Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, hosted a community tele-town hall Thursday evening to discuss his first 60 days in office, as well as where he stood on a number of issues.

Garcia hosted his first Congressional town hall with constituents from across California’s 25th District. In order to keep people safe and adhere to recommended social distancing policies, this was held as a District-wide conference call. Nearly 6,000 constituents took part in this briefing on Congressman Garcia’s first 60 days in office, an update on COVID-19 within the 25th District, and a question and answer session, according to his office.

“I was honored to have the opportunity to spend some time last night speaking with nearly 6,000 constituents that took part in my first Congressional Townhall,” said Garcia on Friday. “At times such as this, it is crucial that everyone who lives in California’s 25th District know exactly what their government is doing and how it is working on their behalf.”

Garcia discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, church gatherings, community feedback and other issues with the constituents in the virtual town hall.

During the town hall, Garcia shared his thoughts on the way that the COVID-19 pandemic is being handled by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

“Governor Newsom is making decisions based on macro-data and not local data,” Garcia said in the town hall. “Local data in the Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley and Simi Valley do not justify the levels of shutdowns he is calling for. The shutdowns are crushing the economy, they are arbitrary and capricious.”

See Related: Congressman Mike Garcia To Hold Town Hall Reflecting On First 60 Days In Office  

Another topic brought up was churches and how church gatherings once again had to cease due to the pandemic. 

“The churches need to be allowed to open up,” Garcia said in the town hall. “In the midst of a crisis, people turn to churches for spiritual guidance and help. With them closing once again, many people are going without that when it is needed the most.”

In a morning interview with KHTS, Garcia shared that the town hall also planned to touch on how his office was tackling constituent casework and the eight-month backlog of cases caused by having no congressional representative in office since the fall of 2019. 

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Additionally, Garcia planned to go over how the caseworkers were bringing “real meaningful help” to constituents of the 25th district, touching on veterans, social security checks, or COVID relief checks, including what can be expected in the future. 

“The thing I would say right now is have hope, we will get through this COVID crisis. I think all branches of the government are starting to work together,” said Garcia in an on-air interview. “There will be an additional COVID relief package, but right now we need to be able to have the courage to work through the fear, the courage to get back to work, to continue to mitigate the spread of the virus, but also to try to get this economy going, to get our jobs back online, to get our kids back in school. We need to as a nation to reunite and start growing this economy.”

In a statement made previously, Garcia touched on the importance of having the community give feedback to him. 

“I believe that transparency is extremely important when it comes to representing California’s 25th District,” Garcia said in a statement. “This town hall is an opportunity to share with my constituents what is happening in Washington, D.C. and to get their feedback on the important issues facing our community and our nation right now.”

Garcia was elected into office on May 12 during a special election to fill the remaining time in former-Rep. Katie Hill’s term.

He is set to face-off with Assemblywoman Christy Smith in November for the next full term in office. 

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