not respond to KNAU’s request for comment.
