Senator Wyden hosts 1,101st town hall in PAC
Senator Wyden hosts 1,101st town hall in PAC
United States Senator Ron Wyden visited David Douglas High School for his last town hall of the year on Friday, Nov. 8, taking questions from community members and students.
Every year, Wyden conducts a town hall meeting in every county in Oregon. This was his 1,101st town hall in his career. Vice principal Valoree Hill moderated the event. Principal Jennifer Buscher and vice principal Angie Ortiz-Mcneese were also in attendance.
Audience members submitted questions and they were drawn at random, then students and community members took turns asking their questions, which Wyden responded to over the course of close to two hours.
Wyden was introduced by senior Kofi Franklin, who had attended an internship hosted by Wyden over the summer. The first question was directed towards the issue of homelessness in the downtown area. The senator said that homelessness was directly associated with joblessness and said his administration allocated vouchers for low income people with no means to support themselves and they also gave out low income tax credits to those in need of it to keep people off the streets as much as possible.
The second question was directed towards the possibility of potential earthquakes, the concern being whether Oregonians would be neglected, in a disaster, by the incoming Trump administration. Wyden said that they will not be neglected on his watch and he would advocate for Oregonians.
A question was asked regarding the delivery of aid to fire survivors all over Oregon who had lost homes in wildfires. Wyden said he introduced bills in the Senate that seek to provide trauma guidance and counselling, suicide prevention and tax relief.
A question surfaced from the DDHS section, asking what would happen to undocumented immigrants living in Oregon. Wyden reassured the community members that he would advocate for them.
At the end of the time, Wyden was asked by a community member what his “red line” would be, in regards to Israel’s war against Gaza, that would make him vote in favor of disarming Israel. Wyden began his response by going back to the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, but the individual who asked the question began interrupting Wyden and asking that he answer the question. Members of the crowd then displayed banners that said “Stop arming Israel.”
After repeated interruptions, the community member was asked to leave. “He was too aggressive,” said Hill, “and he was violating the parameters we’d set for the event.” He was escorted out of the building by Ortiz-Mcneese, followed by members of Wyden’s security team.
“I kind of thought there was going to be a fight, because of the adults,” said freshman Eva Moser.
Order was maintained, however, and the event was a success, according to Hill: “Some of the community members had obvious agendas, but our students had such thoughtful and genuine questions that spanned the spectrum of issues that affect our community. I never fail to be impressed by our students.”