Congressman visits MHS; students attend town hall

By: Maira Ramos

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna hosted a town hall meeting in the MHS gym on Oct. 24. Khanna answered his constituents’ questions concerning issues on global warming, taxes, war, and more.

Khanna schedules town halls about once a month across his district so that he can hear from the people he represents, Social Studies Teacher Michael Cummins said. A majority of those present at this town hall were AP Government and Politics students, and some people with specific issues to ask Khanna about, he said.

“I thought it was a valuable thing to see because you can see what he is concerned about, like the pipe bombs [that] happened that morning,” Cummins said. “It was a new learning experience for me too.”

Because there were many high school students present, the discussion swayed more towards issues that young people are concerned about, Cummins said. Issues that students asked Khanna about included tuition, affirmative action, and taxes, he said.

“It was a really good experience,” Senior Anna Kaenjak said. “It was interesting to see the community come together and meet our district’s Representative.”

Khanna was well presented and passionate about issues he believes are important, according to Senior Ashley Noory. There were several issues brought up that she learned about for the first time which is reflective of how the youth are mostly uninformed, Noory said.

Town halls are a great opportunity for people to speak their voices and build partnerships with people out in the community, according to Principal Francis Rojas. It gives people a direct connection to those making decisions about the community, he said.

“I welcome our representatives to be in our campus,” Rojas said. “The more opportunity that our students and staff get to voice their opinions or their concerns with our representatives, the better we will be represented in the decision-making around policies and laws in our state and country.”