Misunderstanding Puts Supers on Edge About Locals’ Town Hall for Rep. Collins

LIVINGSTON COUNTY – An apparent misunderstanding has local Town Supervisors on edge about a locally-organized town hall-style meeting intended to go on with or without Rep. Chris Collins.

County officials said during Monday’s Ways and Means Committee meeting that rumors of a town hall-style meeting by Congressman Chris Collins are believed to be fabricated by local residents to trick the government into coming out as a sponsor of a Congressional event that never was. Collins’ office reaffirmed to the GeneseeSun.com prior statements that the Congressman himself has no intentions of holding a town hall meeting.

“It [the Town Hall with Collins] was a complete fabrication,” said Gott. “We confirmed that with Congressman’s office. I think what they were trying to do is set the County up as a sponsor of this event when there was never in fact an event.”

However, the man who sent the correspondence, Dave Nagel, said that it was likely his own word choice that led to a misunderstanding.

“I sent ‘A group of constituents are organizing a town hall meeting with Representative Chris Collins,'” said Nagel, referring to the C 47 group that holds protests outside of Collins’ Geneseo office every Tuesday. “The idea is to have the meeting whether Representative Collins comes or not. I see that the wording could suggest that he [Collins] was in on it, which he was not. We were asking the county Republican committee, Democratic Committee and Board of Supervisors if they would be interested in sponsoring our event, which could help with securing a venue.”

Nagel said that he would be sending follow-up correspondence to clarify this with Town Supervisors, who may be on edge.

“If anybody hears anything, that was completely done by locals,” said Gott. “We pushed back immediately. It wasn’t like we got caught or anything. We said ‘no’ up front. But that’s the type of stuff that’s going on in our little piece of the world right now so be aware of it. If someone tries to get you to sign on to something, just double check it first.”

For now, C 47 has no official plans to hold the town hall. The group would eventually like to hold an open meeting, perhaps with an empty chair for Collins, at a venue in Geneseo.