Haines and Skagway residents who have questions or concerns they want heard by U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski will have a chance to talk in-person to her staff in August.
Two of Murkowski’s legislative correspondents are making ‘mobile office’ stops in small Southeast communities, including Skagway, Haines, Angoon, Hoonah, Gustavus and Wrangell.
“The Senate is taking an August state work period recess, the Senate will be dark. Senator Murkowski will be around the state meeting with constituents all around and trying to get to as many places as possible, but she can’t get everywhere in one month, and that’s why we have the legislative correspondents to come to some of the communities that Murkowski won’t be able to get to,” said Murkowski’s Director of Communications Matthew Felling.
Murkowski’s legislative correspondents will be at the Haines post office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, August 17th and in the Skagway post office Tuesday, August 18th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. People are invited to stop by and voice their questions or concerns to the staff members.
“If a person has a question or concern and says ‘I want to make sure you let Sen. Murkowski know this,’ they make a note, they take it down, and then they fill out a report at the end of their mobile office tour and Sen. Murkowski looks over those very closely to get a sense of what people are worried about, what people are concerned out so that she has the firmest grasp on the concerns of Alaskans,” Felling said.
Felling says Murkowski’s staff usually make mobile office trips to smaller towns during the August recess. He says Murkowski herself will also be visiting communities in Alaska during the recess, her schedule is not finalized yet, but she will not be stopping in Haines or Skagway.
“Every year in the August senate work period, we make use of that ‘downtime’ to not be down at all, but to be up and up back home and listen directly to Alaskans,” Felling said. “‘Cause, you know, we’re 3,500 miles away. And we want to make sure that we are of one mind and understand exactly where Alaskans are on major issues of the day. And you can’t get that very easily over email as you can in face-to-face conversations.”
Murkowski is running for re-election in November 2016.