Updated April 7 to include Rep. Stefanik's announcement of a "televised town hall" on May 8.

By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON -- North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik will not attend an April 15 “town hall” meeting planned by an ad hoc group of local college faculty and staff.

The event, scheduled to take place from 4 to 6 p.m. at Hugh C. Williams Senior High School, was organized by Sara Schaff, Matt Manierre, Jess Prody and Lenore VanderZee with help from Cathy Tedford, all employed by colleges in Canton and Potsdam, and others. Doors open at 3:15 p.m.

A paid advertisement placed by the organizers in the April 5-11 edition of North Country This Week for the event said “Rep. Stefanik may or may not be present,” but St. Lawrence County Republican Chairman Tom Jenison confirmed Thursday the Congresswoman would not be in attendance.

According to Jenison, Stefanik could not make the meeting due to prior obligations, but she is expected to visit the county in coming months. Organizers said they were told some time ago Stefanik could not attend, but they reissued the invitation to Stefanik earlier this week.

Recently, a similar meeting was held in Glens Falls. According to an article from the Glens Falls Post Star, much of that meeting focused on criticisms of President Donald Trump and Stefanik’s support for some of his initiatives.

That event drew nearly 300 people, according to the article, which was beyond the capacity of the venue. Stefanik was not in attendance.

In an email response, Prody said the Canton meeting is intended to be non-partisan and offer the public a chance to share their thoughts and concerns with the congresswoman. She said the event will be recorded and posted to YouTube.com and sent to Stefanik’s office. Prody is assistant professor of performance and communication arts at St. Lawrence University.

“Our goal is to create community conversations that allow citizens to hear and understand one another, as well as allow Representative Stefanik an opportunity to hear this public dialogue and respond to the concerns of her constituents in a public manner,” she said in a written response. “Since the November elections, her meetings with constituents have involved small select groups in private settings, with no public report of what we discussed.”

Lenore VanderZee, executive director for university relations at SUNY Canton, has agreed to serve as a moderator for the event, Prody said.

Although Stefanik will not be in attendance, Prody says commenters will decide if they would like to directly address Rep. Stefanik, even in her absence, or if they'd like to address their fellow citizens.

“We hope this event spurs civil conversation about important political issues, and while we hope Rep. Stefanik would find enough value in that to attend, we believe that there can be productive conversation among citizens with or without her attendance,” she said.

Prody says funding for the event came from donors across the 21st congressional district “who share our commitment to participatory democracy.” She says no money is coming in from national or state organizations.

“Donations are from private citizens who are willing to fund a town hall that would typically be organized and funded by politicians,” she said in her emailed response.

“Since politicians are currently hesitant to participate in these events, the donors for this event have pooled their resources to provide the opportunity for citizens to gather and engage in civil dialogue and debate.”

Meanwhile, on Friday Stefanik announced plans for a “televised town hall” May 8 with the Mountain Lake PBS station in Plattsburgh, moderated by Thom Hallock.

In her announcement, Stefanik said she has “had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of constituents in over 50 small meetings across the district and in Washington to discuss a range of issues facing our region and facing our nation, in addition to calling tens of thousands more in recent telephone town halls.”

She said she will continue hosting more constituent meetings, telephone town halls, “Coffee with Your Congresswoman” events, and another televised town hall.

“As a reminder,” her statement said, “all official events with Congresswoman Stefanik will be announced from our office.”

The email address for the Canton “town hall” organizers is stefaniktownhall@gmail.com