After Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, found the owner of a missing hearing aid at the Bend Senior Center on Thursday night, he kicked off a nearly two-hour town hall where he fielded questions on topics ranging from the inability of the federal government to work cohesively to how to protect the nation’s students.

“Someone out there couldn’t hear me,” the congressman joked as he handed off the hearing aid to a man in the packed audience.

It didn’t take long, however, for the town hall meeting to strike a more serious tone. One of the first questions the congressman was asked was why Republicans were obstructing the president’s every move.

“I go to Washington to solve problems,” Walden answered.

He gave a series of examples of bipartisan moves and votes at the federal level. But, he said, during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, he had ongoing conversations with their legislative liaisons. He had conversations with them directly. He sat in the Oval Office, he said.

That hasn’t happened with President Barack Obama.

“You know that Jimmy Buffet song, ‘if the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me?’” Walden asked the audience.

The phone, Walden said, hasn’t rung.

“Building relationships is a two-way street and we all need to do a better job with it,” Walden said.

When asked why the federal government won’t ease restrictions so more timber can be harvested, Walden said he’s working on it.

“It’s a passion of mine,” he said, pointing to legislation he’s crafted along with Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield and Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, that would create a trust with some of the land available to be logged and other parts reserved for conservation efforts.

Linda O’Donnell, 54, of Bend, a U.S. Postal Service worker, said she’s worried about post offices shutting down.

Walden asked the audience, “Has anyone in here used something called email?”

O’Donnell pushed back, saying that the volume of mail is not the problem, that postal workers are working hard and that there are fewer people doing more work.

Walden said the Postal Service’s unfunded liability is a big issue.

“At some point, we have to make sure the Postal Service can stand on its own,” Walden said.

His office sent numbers after the town hall showing that first-class mail, the most profitable for the U.S. Postal Service, is down 25 percent from 2001 and will continue to decline another 50 percent by 2020.

O’Donnell said the federal government is crippling the Postal Service and she believes the post office could make a profit on selling stamps alone.

“I’ll take your word for it … but that doesn’t jive with the data I have,” Walden said.

Although most of the questions were directed to Walden, state lawmakers joined the congressman on the panel. State Reps. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, and Jason Conger, R-Bend, were also at the town hall, along with State Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend.

Sue Bastian, of Tumalo, brought up the state’s move in granting tax certainty to Nike in a special legislative session held in December.

The governor made the announcement and lawmakers voted on it within a week, Bastian pointed out.

Where was the public input? she said.

“I was happy to speak out, but I wasn’t notified,” she said.

Conger took the microphone.

“The process was terrible,” he said. “The fact that we were given no option and had to move the bill quickly, that was not good.”

However, he said, the result was a good move for the state.

“We will all benefit if we have more jobs in the state of Oregon,” Conger said.

He pointed out that Nike did not get a tax break or a freeze on its taxes, but rather a guarantee the way the company’s taxes are currently calculated won’t change for 30 years.

“I don’t believe Nike should be the only company to benefit from what is a good tax policy,” he said.

On school safety issues, in light of the nation’s school shootings, Walden said he’s hoping that locals continue to maintain control. They are in the best position to know what is necessary and what can be afforded in their schools, he said.

But Redmond parent Mandi Puckett, 35, who is pushing a proposal she believes will make schools safer, told the congressman schools need national support.

“We’re running into resistance” at the local level, Puckett said.

“The concern we have is our schools are too accessible, everybody can walk in and the staff is busy,” Puckett said. “The fact we aren’t doing something to make our schools safer is beyond me.”

Walden is scheduled to continue holding town halls throughout the region until the end of the month. Also, he is scheduled to meet with constituents today in Bend, Redmond and Sisters. In his nine-day tour, he’s expected to visit Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Union, Wallowa, Jackson, Josephine and Klamath counties.

If you go

What: Jefferson County town hall meeting

When: 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Where: Madras Senior Center, 860 S.W. Madison, Madras