Hope for the Community Town Hall
Friday night, March 21, in the pouring rain, over 200 people attended a Town Hall meeting at Cavu Cellars. The purpose of the Town Hall was to bring the community together. People came to ask questions about the ongoing implementation of the 47th President’s agendas, including the DOGE effort, led by Elon Musk.
Walla Walla County is an amazing community. Hard times are coming for many given changes at the Federal level. Increasingly people are protesting the Federal cuts; opposition is bubbling up from across the community. One group is the new Walla Walla Activism Network. WW Activism and the local Democratic party were the major organizers of the evening. Many people shared the commitment to building community and improve communication about the impact of the new administration. We must hang together rather than be pitted against each other.
Attending was a diverse group of voters including Trump supporters, socialists, progressives, Democrats, Republicans and independents. One assessment of the crowd estimated that between 1/4th and 1/3rd of attendees were under the age of 35. The Town Hall was originally intended to be with Congressman Baumgartner (5th CD). It was decided to proceed without the Congressman given the level of uncertainty, misinformation and fear that people have. The need for the community to come together during these times of great change superseded all other purposes.
The AUDIENCE was the speaker. The Town Hall included a resource table and refreshments. A panel of three people representing several key areas of local concern – agriculture and farming, immigration, criminal justice and DEI, health care and impact on a local city – provided additional information and answered some questions. For an hour and a half people asked questions and criticized Federal employee terminations and frozen Federal dollars, especially for work already performed under contract. Norma Hernandez was the moderator. Panelists were Joel Huesby, Abby Muro and Kaelyn Pike.
The assembled crowd accepted the tone and expectations for the meeting set by Mayor Hernandez. Everyone wanted to hear what other people had to say. The crowd was civil and calm yet shared anger and disappointment. During the discussion about local law enforcement’s role in ICE’s work, the 2020 state law Keep Washington Working law was summarized. Mayor Hernandez noted that law enforcement is a difficult job. Her comment that local law enforcement is hard work and our officers are good at their jobs was applauded.
Paid security was provided in response to expressed concerns. Refreshments were also provided.. The resource table included brochures and flyers for various programs such as the food bank, the homeless shelter, mental health and health care programs, re-entry programs for formerly incarcerated people, employment, SNAP and other resources.
Organizers of the event thank Cavu Cellars for their warm hospitality and fantastic event space.
Many people have inquired about when the next town hall meeting will be held. It is being organized and hopefully will be in a few weeks. To keep abreast of local events check Walla Walla Activism Network on TeamReach app (free to download) and wallawallademocrats.com.
Kari Isaacson, Chair, Walla Walla County Democrats