Pearce’s town hall does right by NM, democracy

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., deserves kudos for hosting last week’s town hall meeting, his first since the general election.

A raucous crowd of about 300 constituents from his far-flung southern New Mexico district gathered on Saturday at the Ruidoso Convention Center to quiz Pearce about a range of topics, many dealing with the halting start of President Donald Trump’s administration.

During the first town halls following the election, many Republicans in Congress faced fired-up crowds, many of them Democrats angry over Trump’s plans for health care, education, public lands, the environment, immigration and the border. Some got out of hand, and there have been claims outsiders were brought to agitate the crowds.

Pearce had drawn criticism — including from the Journal — for not holding a town hall sooner, although he did hold a telephonic “town hall” on Feb. 15 that his office said involved about 10,000 callers.

Pearce spent part of the congressional recess traveling abroad, according to his press secretary. As part of his duties as chairman of the new House Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, Pearce visited Urkaine, the Czech Republic, Afghanistan, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Uganda, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Algeria at the invitation of Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.

But there’s no education like meeting your constituents face to face, and that people from Las Cruces, Artesia, Roswell, Carlsbad and elsewhere traveled to the mountain retreat of Ruidoso to see Pearce shows the importance they place on seeing their elected representatives up close, live and in person. It’s noteworthy Pearce started the meeting by requesting questions from people who disagreed with him. “The most important thing that happened is that we, with very different viewpoints, sat down and had a civil discussion,” he told the Journal after the two-hour town hall. “Yes, it was rowdy. I don’t mind that at all. People do have strong opinions, and this is how the process works.”

Pearce has another town hall scheduled for 9 a.m. today in Hobbs. He is showing New Mexico and Washington how grass-roots democracy works, and his colleagues in D.C. should take note.