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Mr.
John W. Whitehead Dear Mr. Whitehead: Thank you for contacting me with the suggestion to relocate my district office in Charlottesville so that it is not fronted by a private parking lot. I am sorry to hear that the people who have contacted you find this configuration unduly burdensome. When I set out to find a constituent services office, my top priority was to make it convenient and accessible. I wanted to locate in a community near the downtown area, and near a bus route, so that those who are too far away to walk could take public transportation. And for those who choose to drive, I wanted to make sure I could offer them convenient and free parking. I did not want people to have to pay for parking in order to visit my office, as was often the case at the old office location. I also wanted a space that would be big enough to allow large numbers of people to meet with me and my staff, so they wouldn't have to face the elements outside. The office of my predecessorwhich we vacated because the private business next door wanted to expand-also could not have accommodated many of the larger constituent meetings we have had. At the top of your letter, you restate the First Amendment, which provides that "Congress shall make no law... abridging... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances [emphasis added]." I believe that we can agree that my choosing an office location is not the same as Congress making a law. Nevertheless, you suggest that having a private parking lot located between the front door of my office and the public sidewalk has "hindered the ability of citizens to effectively communicate concerning issues of the utmost importance to you, Congress and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States." As you know, citizens are permitted either inside the office or to assemble peaceably on the public sidewalk in front of our office building and from there petition their government. The citizens' rights to petition and demonstrate from the public sidewalk cannot be "squelched by the fiat of an individual or individuals who are attempting to protect their private property interests," as you suggest in your letter. Since it is clear that people have the right to protest from the public sidewalk in front of the building, the essence of your argument appears to be that at 60 steps, the public sidewalk is too far from my front door to allow people "to effectively communicate" or to "petition the Government for the redress of grievances." I don't believe the facts bear out this conclusion. In May of this year, for instance, I met with dozens of Jefferson Area Tea Party representatives within my office, I invited them inside where they told me of their concerns and indeed delivered to me a "Petition to Congress and President" to redress their grievances. In fact, I have had multiple meetings with Tea Party representatives in my offices in Charlottesville, Danville, and Washington, DC. I have also met personally with leaders of several Tea Party groups. I have also offered and will continue to offer to send a representative from my staff to the Free Speech monument on the downtown mall, a few minutes' walk away, if constituents wish to hold a demonstration there. Moreover, I have tried to make it easier for all constituents to contact me so I can hear their suggestions and concerns. I have received and responded to more than 30,000 constituent letters, phone calls and e-mails. For the first time, citizens of the Fifth Congressional District can contact their representative by e-mail, Facebook and Twitter. I have travelled more than 22,000 miles around the district this year to meet with constituents, and I have held telephone town hall meetings, which altogether included more than 27,000 citizen participants from the district. I established a blog on my website so that people could share their ideas about health care reform. To hear people's views directly on this important topic, I spent over 100 hours listening to citizens during 21 town hall meetings held in every county in the district, more than any other member of Congress in the country. Many Tea Party members attended multiple town hall meetings, and we stayed past 1 Ipm on multiple occasions to ensure that every citizen who wished to speak to me directly would have the chance. I would expect that these unprecedented efforts at accessibility are the sorts of democratic efforts that your institute would commend. In short, I strongly believe in-and have supported by my actions-the right to free speech and the right of citizens to petition their elected representatives. I have done my best to listen to the 655,000 people I have the honor to represent, if they choose to contact me. In fact, the example you cite in your letter makes this point. After protesting on the public sidewalk, where media covered the event, representatives of the Jefferson Area Tea Party and the University of Virginia College Republicans walked the 60 steps into my office, where a member of my staff met with them for 20 minutes and conveyed to me their concerns. I believe my Charlottesville office thus has proven that it can both accommodate the occasional protest and the daily demand for our constituent casework services, respecting both constitutional rights of speech and of private property. Thank you for contacting me about this matter. Sincerely, [signed] Tom Perriello
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