Karen Heck, 72, of Waterville, left, and Mark Hardison, of Ellsworth, stand by Elm Plaza in Waterville on Wednesday to protest an appearance by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, and demand accountability. Hannah Kaufman/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — More than 70 people with signs demanding accountability from U.S. Rep. Jared Golden lined Main Street on Wednesday in the hour before Golden was scheduled to speak at a Colby College event.

Golden, a Democrat who represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, was about to give a moderated talk to about 200 people on “Blue Dogs and The Path Forward for Democrats,” as part of the college’s In the News event for the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs.

Lisa Joy, a Colby College graduate who had made the hourlong trip from Falmouth to hear Golden, was turned away.

Joy, like the protesters and other Maine residents, is frustrated that Golden and other congressional representatives are not holding town hall meetings where they can hear directly from voters.

“Jared Golden is an elected representative of the people,” Joy said Thursday. “Yet he’s the only speaker to date for this In the News, Goldfarb-sponsored class to stipulate that the public, including alumni, be excluded. Along with his refusal to address constituents at town halls, he is on the wrong side of democracy at this particular crisis moment in our history, and Colby’s class enabled his ivory tower and did students a grave disservice.”

Alison Beyea, executive director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs, said in an email that past In the News events have also not been open to the public.

Seeking conversations

At the event, Golden spoke about the importance of collaborating between parties, according to an audio recording provided by a student at the event.

“I don’t think that the Republican Party is always wrong,” Golden said. “I always tell folks: I’m rooting for the GOP to be successful, not electorally necessarily, but successful as a party that’s putting forward good ideas. And bringing solutions to the table that we can work with.”

Avery Hudson, a Colby College student from New Hampshire who attended the talk, said Thursday that questions for Golden had to be submitted to the moderator in advance. Hudson was one of a number of students who asked about Golden’s lack of public events, which he said the moderator posed as a single question about how he was engaging with constituents.

Golden answered with an anecdote about going to a bar in Eastport. He said he sat at the bar and spoke with customers who didn’t come to talk about politics but found themselves with the opportunity. He said those kinds of conversations are more productive.

“That’s where I learn the most and I get the most productive conversation,” Golden said. “But then, like right now, people are calling for me to do a town hall. How many people that were in that bar do you think are going to come to a town hall? I would guess almost none of them. It just brings a certain type.”

Golden said the most important thing to discuss at a town hall would be Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act budget bill.

“I’d love to have that conversation,” Golden said. “But I don’t think it would be very productive, I think it would be a highly partisan environment. And I don’t think I would learn much. So right now, I’m trying to create venues where I can sit with the people on Medicaid, or with nurses, doctors, with health care facility administrators, to get real feedback that I can use in the process to try to make the argument against that proposed budget.”

On the protest line

Waterville protesters shared concerns that Golden refuses to hold town halls and answer to constituents. The demonstration near Elm Plaza was intended to demand accountability, said Karen Heck, a former Waterville mayor who coordinated the demonstration through Indivisible Mid Maine.

“Indivisible Mid Maine is concerned that Jared Golden, (Sens.) Angus King and Susan Collins are not willing to hold town halls and answer to their constituents,” Heck said. “And when we found out that Jared is speaking at Colby, and it’s a closed event, and it’s in the 1st District — not even his district — we thought it would be nice to welcome him to Waterville and pose some of the questions to him that we have.”

Representatives like Golden, King, an independent, and Collins, a Republican, should be speaking out against the deportations, Heck said.

“We want our elected representatives to understand the seriousness of this slide into fascism,” Heck said. “The Trump administration seems to be thinking that it’s an OK thing for Americans to experience. And we want to stand up and say: ‘It’s not OK. That’s not America.'”

Golden pushed back on the charge that he isn’t meeting with constituents and called Indivisible a “dark money” group promoting divisive politics.

“Colby invited me to speak at their ‘In the News’ series and I really appreciated their invitation,” Golden said in an email Thursday evening. “It was a substantive conversation with students and faculty that left no topic off limits and I’m thankful to them for hosting a great event.

“I meet consistently with Maine constituents and organizations, which is why for six years I haven’t had Mainers hound me for town halls. Dark money groups like Indivisible, who are now manufacturing their own push, are some of the most divisive entities in politics. And the fact that outlets like the Kennebec Journal would amplify it fuels people’s distrust in politics.”

Protesters lined the grass along Main Street on Wednesday night, flanking the busy plaza containing Hannaford, Hobby Lobby and other national chains. Most held homemade signs, bracing against the wind, while passing drivers honked or pumped fists.

People came from Bowdoin, Fairfield, Winslow, Ellsworth, Belfast, Albion, Lincolnville, Thorndike and Palermo. One 18-year-old protester was from Germany.

Indivisible Mid Maine holds weekly protests at Tesla charging stations on Tuesdays and demonstrations at the bridge on Kennedy Memorial Drive on Sundays. Mark Hardison, of Ellsworth, has attended around 20 protests since Trump’s inauguration.

More than 70 people protest U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, and demand accountability Wednesday evening by Elm Plaza in Waterville. Hannah Kaufman/Morning Sentinel

Hardison said all representatives should be holding town halls and answering to constituents, but said he is especially disappointed in Golden.

“To have somebody like Jared Golden, who was a Marine, who took an oath of office to protect the Constitution — he’s not doing it,” he said. “It’s pretty bad when you have poor old Bernie Sanders and (Alexandria Ocasio Cortez) have to lead the charge for the Democratic Party, when you’ve got a Marine that knows better, has fought in combat, who does nothing. And he won’t even meet with his constituents.”

Miko Rusch, 51, of Waterville, said it was a slap in the face that Colby College hosted Golden.

“Colby is one of the institutions that we rely on to protect us and to protect free speech and to protect international students, many who are at Colby, and to protect marginalized students,” Rusch said. “And they are hosting someone who voted for all these things the Republicans are putting through that are harming their students.”

Nicholas Jacobs, a Colby associate professor of government, moderated the event along with a student. He said In the News events give students a chance to discuss current events.

“Simply put, it brings a wide variety of voices to campus to discuss current events with our students, as understood by people who have been active in politics, media and policymaking circles,” Jacobs said. “Rep. Golden was our first federally elected public official to attend.”

Hudson, the Colby student, said as the event was ending, a couple of people repeatedly yelled, “Why aren’t you hosting a town hall?”

“It was very frustrating throughout the event, when he was talking about how nice it would be to be able to pull his constituents (together) or talk to them, know what they’re thinking,” Hudson said. “But I think that’s part of the reason he doesn’t want to hold a town hall, because then he can’t tell us what his constituents think: He would just have to listen to them. And that’s far less beneficial to him, in my view.”

Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Ethan Horton contributed to this report.