Harris opens Salisbury district office

The message was: he won’t be a stranger.

Looking in to the Harris office.

A crowd of perhaps 50 people crammed into (and spilled outside) the new district office, which takes over a space in the Gallery Building vacated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

About 50 people came out for the opening ceremony.

Eventually the Congressman arrived to greet wellwishers and speak to other media. I happened to be the only blogger there but WMDT-TV came down the street to check things out, as did the Daily Times.

Andy Harris speaks with a constituent.

A WMDT reporter prepares to ask Andy a few questions.

The newly-elected Congressman had a few remarks for those who waited to speak with him, noting that this was a scheduled off week by leadership as they exhorted their charges to “talk to the people more.” As a practice they will have at least one week a month off.

But he was “really excited to get back to Washington next week” and begin discussions on how to tackle the budgetary process for both the remainder of this fiscal year and next year. Andy called the debt and deficit “frightening” and warned that he’s “not sure we can get out of this.”

“The time for talk is way gone,” he continued.

After holding two townhall meetings earlier this week, Harris told those assembled he was surprised by the sentiment. Expecting a backlash on cuts, he was instead told, “how come we didn’t cut more?” and that those attending generally “appreciate finally being told the truth.”

And when people come up to complain about cuts, as they surely will, Andy vowed to ask them two questions: is the program worth borrowing from your grandchildren for, and, where else on the budget should the restored cuts come from?

He then opened it up to questions, and among them I asked how much he’s saving from the new office. I was told $500 per month, which equates to $6,000 per year (or, as I joked, about 1/10 of a job saved or created.) Then again, it could help to hire an extra part-time person to help with constituent service and that’s more important than a physical office.

I also learned through a conversation with a longtime observer that the former office had been a Congressional office for at least 30 years, to the era of former Congressman Roy Dyson. But this office has the advantages of better security and a more convenient location (it’s across the hall from the local IRS office and in the same building as Senator Mikulski – her office is on the other side down the hall.)

Staff, local elected officials, and Central Committee members gathered at the doorway for the formal ribbon cutting. (I took the picture instead.) One other announcement made at the event was there will be a local townhall meeting the week of March 21, with more details announced a few days prior to the event.

The new district office is located at 212 West Main Street, Suite 204B.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

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