Back home for the August recess, members of Congress in our region are meeting with constituents. They're conducting telephone and face-to-face town hall meetings to present updates and hear concerns on health care legislation.
With one major exception.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, has planned no face-to-face town hall meetings to date.
She will hold one telephone town hall at 7 p.m. Thursday, calling all registered voters with phone numbers on record — others can sign up for the call. She has said telephone forums allow her to reach more people. That's true.
But it's no substitute for a member of Congress having face-to-face contact with constituents. Matsui seems to think that her recent "health care tour" — meetings with patients, doctors, nurses and medical staff at local clinics, hospitals and labs — is enough face-to-face engagement.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Sacramento Bee.