Is pro-oil industry propaganda OK at a public meeting?

To the editor:

I attended the Legislative Town Hall at Wasilla Middle School on Feb. 22. My friends and I were greeted at the door by a woman behind a table full of literature that we assumed was on topics to be discussed at the meeting.

It wasn’t. We were shocked to see that it was pro-oil industry propaganda about state oil taxation. The woman ranted at us about “those liberals who want to repeal Senate Bill 21,” offering a flyer full of Big Oil propaganda. I snapped, “We are those liberals.” I complained to several staff about the appropriateness of this kind of ambush at a town hall, of course, and was told to talk with Sen. Charlie Huggins after the meeting, which I did.

Other complaints: Unreliable microphone wasted valuable time malfunctioning, ineffective time-limit enforcement in the person of Lynn Gattis of supposedly two minutes (should be three) and the absence of an audible tone to limit the long-winded (mostly pro-voucher).

Teachers and library supporters illustrated their points by making the most articulate presentations; no surprise there.

Should elected officials from cities, school boards and the borough be pleading their cases at such rare meetings between legislators and the public? Maybe so. Just askin’.

Judith Meidinger

Wasilla