Healthcare panel packs house

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

By Ben Cannon

Chamber stands behind email about ‘partisan’ event.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming - A throng of Jackson Hole residents on Sunday attended a discussion on controversial healthcare reform. The group was large enough that some audience members in Snow King’s Teton Room, which had chairs set up for 100 people, were forced to stand.

Ahead of the panel discussion, organized by a grassroots group calling itself  Wyoming for Health Care Reform, the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce sent an e-blast to its members promoting the event. This drew a little fire from a handful of conservatives and others who said the Chamber had crossed into partisan waters.

The panel was moderated by former U.S. congressional candidate Gary Trauner, one of the state‘s second most prominent Democrats. Most people active in Wyoming for Health Care Reform do favor a controversial public option, one of its organizers said.

Chamber director Tim O’Donoghue said the reaction was subdued and fewer than five people with concerns had contacted him as of Monday.

“We neither endorsed nor sponsored the event but encouraged our members to educate themselves,” said O’Donoghue, who attended the panel discussion. He explained that the chamber tries to screen potentially political episodes by interviewing different members about how they perceive a given event.

“Whether it’s objective or subjective, we’re still learning,” O’Donoghue said.

Event organizers, meanwhile, hailed the event a success. One of them, community organizer Sandy Shuptrine, said the strong turnout and audience interest will provide the group motivation to continue now that the  healthcare reform bill is being rolled out on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

“There was a strong feeling that we really do need healthcare reform,” Shuptrine said. While the group does tout itself as a provider of nonpartisan information, Shuptrine acknowledged at least one defining characteristic.

“There’s definitely a bias among people working on this in favor of a public option,” she said.

Discussing at the community level such a convoluted national issue is an important part of democracy, she said, because this is legislation that would intimately affect millions of lives.

But it’s also a message to Wyoming’s delegation in Washington.

“Sen. [John] Barrasso made a statement on national television that he wasn’t aware of any desire for a public option in Wyoming,” Shuptrine said, referring to the Senator’s appearances on Fox News and elsewhere.

“We want to get across a strong message that people here are indeed concerned and paying attention to the details.” JHW


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