The Milwaukee Post

March 17, 2017 • Milwaukee County Post • 17 By BRIAN HUBER Conley News Service WAUKESHA — Following three town hall meetings last weekend, U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R- Menomonee Falls, is decry- ing "crowds of agitators" whom he says are disrupt- ing the events. Sensenbrenner visited Germantown, Brookfield and Hartford over the week- end but canceled Monday's Wauwatosa meeting due to inclement weather. He rou- tinely holds more than 100 town hall meetings throughout his district and has held more than 40 in his district since Jan. 1. But his office said in a press release Tuesday "a number of meetings were marred by disruption and antagonistic antics from some partici- pants." Sensenbrenner said recent weeks have seen a significant increase in attendance and such gath- erings have generally been civil despite political and policy differences. "However, the mutual respect that has helped make these events success- ful seems to be deteriorat- ing thanks to crowds of agi- tators, who rather than par- ticipating to discuss legiti- mate concerns, instead used disorderly tactics which brought meetings to a halt on several occasions. There is a recurring pat- tern of the same attendees showing up at each meeting to ask the same questions they already posed at previ- ous town halls," the release said. "Coarse tactics, such as yelling 'shut up' at the Congressman while he responded to questions, and exaggerated and needlessly loud yawning during his answers forced repeated pauses during meetings and took time away from other constituents hoping to speak to the Congressman. They transformed the atmosphere of the room into one more akin to a mid- dle school classroom than that of a town hall meet- ing." The release quoted Sensenbrenner as saying, "Over the years, there have been contentious national issues that brought passion- ate constituents to my meet- ings, but I have rarely seen the type of blatant disrup- tion that I saw this past weekend. I have always run my meetings on the basis of mutual respect, and every- one who openly broke that did a great disservice to their fellow constituents who came to honestly dis- cuss an issue with me. We can disagree without being disagreeable; this is not how democracy is supposed to work." Naming names The release added that, "Many of the agitators at the past weekend's town hall meetings belong to a national protest group, whose core mission is to resist the Republican agen- da and disrupt civil dis- course at Republican town hall meetings throughout the country." When asked which group was being blamed, a Sensenbrenner staffer told Conley News Service it was called Indivisible, and iden- tified one man by name, saying, "We recently learned that they have had specific correspondence with group members about ways to disrupt Congress- man Sensenbrenner's meet- ings." Sarah Dohl, an Indivisible board member and spokeswoman, explained the group got its start when a former pro- gressive congressional staffer put together a guide a few months ago to demys- tify how Congress works. She said the group looked at the rise of the tea party and copied two tactics: local organizing and what she called "defensive politics." The all-volunteer effort has gone viral, now with more than 5,800 affiliated groups, two in each con- gressional district, she said. People are encouraged to attend town halls and other public events, show up at legislators' offices and make mass calls to make their views known. A web- site disseminates materials such as scripts on how to conduct oneself at town hall events, and how to encourage a member of Congress to hold a town hall meeting if that mem- ber resists one. Sensenbrenner's state- ment labeling people agita- tors is a "gross mischarac- terization of what's occur- ring," she said. "I think it's an easy Republican talking point to accuse people of being agi- tators rather than recog- nize there are large swaths of their district where peo- ple are unhappy with the decisions being made in Washington. These are local people just trying to make their voices heard," she said. "Our guide is very clear. We do talk about how it's very important that con- stituents show up at town hall events such as this and ask hard questions, and I think this is what's happen- ing. We do not advocate being rude or being disrup- tive but I think there is something to be said when a member of Congress is talk- ing about a bill that would strip 24 million of health care in this country, they are likely to hear a few boos from the crowd." Dohl said most people in the Indivisible movement are new activists who never used to get involved with government but are unhap- py with current policies in Washington and are looking to hold their representa- tives accountable. As to Sensenbrenner's comment about people ask- ing the same question repeatedly, Dohl replied: "I can understand why it must be frustrating for a member of Congress to have to answer a question again, but those are important questions they should have to answer time and again in front of different groups of people. These are things people deserve to know and he is going to have to answer for that. He works for the people in his district so if they want to show up time and time again to ask a question on the record, I don't think that's outra- geous. I think that's democ- racy." Sensenbrenner will hold six more town hall meet- ings this month in West Bend, West Allis, Richfield, Newburg, Kewaskum, and Addison. Conley News Service WAUKESHA — The fourth time proved to be the charm for Nick Viall. Waukesha native Viall handed out his final rose — and a very large engage- ment ring — on the finale of "The Bachelor." Viall, who starred as the leading man of the popular program's 21st season, ended Monday's episode by proposing to contestant Vanessa Grimaldi and she said "yes." Viall, 36, previously par- ticipated in seasons 10 and 11 of "The Bachelorette" and was runner-up both times. Over the summer, Viall competed in "Bachelor in Paradise," a franchise spinoff, where he left, yet again, single. Viall's unlucky past on the show made Monday's televised proposal all the more momentous. During his proposal, Viall told Grimaldi, a spe- cial education teacher from Montreal, that he began falling in love with her dur- ing the second rose ceremo- ny. And despite expressing some ambivalence regard- ing whether she would actually accept a proposal from Viall if asked, Grimaldi offered a ready "yes" when the moment arrived. But the beginning of Grimaldi and Viall's engagement meant the end of his relationship with Raven Gates, a fashion bou- tique owner from Arkansas. Viall sent her home in a limousine imme- diately before his proposal to Grimaldi. Photo courtesy of Rep. Sensenbrenner's office U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, seated at right, hears from a constituent at a recent town hall meet- ing. Sensenbrenner this week blamed agitators for what his office said was coarse behavior at town hall meetings held last weekend. Democracy in action, says representative of group Indivisible Sensenbrenner decries agitators at town hall meetings Viall's fourth 'Bachelor' run ends in engagement

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