He’s the cowardly congressman!
Rep. Dan Donavan has put a hold on town hall meetings in Bay Ridge because the last time he showed up on this side of the Narrows he was heckled by left-leaning Brooklynites who opposed his pro-Trump policies — sending him back to bucolic Staten Island with his tail between his legs.
Reps for the beleaguered Rep. said he now has no intention of crossing the Verrazano to hold a town hall in the near future because he doesn’t think it would be a worthwhile use of his time.
“We understand that people have concerns, no one is saying that their concerns shouldn’t be heard,” said spokeswoman Alexia Sikora. “It’s a matter of, ‘Are you going to have communication or disruptive rhetoric that’s not productive?’ ”
The revelation came after this newspaper questioned his office about a multitude of “missing” posters claiming Donovan (R–Bay Ridge) is ducking his Brooklyn constituents appeared on telephone poles and phone booths across the Ridge this weekend.
Those posters, which demand Donovan show face in the borough and claim he has never held a public meeting here or even showed up for debates in Brooklyn during his campaign, only prove activist Ridgites are not capable of reasonable discourse, his reps say.
The posters are just a continuation of the disruption that we’ve seen at previous events,” said Sikora.
Donovan’s boycott has some residents saying if he can’t stand the heat, he should get out of the kitchen.
“The fact that he won’t hold a town hall because he doesn’t want us to communicate how we’re feeling is absurd,” said Ridgite Marc Grant. “If his constituents want a public meeting he should give it to us.”
And others saw the humor in the posters as a fun way to get Donovan to show up and speak up.
“This is hilarious — it’s like putting him on a milk carton,” said Ridgite Benjamin Ramirez. “If he’s not listening to the people, they gotta get creative with how they call him out. It doesn’t matter whether he wants to or not — it’s his job.”
But the congressman’s people say he isn’t shutting out Brooklyn altogether.
His reps claimed that Donovan will happily sit down for face-to-face meetings with constituents who set up an appointment via a form on his congressional website, or by calling his office in Dyker Heights at (718) 630–5277 or his Staten Island office at (718) 980–1062.
“Congressman Donovan is in constant communication with his constituents, granting meetings with every single person or group that requests one, and that will always continue,” said spokesman Patrick Ryan.
Donovan isn’t the only congressman getting heat for hiding from constituents.
The mugs of pols in California, Utah, and Iowa have turned up on milk cartons and posters around those towns as well, according to a popular cable news network.
So Ryan says the new “Missing” posters are par for the course.
“Sadly, we have witnessed the true goals of a small percentage of people who are getting their tactics from a distributed manual on how to shout, name-call, and disrupt,” he said. “There’s an important distinction between sharing opinions and shouting down people who have different views. That’s not civil, not respectful, and not productive, and we are not going to participate in a circus.”
