Town Hall or Roundtable: Ross in Texarkana

More than a few people were a little confused this afternoon when Congressman Ross visited Texarkana. Reports indicated that 60-80 people were on hand to talk with Ross about health care and the government’s current proposal. While some in the area agree with Ross’ stand, many people were not notified of the visit.

Apparently, we were not the only ones confused about the visit. Steve Harrelson Steve's Round Table Report started sending out Tweets Steve on Twitter to his friends and supporters about two hours before the scheduled meeting. He announced it as a “Town Hall” meeting with Ross. I quickly sent a Tweet back asking if Steve was sure this was a “Town Hall” meeting as it looked more like a forum meeting of some kind. Jason Tolbert of the Tolbert Report also questioned the type of meeting being held The Tolbert Report. By the time I was able to send the message, Steve was already involved in the meeting and unable to respond to the Tweet. Nonetheless, Steve’s Tweets about the meeting only reflected what CNN is still reporting. Even several hours after the meeting, CNN’s website reported the meeting as being “just to the south, Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arkansas, held a town hall meeting” CNN Link and proceeds to have a video link to the meeting in Texarkana. Steve, on the other hand, updated his report to indicate that it was a Roundtable meeting as reflected at his site linked above.

If this meeting was a “Town Hall” meeting as Harrelson and CNN both reported and CNN continues to report, then Mike Ross severely failed to ensure that the public was informed about the meeting. There was no coverage in the local papers and no announcements on radio or television. To make matters worse and more questionable, CNN showed their live coverage from “Texarkana, AR”. As it turns out the meeting, being called a “Roundtable” discussion by some, was actually held in Texarkana, Texas. Mike Ross may want to clear this up by having a joint “Town Hall” meeting with the Texas Congressional Representative here in Texarkana after a little local publicity.