You showed up. You spoke up. You were heard. Monday night's town hall was successful. We want to thank everyone who attended and demonstrated to Representative Yoho that the progressive community remains strong. Close to 600 of you attended the event and told the congressman that we are holding him accountable for his votes—that his actions affect ALL of his constituents. Yesterday's town hall demonstrated how we, as a community, can overcome obstacles and show solidarity. The town hall was held during Passover, as it has been in previous years, which means that many members of the Jewish community would be unable to attend. This year, residents came up with a creative solution and held their Seder outside of the town hall.
A large number of media outlets covered the town hall last night. From local news outlets, like the Gainesville Sun, Alligator, WUFT, and TV20, to national news outlets, like CNN, MSNBC, Reuters, and Yahoo News. We have Representative Yoho on the record with his views. We've also shown the nation that even in smaller towns the resistance is strong.
We know that for many people this is the first time in their lives being politically active—the number of hands that shot up when asked if this was their first time at at town hall told us that. We know that showing up and speaking out is a huge step. Making arrangements for childcare, transportation, and work are not trivial.
Representative Yoho admitted as much yesterday. A member of Indivisible Gainesville changed the congressman's mind about HR305, Presidential Tax Transparency Act. This member convinced him of the necessity to find out about Trump's business dealings and at last night's town hall Representative Yoho stated that he is now in favor of HR305 passing the house.
Our overall goal is to ensure that Representative Yoho knows that Gainesville holds him accountable for his votes. We want him to realize that if he votes against our community's best interests that he will hear from us. While we strive to change the congressman's mind–after all, the facts are on our side—what we want more than that is to empower and assist our community with engaging their elected officials.
The progressive community in Gainesville comprises a diverse group of people with a plurality of opinions. Many people felt that the audience members did not allow the congressman to answer questions. Many others felt that the congressman showed such condescension and disrespect to his constituents that staying quiet was impossible. One aspect that sets us apart from more conservative groups is our ability to turn constructive feedback into action. This is what we need to do now. Our next steps are to gather facts and stories to push back on Representative Yoho's positions and to prepare for the Tax Day protest at Senator Rubio's Jacksonville office. We need you to make signs, write letters, and call Senator Rubio to let him know the issues you care about.
We must keep going, keep engaging, keep resisting—and remain Indivisible.