Rep. Young meets with constituents

The blinds were drawn at the office of Rep. Todd Young, R-9th District, on West Eighth Street Tuesday.

Job postings and voter information were posted in the windows. In the small atrium outside, constituents talked with an office staffer while they waited.

Inside, Young met with constituents in small groups of up to six people. He gave them 15 minutes at a time. Constituents chose the topics.

The meetings were scheduled in advance by Young’s constituents, and all three hours of the day’s meeting schedule were full.

Young said small group meetings differ from his other interactions in the district.

“Frankly, you’re able to dig deeper into particular issues in this setting,” Young said. “Many people are more comfortable meeting one-on-one, as well.”   

Young has also heard from constituents in town hall meetings, ice cream parlors and coffee shops, Communications Director Trevor Foughty said.

But the small group meetings gave each constituent a chance to determine the course of conversation.  

“We’ve found that these work best to really maximize people’s time,” Foughty said.
Foughty added they’re particularly useful because constituents can determine the course of the conversation.

And they did.

Young said he fielded questions on a variety of issues from tax reform to foreign affairs to early childhood education.

Bob Barrett traveled to Bloomington from Indianapolis on behalf of the Indiana War Memorial Foundation. He discussed funding the Foundation’s restoration project for original battle flags.

“I just gave him a little DVD and a history of the flags,” Barrett said. “Not much time to do much.”

Others used their time with Young to discuss specific legislation. Kathie Millican said she was a little nervous before meeting Young.

]“I just want him to know that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does not include spiritual treatments,” Millican said.

Millican is a Christian Scientist and said her church practices spiritual healing. She met Young at a Monroe County Religious Leaders Association meeting and said she liked him.

Although he’s campaigning for re-election in the 9th District, yesterday’s stop was not a campaign stop but an official stop as congressman.

The congressman made a similar stop at a library in New Albany, Ind., Tuesday.

Foughty said he estimates Young has spent about 70 percent of last year in Indiana. Constituents who voiced concerns at a meeting will hear back from the campaign on an as-needed basis. Legislative staffers might call a constituent seeking the status of a bill.

Constituent service issues — Foughty gave the example of a veteran who was looking for the military service medals he never received — could be addressed by a different staffer or at another meeting.

“It just depends on what they’re here for,” Foughty said.