Passion and Intensity Mark Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith's Town Hall Meeting in Franklin

FRANKLIN, Ind. — It didn't take long for tempers to run hot at a town hall meeting with Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith."You're a charlatan and a phony!" yelled the first man to talk at the event at Franklin City Hall.The passionate atmosphere continued throughout the evening, with concerns ranging from a Department of Transportation project to vouchers for private schools. One woman who got loud was removed by staff as warned beforehand for exhibiting disruptive behavior.One public school teacher, Linda Monroe, said, "We need to get rid of vouchers. We need to send that money back to public schools and improve the education of all students."Another man disagreed, saying the voucher system wasn't taking away from public schools, but rather shifting priorities toward funding sports and extracurriculars: "I'm all for my tax dollars going to those vouchers and paying for those poor kids to get them out of the failing public schools."Beckwith responded, "We believe tax dollars should follow the parents, but it's okay. People can disagree with us on this."A pastor took issue with language and policies he felt were not in line with his practice of Christianity: "How do you reconcile your call to follow Jesus, to welcome the outcast, to heal the hurting, to lay down the power with policies that seem to punish the marginalized? Silence the dissent and privilege one religion over another's?"Beckwith said, while there wasn't much support in this room, he has support in other parts of the state: "Majority of the people in this room were obviously on the other side of the isle. Very passionate. But, when we travel the state, we overwhelmingly have support from all four corners of the state."Beckwith emphasized that other elected representatives should hold similar town halls to hear from the people.