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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s four congressional representatives conduct public town halls in a variety of ways — from virtual telephone meetings to hikes up Mount Timpanogos.
But how often does your congressional representative hold these meetings, and how do they do it?
Rep. Rob Bishop
District 1: Box Elder, Cache, Rich, Weber, Morgan, Summit, Duchesne, Daggett, Uintah and north Davis counties
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has hosted several town hall meetings each August since 2016. He finished up this year’s round Thursday after four meetings in Vernal, North Logan, Morgan and South Weber. The meetings are open to the public with a question-and-answer forum.
“I appreciate you taking the time to call and write our office (I actually do read the emails and letters!) and I’d love to meet with you in person, as well,” Bishop said in an emailed statement.
Bishop has served as Utah’s first district representative for over 15 years and is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Bishop did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Rep. Chris Stewart
District 2: Tooele, Millard, Sevier, Wayne, Piute, Beaver, Iron, Garfield, Washington, Kane, south Davis, west Juab, north Salt Lake and West Sanpete counties
Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, tries to host about one town hall meeting each year in every major city in his district, according to Stewart spokeswoman Daryn Frischknecht. The congressman has conducted a total of 58 public town halls since he was elected over five years ago.
Stewart has hosted town halls in more unconventional places, including the Utah State Prison and one in St. George designed specifically for the deaf community, Frischknecht said.
He has also hosted two virtual telephone town hall meetings — one in March 2017 and one in March 2018 — where constituents called in at a designated time and askes questions or just listened in. Those who wish to be a part of the next virtual town hall meeting can sign up here, though Frischknecht said there is not one currently planned since doing so becomes more difficult in an election year.
“I have always believed in being as accessible to my constituents as possible. That is why I conduct public town hall meetings, meetings with business and community advocacy groups, unity roundtables, and telephone town hall meetings when I am in Washington, D.C.,” Stewart told KSL.com in an emailed statement.
Rep. John Curtis
District 3: Wasatch, Carbon, Emery, Grand, San Juan, southeast Salt Lake and east Utah counties
Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, has held 62 town hall meetings since he was elected in November 2017, the most recent of which was on Aug. 13 in Carbon County, according to Curtis spokeswoman Katie Thompson.
Curtis holds town halls “as often as he can” with at least one in every county, Thompson told KSL.com. The meetings usually take an “ask-me-anything” format.
Utah’s newest-elected congressman is also known to host public town halls geared toward certain topics like net neutrality or environmentalism. He once invited his constituents to join him on a hike to the peak of Mount Timpanogos to discuss environmental issues, Thompson said. About a dozen people, aged 8 to 70, joined him.
“Congressman Curtis finds (town halls) to be an important piece of feedback from constituents. If we are not careful, we tend to hear from one source. He frequently says that he finds that people are very frank. When it is face-to-face, it is a little bit more genuine,” Thompson added.
Rep. Mia Love
District 4: Southwest Salt Lake, west Utah, southeast Juab and north Sanpete counties
Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, has not held a traditional public town hall for over three years, but instead has taken a different approach to meetings beginning in 2017. Instead of the common ask-and-answer format utilized by many local politicians, Love has opted instead to hold “open office hours.”
In August 2017 and again in August 2018, Love has met with constituents in groups of about 10 for approximately 15 minutes each on a first-come-first-serve basis. Those with similar questions are organized into groups by Love’s staff, but no one is screened or turned away, said Love spokesman Richard Piatt.
Love has chosen this format in order to better listen to her constituents and waylay incivility or threats, Piatt said.
"I cannot really raise Utah’s voice if I can’t hear above the clutter and the anger," Love said in August 2017.
