Sen. Tillis hasn’t held town hall meetings, so critics decided to have a little fun

A group that has criticized U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, the Republican from Mecklenburg County, for not holding town hall meetings has turned to an Interstate 77 billboard to make their point.

“Missing” it says, with a photo of Tillis and a “Missing Senator Hotline” in a parody of alerts for missing adults and runaways.

Tillis’ staff has said the senator believes he’s better able to reach large numbers of constituents via telephone town halls and Facebook live events. Tillis has said he will hold a town hall meeting before the summer, spokesman Daniel Keylin said Thursday by email.

Indivisible Charlotte said on its Facebook page that the billboard went up Monday “after obstacles, censorship & flat out NO’s.” Founder Scott Huffman said member donations paid $3,100 for the 30-day lease.

“We have asked for a town hall event since day one,” Huffman said. “He needs to meet with everyone in a public forum.”

In February, about 300 people attended a mock town hall meeting staged by Indivisible, with attendees posing questions and providing their own answers using some of Tillis’ past statements or reported comments.

An empty chair stood in for Tillis.

The staged meeting came as members of Congress were on a week-long “district work period” to meet with constituents. Members who did meet with constituents often faced angry constituents and protesters.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 9:02 AM with the headline "Sen. Tillis hasn’t held town hall meetings, so critics decided to have a little fun."