Randy Jordan just wants to meet with his congressman.

Jordan, 55, a Smyrna carpenter, has been trying for weeks to get U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Austell) to conduct a town hall meeting on health care reform or at least meet with a group of constituents in the more conservative northern part of his district.

This is the congressman who won national notoriety for angrily shouting down an Austell physician for bringing up health care at a recent Scott town hall meeting on transportation in Douglasville.

For more than a month, Jordan has tried to get Scott to conduct a town hall meeting on health care. He has even demonstrated in front of Scott's Smyrna office in opposition to the Democrat-sponsored health care plans. He has (drafted) a petition.

In an interview yesterday, Jordan recounted his efforts.

About a month ago, he made an offer to Scott's chief of staff. If not a town hall, what if Jordan rounded up a dozen constituents for a meeting with Scott?

"I didn't hear anything from them for almost three weeks," Jordan related. "Then all of a sudden out of the blue they say, 'We'll take you up on that.' So I put together what I call my 'A panel' of various people."

The meeting was scheduled for yesterday but Scott's office canceled out last Friday without explanation. So Jordan and several other citizens showed up Monday at a town hall meeting of U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) with a petition for Scott to conduct a health care town hall in their area.

After Tuesday's MDJ report on the canceled meeting, Jordan got a call from a Scott staff member with an apology "about the misunderstanding and canceling of your first meeting. We'd like to reschedule, and I'd like to get you that audience with the congressman."

Then Scott called Jordan and the meeting was rescheduled.

Scott also called MDJ reporter Katy Ruth Camp who wrote Monday's story. Scott said:

"I read your article this morning and I appreciate the points you addressed. We indeed made a mistake. I was unaware of the cancellation of today's meeting until I got to the office this morning. This was a miscommunication and mistake on the staff's part, and I've certainly addressed it with them. There have been lots of threats to my office, and I think they were just being overly cautious. I called Mr. Jordan and personally apologized for what happened. We have rescheduled the meeting and I will meet with them on Thursday at 3 p.m. in my Smyrna office."

Back to the staffer getting Jordan an "audience" with the congressman, the carpenter did not like the term that smacks of elitism.

"I vote and I am really his boss," Jordan said. "He's not my boss."

But Democrats and Republicans alike, once elected, "feel like they're kind of the political elite, and they are not," Jordan said. "And I think they are going to come up to a rude awakening here real soon."

dmckee9613@aol.com