Local group pesters Portman

WASHINGTON — Sen. Rob Portman had just arrived Wednesday for a scheduled coffee with constituents in his Capitol Hill office when the call and response began.

“Sen. Portman,” one man said, and several in the crowd echoed the name.

Reading off a piece of paper, the man told Portman, an Ohio Republican, that he and a group of six to eight people were from Ohio. All, he said, had traveled to Washington and slept in a hostel. None had had their expenses funded by any organization.

“It is shameful that it’s been over three years since your last town hall,” the man said, as the group repeated after him. “And Ohioans have had to take time away from work, school and family to come to D.C.”

Since President Donald Trump assumed office, Indivisible Columbus has been a persistent — and sometimes chaotic — presence in Portman’s life.

It’s certainly about the issues, said the group's Meryl Neiman, a Columbus writer. But, she said, it’s also because Portman too often doesn’t appear to take a position, embracing “big, broad statements” rather than providing the specificity on issues that the members crave.

“Own it,” she said. “If you feel X is the right thing to do, explain it to me.”

Portman’s staff members say they have tried to respond, but the group demands a level of attention far disproportionate to that of his other constituents.

“Rob’s focus remains on the 11 million Ohioans he represents,” said spokesman Kevin Smith. “He’s always happy to listen to various points of view, but he isn’t going to be distracted by liberal protesters who have long disagreed with him on tax reform and providing tax cuts to the middle class.”

One of the Portman staff’s key beefs is that Indivisible Columbus doesn’t allow others who go to such events to speak.

That frustration became apparent Wednesday when Cindy Demsey, a Cleveland lawyer unaffiliated with the group, shouted at Neiman in frustration.

Like Neiman, Demsey opposes the Senate Republicans' tax bill and does not feel her concerns have been appropriately addressed. But Demsey was outraged to have made the trip, only to be essentially shut out by the Columbus group. “You’re cutting into my time,” she complained.

Later, having finally talked to Portman, Demsey called the senator a “company guy,” dismissing his assertions that the tax bill would grow the economy. “He just falls in line with leadership,” she said.