Congressman Cartwright's Many Milford Coffee Encounters
Warehouses, nursing homes, deer hunting, capital punishment, NATO and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. were among the issues constituents brought to the coffee.
A coffee event in Milford with Congressman Matthew Cartwright D-PA-08 drew about 70 people on July 8, according to Milford Mayor Sean Strub. As people approached Cartwright for a wide range of reasons, he demonstrated he could converse, apparently comfortably, about any topic, as he moved from one long table to another, talking to one person at a time.
The Congressman could be heard telling a constituent with hunting concerns about a deer head named Robert DeNiro that Cartwright had hunted and then hung on his Washington, DC, wall. He also talked to several people about a widely opposed proposal to build a huge warehouse over a Milford aquifer.
“I was a courtroom lawyer before I was a congressman, and I’m certain this issue will end up in court,” Cartwright said. “I formed a special blue ribbon committee that will come up with findings, recommendations and conclusions. It will be an exhibit the judge reads, from people he respects. You can give the committee information about your observations.”
Nearby sat Christina Caravello, who said she came because she has been an independent and never voted in a Democratic primary until this year.
Why now?
“RFK,” she said, referring to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “He has a refreshing take on big pharma and Monsanto.”
Kennedy, a Democratic presidential candidate, has spearheaded environmental organizations and wrangled with Monsanto pesticides. He also wrote a book deriding vaccines and former chief medical advisor to the president Anthony Fauci. He has promoted links between vaccines and autism that have been discredited.
“I think our country could use a Kennedy,” said Caravello.
She had lost her job as a hospital nurse because of the vaccine mandate, she said, and now works in New Jersey as an endoscopy nurse.
“I knew little about RFK and wanted to know more about the congressman,” she said. “I was excited that he was coming to Milford. I’m concerned about the environment, clean food, water and pesticide risks. We have such amazing water.”
She had moved to Milford from Sussex County 11 years ago for lower taxes and better schools.
Also at that table sat Susan Harris, of Dingmans Ferry.
“I’m against the death penalty,” she said. “But Cartwright is proposing the death penalty for special cases,” following the murder of a federal corrections officer by an inmate.
What would she say to Cartwright?
“I don’t know. He’s not a progressive liberal as I am. But this is a Red area,” said Harris.
Nearby at the table was Gary Evans, of Dingmans Ferry, retired from 40 years with the U.S. Department of Defense. He had recently removed an uncle with dementia from a local nursing home, only with help from an ombudsman, he said, after being locked out by staff when they found he was planning to remove the uncle.
“They convinced my uncle to make them his guardian,” said Evans, who held out documentation of gross overcharging and 28 nursing home violations. “I was paying $7000 a month, and now I pay $1700 a month. My uncle is now on medications to slow dementia that local doctors wouldn’t prescribe.” He had taken the uncle to Plymouth Manor, in Plymouth, PA, close to friends and family.
At another table, Cartwright addressed several people with assorted concerns, including Alex Curtin, a special education teacher, specializing in children with autism who are violent. He asked for more special education funding.
“We have good training and good support. I have two assistants. But supply money is lacking. We’ll split a pack of paper across two rooms, and class sizes are larger. I started with three students and now have seven.”
He said he could handle that number, but he recalled having a head injury several years ago when a student kicked him in the head.
Then another man at the table asked, “Where do you stand with Ukraine getting into NATO?”
“I don’t have a vote,” said Cartwright.
“As a veteran I’m tired of the U.S. dragging their feet. This is like Vietnam in a different style,” said the constituent. I’m afraid we’ll be going to war and have a draft. I’m worried about China.”
Cartwright assured him that he would talk to people closer to the issues and then listened to another man’s concerns about South America.
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