Signs, Scenes and Observations from Adam Schiff Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform 7


A crowd of sign-carrying proponents and opponents of health care reform was in front of the Alhambra Public Library two hours before Congressman Adam Schiff’s Tuesday night Town Hall meeting was scheduled to begin.

Alhambra Town Hall Crowd and Media, 5:30 P.M.

Alhambra Town Hall Crowd and Media, 5:30 P.M.

Most people relied on signs to communicate their views, but some individuals got into heated arguments with groups forming around people shouting at each other. Media crews large and small were set up all over and they found people happy to share their opinions. Police presence was heavy.

Schiff’s office originally reserved a community room, but anticipating a crowd, moved the event outside and across the street. Credit should go to Schiff and his staff for the change of venue and for recognizing his obligation to hear from voters concerned about the issues.

I use the word “voters” instead of “constituents” because my Sunroom Desk poll found equal numbers of those from inside and outside Schiff’s district. I talked to people from South Pasadena, Altadena, Alhambra, and Glendale, as well as those from South Los Angeles, Covina, Agoura, and the Los Feliz area. I met a pest control contractor from out of the area trapped at the scene because police had closed the streets around the parking structure.

Schiff spoke loudly and continuously through some initial yelling and heckling, telling the audience he supports health care reform because the current course of growth in health care expenditures is unsustainable. Schiff stated his support for a strong public option, and told the audience he was focused on fiscal concerns including reducing costs for those who already have coverage.

When Schiff asked the crowd if they supported health care reform half cheered loudly. When he asked who opposed it the other half cheered just as loudly. When he asked who had come to learn more about the issues, the response was light applause. This was a clue that the evening’s program wasn’t geared to the crowd: it featured four panelists and a moderator.

The panelists had compelling points to make, but the crowd kept up low-level grumbling and some heckling as panelists and moderator Dr. Bruce Hensel spoke. When Hensel said he was going to list 13 goals of health care reform there was audible impatience, as people made it clear they wanted to hear from Schiff and they wanted him to answer their questions.

The first question of the evening came from a Glendale resident (via a speaker card – the name was not announced) who asked how government could possibly control health care costs since it cannot currently manage costs well in Medicare or the Post Office. Schiff answered that reforms are focusing on managing Medicare costs and making a public insurance option pay for itself.

Signs and scenes from the event:

Sign 1

Sign 2

Sign 3

Sign 4

Sign 5

Sign 6

Sign 7

Sign 8

Sign 9

Video cameras covering arguments among the crowd:
Media Man in the Middle

In front of the Alhambra Public Library, ten minutes before the meeting began:
Crowd at Ten Minutes to Seven

Congressman Schiff speaks to the gathering:
Schiff Addresses the Crowd

President Obama’s Organizing for America (OFA) volunteers before the event (center – Liz Brown from Glendale):
Liz Brown and friends
Liz Brown has been an active volunteer in Northwest Glendale for OFA’s Congressional District 29, manning a booth at the Friday Kenneth Village Farmer’s Market, among other activities.


7 thoughts on “Signs, Scenes and Observations from Adam Schiff Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform

  • Michael Logan

    I was in attendance at this “town hall meeting” as a polite non interupting opponent. I am in one of your pictures here. It is a good thing that opponents and proponents were factually not in equal numbers that night or you surely would have reported the 2-1 majority presence of the supporters. I specifically attended so as to counter the lefts’ false reporting that is as common today as the sun setting in the west. I walked all through the crowd noting the signs and they were easily 2-1 against. When Schiff asked who was against the decibel and duration was positvely double that of the supporters. But I guess it’s who you ask. Today on the Daily Kos site it states that the supporters made up the lions’ share. So much for truth.

  • editor Post author

    I didn’t count the signs; I only took photos of those from each side of the debate that I found compelling.

    As to the decibel level, I was standing in the middle of a group of supporters when the question was asked. Opponents seemed to be on the other side of the gathering, so I heard their cheers from a distance. Conclusion: it depended on where you stood!

    I’m a health care reform skeptic, by the way, and believe the government should limit itself to 1) compelling the insurance industry to make comprehensive coverage guaranteed and available for a reasonable price nationwide, 2) reducing fraud and abuse in the system, and 3) making costs transparent for all – for example, phasing out employer-provided health insurance out so individuals buy their own policies.

  • Michael Logan

    I did count the signs in your posted photographs and by my tally there are 7 proponent and 3 opponent signs that you found compelling. Not really biased reporting.

    The thought had already crossed my mind that someone standing amongst his own group could “hear” things differently. At that moment I was in a mixed crowd and heard it as it was. The look on Adam Schiff’s face confirmed the duration of the opponents “role call” putting him in the minority that day. Schiff knows.

    No where in your 3 suggestions for health care improvement can be found tort reform. Would this be in included in #2 reducing fraud and abuse? If so why wasn’t it called out? Is there any other type of fraud/abuse that costs us more than med malpractice suits, insurance against it and the ways medical treatment has changed as a result of it? I too am skeptical.

  • editor Post author

    In answer to your question, yes #2 includes medical malpractice suits, Medicare claims fraud and other kinds of abuse.

    Back to the signs: I agree with the sentiments on some of them, but I probably would not agree with the policy solutions their carriers support.

  • Michael Logan

    Do I detect an identity crisis? We could go on, e.g. how would the government compel an entire industry to provide a service even if at or below the profit margin? Would they employ good old Chicago style intimidation like Barack Obama and his community organizers did to the banks for loans to the unqualified? We’ll be paying for that for a long time but, what the heck, we can just print some more money. I’ve said to much now and I’ll just quit while I’m ahead with this bit of advice. The next time you cover a political event like this try sending a reporter that has not attended journalism school. The result will be an unfiltered story less likely to be challenged.

  • Amy

    Michael, I haven’t even come to an real conclusion about where I stand on this issue, but I have to say, you come off like a total jerk, so I’m more inclined to want to identify with the other side. Ever hear the term, “you catch more flies with honey”?

  • Sharon Weisman

    I attended wearing my “I Support Healthcare For All, Everybody In, Nobody Out” T-shirt with a “Gay Marriage Doesn’t Scare Me, No Healthcare Does” button so everbody could see my views at glance. I had a bit of apprehension walking up to the crowd, having heard about the disruptions from those carrying teabags. I saw some friends from our local ACLU and a couple of strangers commented positively on my slogans so I relaxed early on. I wandered around listening and talking to some folks I saw from the GHCC and thought the crowd seemed about 50/50 pro reform and not.

    From where I was standing at the south side of the stage, next to B of E member Joylene Wagner, btw, the cheers for each side did seem about equal. Adam Schiff reported, though, when asked the stock right-wing question “If your constituents are against reform will you vote against it?” answered that the emails, calls and letters from people in his district show a majority favor reform so he was lucky that way and it wouldn’t be a problem to support reform. As with all his other answers, it was met with screams of “Liar, Liar, Liar” from what seemed to be all the opponents.

    From my vantage point “a polite non interupting opponent” as Michael Logan described himself was an extreme rarity in the crowd.

    I think the editor’s description of the event was well done and wonder why Mr. Logan thinks he’s ahead and not just quitting.

    It seems to me the number of comments reflect the intensity people feel about this issue and not who wrote the story.

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