Group says Hamadeh, staff should be accessible

Brent Peak

Submitted photo

On Good Trouble Lives On National Day of Action, July 17, Northwest Valley Indivisible organized a 40-car caravan from Surprise to the Peoria Public Library — site of Rep. Abe Hamadeh’s advertised mobile office hours.

The public showed up. His staff did not.

This marks the second consecutive absence by Rep. Hamadeh’s team during posted constituent service hours. No staff. No signage. No explanation.

Constituents came prepared anyway. As part of our ongoing Speak Up CD8 campaign, dozens submitted written comment forms addressed to Rep. Hamadeh. Many brought donations for One-n-Ten, an Arizona nonprofit serving LGBTQ youth.

Participants shared similar stories: messages submitted through Hamadeh’s website receive auto-responses but no follow-up. Voicemails are left unreturned. And in some cases, constituents say that when they finally speak to staff, their concerns are dismissed outright as propaganda.

This isn’t a one-off concern. Constituents are struggling to access their representative. Hamadeh doesn’t hold town halls, hasn’t appeared at public forums and increasingly appears to rely on automated responses and social media posts in place of actual engagement.

Our letter drop was both an act of persistence and a public request: we expect our representative to be reachable, visible and responsive. Office hours are a public promise. Ignoring them sends a message of its own.

As we honored the legacy of Congressman John Lewis — a man who showed the world how to meet injustice with courage and moral clarity — we remembered his call to “make good trouble, necessary trouble.” That spirit guided our action on July 17. And it will continue to guide us as we seek liberty and justice for all.

Editor’s note: Brent Peak is co-chair of Northwest Valley Indivisible, a grassroots group volunteers in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.