Western Slope residents showed up in Grand Junction last weekend to air their concerns about the Trump administration's executive orders and dismantling of government agencies. Some came from as far as Durango, Paonia, and Carbondale. They hoped to address Jeff Hurd, the region's representative in Congress elected last November.
Hurd was in Colorado last week for a district work period, but failed to respond to numerous requests for a town hall. Inside the First Congregational Church on Saturday, Voters and citizens, rattled by Washington, filled the pews, lined the walls, and flowed outside the doors into the lobby, where they craned to get a look inside, as others stepped up to the mic.
A side room with sound piped in from the stage was filled to capacity. Since Representative Hurd opted out of the town hall, CD3 Unheard was the theme on posters at the entrance. Robin Parker helped organize the town hall with area indivisible groups from Grand Junction, Montrose, the North Fork, and the Roaring Fork Valley.
"We had 450 people register for this. So I just wanted to get that out there.
[Thank you, I was wondering] Probably about that number are here waiting for him."
Some brought signs with slogans like Dump Trump, Fire Elon Musk, and Americans Against Oligarchy. Applause punctuated the two minute orations from teachers, veterans, LBGTQ community members, and others who came to direct their concerns to the absent congressman. Parker said for her, the impacts of Trump's actions are hitting close to home.
"I heard you asking the other person, like how her family's personally affected. And for my family, um, my daughter is a PhD student in atmospheric chemistry. She's working on a project with NOAA. She's been, that's been a major part of her research and what she's looking forward to in all of this work she's doing. And, I mean, I don't know what will come of that. I don't know what's gonna happen with NOAA. But, I think everything is, the future is uncertain with anything that young people are trying to do. And it's a scary time."
NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of many government labs likely to be hit by Trump’s cuts, and home of the National Weather Service. According to Facebook posts, on Saturday, Jeff Hurd was in a distant part of his far flung district, meeting with community leaders in Alamosa to discuss water, education, and health care.
Some at the Grand Junction gathering questioned why Hurd, who ran on a moderate platform promising to uphold Western Slope concerns, was not pushing back against the extreme agenda in Washington.
