Town hall meetings aren’t in danger of extinction, they are just evolving.

And in South Alabama last week, two very different gatherings showed how local leaders are keeping the tradition alive on their own terms even as congressional town halls devolve into chaos raising questions about their continuation.

In Fairhope on Thursday, Republican Rep. Jennifer Fidler of Silverhill led a quiet, orderly town hall—far from the shouting matches and viral confrontations often seen on cable news. Over nearly two hours, Fidler recapped legislation passed during the recent session and fielded questions on topics ranging from education funding to where dredged material from Mobile Bay should be deposited.

Sitting among the roughly 15 attendees was Cheryl Corvo of Fairhope, who doesn’t always agree with Fidler politically, but still values the dialogue.

“I may not agree with her on every issue, but I like to hear the answers to those concerns (that I have on policy),” Corvo said.

The night before, a more charged atmosphere took shape across the bay in Mobile.

City Councilman Cory Penn hosted a community-focused town hall at the Dotch Community Center in the Trinity Gardens neighborhood. Residents there voiced frustrations over crime, blight, and a lack of investment in inner-city neighborhoods.

“You cannot be afraid to address issues,” Penn said, following a two-hour event that drew over 80 people. “Be honest, be transparent. I think people care about that. They appreciate that.”

While federal lawmakers increasingly avoid town halls amid political polarization, some local and state officials continue to show up in person even if the crowds are smaller or the questions tougher.

“Unlike the Tea Party reaction to Obama administration policy, which made town hall meetings uncomfortable for Democrats, now it is Republicans who are uncomfortable in front of crowds of irate constituents,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University.

“Few Republican congressmen now hold town hall meetings, and fewer state legislators do, but local officials still face their constituents,” Jillson said. Local officials can talk about local issues, city services, potholes, etc. that elicit fewer emotions and more appreciation for problems solved.”

Controversial topics

Even as most Alabama Republican lawmakers opt not to do town halls, Fidler said she sees the value in holding them. She held three town hall meetings this week, each before a different audience, but all included a similar rundown of important legislation approved during the session.

After that, she opened the meetings to questions.

“I appreciate your support and showing up at the town hall,” she told the audience during the Thursday morning gathering inside the Baldwin County Satellite Courthouse in Fairhope.

“This is something I make sure I do to make sure you all know I’m here to listen and to be able to figure out what we can do to represent the district,” said Fidler, a former public works director with the City of Fairhope from 2001-2017.

The visitors at the Thursday morning meeting were mostly polite, but questions arose over the fate of libraries – an acute issue in Fairhope. The city’s public library is the only one in the state to have its state funding cut following complaints about books deemed ‘sexually explicit’ shelved in youth sections.”

The biggest concern centered on how state lawmakers had considered cracking down on librarians through HB4, which would have applied criminal obscenity laws to public libraries and librarians for making materials deemed “sexually explicit” available to minors.

Fidler was among many Republicans to co-sponsor HB4, but she explained how the bill did not advance through the legislative process and how there were concerns over whether a police chief or district attorney would be granted the authority to determine what kind of content was viewed as sexually explicit.

She said she preferred the formation of a board appointed by judges to determine which books are to be examined and looked at “evenly and fairly.”

Controversial topics were also discussed during Penn’s town hall meeting, which he hosted among leading public safety officials and community activists.

There were some strong comments from audience members, including one man – who declined to give his name out of fear of retribution – claiming the city doesn’t provide enough funding for inner city neighborhoods, and that young Black men are more likely to be incarcerated in Mobile than not.

Penn agreed to meet with the man for a lunch to further discuss his concerns. But before that, Penn implored the audience to speak more positively about their communities and not dismiss them as places that simply attracts violence.

“There is violence everywhere,” Penn said. “We need change. We need to stop pointing fingers at each other. Trinity Gardens has it going on and we need to love each other. But at some point, we need to tell that narrative.”

Drawing crowds

The public safety town hall was one example of a public meeting focused on a hot-button topic – like crime – that draws larger audiences.

Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Gallion, participated in a town hall Thursday night with Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, and Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, in Linden.

McCampbell, ahead of the town hall, said he didn’t anticipate a large crowd. He said that often the town hall events include 20 to 25 attendees – at the most – when a hot-button issue is not on the agenda.

The larger audiences, he said, were reserved for issue-focused town hall events that might affect pocketbooks like taxes or property rights, such as the state’s widening project of U.S. 43 that carves through his legislative district.

“A lot of times people don’t engage until something serious has happened,” he said. “It affects them. That is the downfall, I guess, in town halls.”

But he said they are needed especially at a time when federal lawmakers are not holding similar events.

“I think as a public servant, you owe it to the public to at least hear from them on whether you can solve their issue or problem,” McCampbell said. “You at least owe it to the public as a public servant to listen to their concerns.”

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, hosts a couple of town hall meetings each year and she said they are often well-attended. She said the meetings tend to cover a range of issues from state legislative concerns to activities occurring in Washington, D.C.

At a recent town hall meeting, she said, concerns were raised from her constituents over the newly approved legislation expanding civil and criminal immunity to law enforcement officers accused of wrongdoing. Another concern, important to a Birmingham audience, included a revamping of the Birmingham Water Works and Sewer Board.

“At the end of the day, you are there as a vessel to put the information out,” Givan said about the importance of hosting the meetings.

Nationalized concerns

Some of the discussion, especially at meetings hosted by Democratic politicians, include questions about national politics and the Trump administration.

Givan, McCampbell and others are far removed from those issues – their focus as state lawmakers in crafting policy in Montgomery, not Washington, D.C. But given the nationalization of politics and a heavy concentration of news coverage on Trump, Elon Musk and others – attendees are curious on what it means to them.

“There is a lot of anxiety when it comes to things such as Medicaid and things such as Medicare and even with our farmers, and whether or not they will be able to sell their products in the different markets,” McCampbell said.

But he admits having “very little control” over those issues except for one crucial fact,

“The only thing about it is we’re the one who are closest to the people and they look to us to give them guidance, to give them hope also. As a state legislator, that’s what we have to do at least to the best of our ability.”