Telephone town hall is Monday

Constituents of the 13th Legislative District will have an opportunity to talk with their elected officials during an hour-long telephone town hall at 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 19.

The 13th Legislative District includes Kittitas and Lincoln counties, most of Grant County and a part of Yakima County, and is represented by Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, and Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake.

The event will be similar to a call-in radio show, according to a press release, and participants can listen in and ask questions over the phone by calling 509-404-3407 during the town hall. Listeners can press the star key on their telephones to ask a question.

Legislators made the switch to telephone town halls in recent years due to the difficulty of finding a location accessible by everyone in the district.

“It’s really the only way representatives in such a large district can interact with their constituents,” Manweller said in an interview with the Columbia Basin Herald. “We’ll probably get around 600 to 1,000 people, whereas if we did it in an auditorium we’re lucky to get 30 or 40.”

Manweller said that he is looking forward to catch voters up on the legislative session, particularly regarding the governor’s push for a carbon tax and new gun control legislation.

Residents of the district can contact their legislators for more information about the telephone town hall:

Sen. Warnick at 360-786-7624 or judy.warnick@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Manweller at 360-786-7808 or matt.manweller@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Dent at 360-786-7932 or tom.dent@leg.wa.gov