Representative Nick LaLota of New York’s First Congressional District has yet to hold a public “town hall” event with constituents, more than 200 of them complained in a letter to the congressman this month. Late Wednesday afternoon, he scheduled a virtual town hall for that night, giving constituents less than an hour to register for it.
The Working Families Party announced that the letter, signed by 231 constituents, was delivered to Mr. LaLota’s Huntington office on April 3. In it, they asked that he hold a public town hall meeting during this month’s congressional recess. The party’s Ravi Mangla told The Star on Monday that the congressman’s staff told those delivering the letter that it would be forwarded to Mr. LaLota. The congressional recess ended on Monday.
“It’s been six years since everyday Long Islanders have been allowed to engage in dialogue with their member of Congress in a town hall,” the letter reads, referring in large part to the tenure of Mr. LaLota’s predecessor, former Representative Lee Zeldin. By his second term, which started in 2017, Mr. Zeldin was largely inaccessible to the general public, holding invitation-only and virtual events with prescreened audiences.
Those signing the letter to Mr. LaLota “hope you are a different kind of representative” than Mr. Zeldin, they wrote, but “after being in office for three months, you are not showing us that hearing from constituents at a town hall is a priority for you when your colleagues across the state are gladly holding them. That is unfortunate, as your voting record raises concerns that you are not listening to the people and voting in their interests.”
They cite votes they say Mr. LaLota has taken against reproductive rights, L.G.B.T.Q.+ people, public education, and curtailing gun violence. “We ask for open, public, and free town halls where the intent is to listen to constituents during the upcoming April in-district work period,” the letter reads. “We believe democracy is an action; our job is to show up and communicate our NY-01 values to you, and your job is to be accessible and have a voting record that reflects them.”
The Working Families Party noted that Mr. LaLota had not to that point held a town hall meeting. Two of his freshman Republican colleagues in the state delegation, Representatives George Santos of the Third District and Anthony D’Esposito of the Fourth District, have also not held in-person, public town hall since taking office. Mr. Santos, who is now known to have lied repeatedly about himself during his campaign for Congress, announced a re-election bid on Monday.
Neither Mr. LaLota nor Will Kiley, a spokesman for the congressman, replied to emails seeking comment. The email announcing the "tele town hall" meeting arrived late Wednesday, leaving constituents little time to sign on.
In a separate development, End Citizens United, a group comprising Democratic operatives working to combat the influence of money in politics, announced on Tuesday that Mr. LaLota has donated a $2,900 contribution he received from Mr. Santos. Mr. LaLota was one of 12 legislators the group had called on to donate money received from the congressman.
“What took Nick LaLota several months to decide should have only taken him several seconds,” Bawadden Sayed, a spokesman for End Citizens United, said in a statement. “George Santos’ tainted money has no place in his campaign account. It took a massive pressure campaign for him to begrudgingly donate the money. LaLota should be ashamed he held onto Santos’ money for that long, and the other Republicans still holding onto his money should donate it too — and do so immediately.”
Mr. LaLota has called for the congressman’s resignation.
