I write to defend the plain meaning of "town hall" as my congressman, John Faso, ducks constituents and clings to his job. Common sense says town halls are an open and public forum, but Faso regularly puts forward ridiculous, dog-ate-my-homework excuses for refusing to hold any.

In March 2017, Faso complained to Liz Benjamin, host of "Capital Tonight," that the 19th District is just too big: "In a district like mine, that goes from Vermont to Pennsylvania, it's hard to have a single location where you could actually be accessible and available to very many people."

Maybe Faso should take a page from Democratic candidate Gareth Rhodes, who, unlike Faso, grew up on a farm in the district and is meeting face-to-face with voters in all 11 counties. Rhodes is campaigning for Faso's seat in a 1999 Ford Winnebago that is becoming a familiar sight in all 163 of the district's towns. Rhodes has even pledged to reopen district offices in Dutchess and Sullivan that Faso closed when taking over from Republican Chris Gibson (who did hold town halls).

Nathaniel Wice

Milan