Rep. Patrick McHenry, whose 10th Congressional District represents most of Asheville and stretches east through Western North Carolina, will hold a town hall at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 31, at the Riceville Volunteer Fire Department in Asheville. Buncombe County Republican Party Chair Jerry Green confirmed that the meeting would take place in a July 9 phone call with Xpress.
Staff members at McHenry’s offices in both Black Mountain and Washington would not immediately verify the meeting’s existence or any of its logistical details. The event was not mentioned on McHenry’s official website, Facebook page or Twitter feed as of press time; it was also not listed on the Riceville Volunteer Fire Department calendar.
McHenry spokesperson Taylor Theodossiou, for whom his Washington office refused to provide a phone number, did respond to an Xpress email requesting comment on the meeting. “As Rep. McHenry has done every year that he’s represented Buncombe County, he will be holding a town hall meeting for local constituents during the August Congressional work period. The Buncombe County town hall meeting will take place July 31 at 10 a.m. at the Riceville Volunteer Fire Department,” Theodossiou wrote.
“As this office has done annually, a press release announcing the Congressman’s August town hall schedule will be sent once the details for all of the meetings have been finalized,” Theodossiou continued. “Additionally, that information will be posted to the Congressman’s website, mchenry.house.gov.”
McHenry’s most recent Asheville-area town hall, held in August at the same location, drew a capacity crowd that was largely critical of the Republican representative. Dozens of constituents were turned away from the meeting due to fire code restrictions for the 143-person meeting room.
Updated at 4:35 p.m. July 9 to include comments from McHenry’s office.
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