The Roanoke Tea Party will hold a 2nd Anniversary Celebration this Friday (April 15) at Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
We will mark this milestone with a unique event we are calling a Reverse Town Hall. In a typical Town Hall event, politicians come before the people they represent to share thoughts and insights, and take questions from those who attend.
Meetings such as these were held prior to the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and made news across the country for the boisterous nature of the debate, and the passionate expressions of concern on both sides.
But instead of asking politicans and officeholders to come speak to us on Friday, we have invited them all to attend the Reverse Town Hall to listen to us, and pose their questions to the Tea Party.
Every City, County, State and Federal elected official in the area has been personally invited to join us, and we are pleased to report that several have taken us up on the offer. Virginia State Senators John Edwards and Ralph Smith have indicated that they will attend, as has Roanoke City Vice Mayor Sherman Lea.
Though our local state and federal Representatives Greg Habeeb (editor note: in case this is not clear, Greg Habeeb is a state delegate and Morgan Griffith is a federal official….sorry if this was confusing) and Morgan Griffith have begged off owing to previous commitments, Bob Goodlatte has said that he hopes to be able to be there at some point tomorrow. We hope that several other local officials will be with us as well.
Starting at 5:00 p.m., the politicians and those assembled at the park will hear from members of the Roanoke Tea Party Board of Directors and area citizens and business owners about topics of concern to our members. These will include issues pertaining specifically to Roanoke City, others to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and still others our US federal government.
For the sake of the officials who choose not to attend, we will have a video station set up where citizens can record brief messages about their particular concerns. These will be assembled and delivered to the representatives on DVD after the event.
There will also be representatives on site from a number of political and Liberty-oriented organizations, Americans For Prosperity, Campaign For Liberty, and Roanoke Fair Tax among them.
Food, soft drinks and, of course, iced tea will be available on site for those who want to head for Elmwood straight from work.
Our various speakers and (presumably) the elected officials in attendance will be available to the media during and after the Reverse Town Hall.
Come one, come all. It should be a rollicking good time!
“Though our Federal Representatives Greg Habeeb and Morgan Griffith have begged off owing to previous commitments, Bob Goodlatte has said that he hopes to be able to be there at some point tomorrow. We hope that several other local officials will be with us as well.”
How could anything override a meeting of very active, patriotic citizens that they are supposed to be representing? To our ‘representatives’, BREAK YOUR “COMMITMENTS”, pretenders! This party has been planned sufficiently in advance for your attendance!
Be sure to ask Bob Goodlatte whether he favors nullification. He’s good at avoiding questions, so you’ve got to persevere. It helps to have the Roanoke Times right there when you ask, like with McDonnell last summer.
Jeff,
Unfortunately Bob didn’t make the meeting till right at 7 PM. He was traveling back from DC. We have asked the Congressman his opinion and he gave us a predictably PC answer amounting to nothing. While he will publicly express support of the 10th Amendment, he has done little concrete to show that support and has outright flaunted it with every yes budget vote that funds agencies like Education that are are flagrantly outside of the Feds.
We don’t expect any Federal official to think much of nullification and interposition as it strikes at the very heart of the power that they wield. And his support is really not necessary at this point as it is the state government that has to wiled this power. Which is why we focus more of our energy on the state level.
HRandyM….I think in many cases you are correct. Delegate Habeeb (he isn’t federal…..that was a typo I need to correct) had a decent enough excuse as he is participating in the model GA session in Richmond and that was planned well before the invite) As for the others, well that is between them and their conscience. Unusual Kudos to John Edwards…a frequent victim of our ire for having the gumption to wade into enemy territory and face the music. I may not like his voting record but at least he had the guts to show.