Senator Jeff Merkley (center, in yellow) at a town hall in Banks on January 13, 2018. Photo: Chas Hundley
Oregon’s junior senator will hold a virtual town hall for Washington County residents on June 29, a tradition for Sen. Jeff Merkley, though in non-pandemic years, the events are generally held in-person at a local gathering place. Beginning online at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29, the event can be found here on the Zoom digital conference platform. Participants can also access the town hall by telephone by dialing 669-254-5252, with 161 309 2872# listed as the meeting ID and a passcode of 57645316#. “Hearing from Oregonians across the state is critical to doing my job. In these uncertain times, it’s more important than ever to hear directly from folks, but it’s also important to respect the health and safety of every member of our communities while there is still a very real risk of spreading COVID-19 through in-person gatherings,” Merkley said in a press release. “The ideas and priorities I hear about in town halls inform the solutions that I fight to get into federal law. I look forward to these discussions—even if they’re online, on mobile devices, or on the telephone—about how we can strengthen our state and our nation.”Elected to the Senate in 2008, Merkley has held 468 town halls since being sworn into office in 2009, according to Merkley’s office. Every year, Merkley hosts one town hall for each of Oregon’s 36 counties. Merkley’s last in-person town hall in western Washington County was held at the Banks High School on January 13, 2018. Since then, he held another Washington County town hall in Beaverton in 2019 before moving the events online due to the coronavirus pandemic beginning in 2020.
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