U.S. Senator's Regional Director Hears Local Constituents' Concerns
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
It was a busy two hours.
Eight people sought assistance corresponding with federal agencies Tuesday morning, and Sen. Evan Bayh's regional director, Mark Meissner, took notes, gathered papers and assured citizens they'd hear from the office soon.
Meissner, set up in the former courtroom of the Kosciusko County courthouse, talked to citizens about Social Security, income taxes, the Veterans Administration and a U.S. visa issue.
There were no set appointments and the materials gathered will be presented to case workers in Bayh's Indianapolis office.
"Most calls and letters go to Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis," Meissner said. "A letter from the senator to an executive director usually speeds up response time."
Meissner schedules office hours in 20 counties representing Bayh and is on the road most of the time.
He works out of the senator's Fort Wayne office pretty much by himself. An intern works in the office two mornings per week.
That's a change from working in a lobbyist group of more than 200 people for five years in Washington, D.C., where he educated local business leaders on pending legislation in Congress.
Meissner also was associated with U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer for a while.
Originally from Wakarusa, Meissner knew his interests lay in the areas of sports and politics and he hasn't made it to the NBA, yet.
"The work I do is mostly gathering information and forwarding it to the Senator's Indianapolis office, where case workers will pick it up," he said.
His eight-month-old car already has 26,000 miles on the odometer and will probably travel over a lot more road before it is replaced.
Not all stops are as busy as yesterday mornings. No one came by while he was in Elkhart Monday and, at his other stop the day before, three citizens came in.
He always has plenty of reading material for the slow times.
Meissner was circumspect when it came to the Senator himself. He wouldn't speculate about Bayh's stance on any particular legislation or his future political plans.
As regional director Meissner meets the Senator at the airport when he's scheduled to appear in the area and accompanies him to scheduled appearances.
He did comment on the attractiveness of the former courtroom, surprised that many other meetings are held there.
County commissioner Avis Gunter stopped by for a few minutes, but she wasn't needing any assistance with a federal agency.
Meissner keeps in touch with the Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Washington D.C. offices by cell phone and says, now that he's used to it, he loves his time on the road.
Most of the time he makes it back to Fort Wayne for the evening but bunks with friends and family across the state, too, if it will save time the next day.
One woman was told, since her case was already in court, the Senator's office wouldn't get involved in legal actions.
To everyone else his unvarying response was, "We'll get to work on it."
The Fort Wayne regional office is at 1300 South Harrison Street, Suite 3161. The telephone number is 426-3151.
The Indiana office is at 1650 Market Towner, 10 West Market Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204. The phone number is 317-554-0750.The Washington D.C. office has just moved into the Russell Building and the telephone number is 202-224-5623. [[In-content Ad]]
It was a busy two hours.
Eight people sought assistance corresponding with federal agencies Tuesday morning, and Sen. Evan Bayh's regional director, Mark Meissner, took notes, gathered papers and assured citizens they'd hear from the office soon.
Meissner, set up in the former courtroom of the Kosciusko County courthouse, talked to citizens about Social Security, income taxes, the Veterans Administration and a U.S. visa issue.
There were no set appointments and the materials gathered will be presented to case workers in Bayh's Indianapolis office.
"Most calls and letters go to Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis," Meissner said. "A letter from the senator to an executive director usually speeds up response time."
Meissner schedules office hours in 20 counties representing Bayh and is on the road most of the time.
He works out of the senator's Fort Wayne office pretty much by himself. An intern works in the office two mornings per week.
That's a change from working in a lobbyist group of more than 200 people for five years in Washington, D.C., where he educated local business leaders on pending legislation in Congress.
Meissner also was associated with U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer for a while.
Originally from Wakarusa, Meissner knew his interests lay in the areas of sports and politics and he hasn't made it to the NBA, yet.
"The work I do is mostly gathering information and forwarding it to the Senator's Indianapolis office, where case workers will pick it up," he said.
His eight-month-old car already has 26,000 miles on the odometer and will probably travel over a lot more road before it is replaced.
Not all stops are as busy as yesterday mornings. No one came by while he was in Elkhart Monday and, at his other stop the day before, three citizens came in.
He always has plenty of reading material for the slow times.
Meissner was circumspect when it came to the Senator himself. He wouldn't speculate about Bayh's stance on any particular legislation or his future political plans.
As regional director Meissner meets the Senator at the airport when he's scheduled to appear in the area and accompanies him to scheduled appearances.
He did comment on the attractiveness of the former courtroom, surprised that many other meetings are held there.
County commissioner Avis Gunter stopped by for a few minutes, but she wasn't needing any assistance with a federal agency.
Meissner keeps in touch with the Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Washington D.C. offices by cell phone and says, now that he's used to it, he loves his time on the road.
Most of the time he makes it back to Fort Wayne for the evening but bunks with friends and family across the state, too, if it will save time the next day.
One woman was told, since her case was already in court, the Senator's office wouldn't get involved in legal actions.
To everyone else his unvarying response was, "We'll get to work on it."
The Fort Wayne regional office is at 1300 South Harrison Street, Suite 3161. The telephone number is 426-3151.
The Indiana office is at 1650 Market Towner, 10 West Market Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204. The phone number is 317-554-0750.The Washington D.C. office has just moved into the Russell Building and the telephone number is 202-224-5623. [[In-content Ad]]