WASHINGTON — The town-hall meeting scheduled for tonight in Rep. Steve Stivers’ congressional district will have a children's play area with coloring and crafts. It will have speakers from the group Fair Districts Ohio and a Democratic state representative.

What it won’t have is Stivers.

In his House district and the neighboring 12th District, represented by fellow Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi, constituents — frustrated by what they call a lack of access to their lawmakers — have begun organizing events aimed at smoking them out.

As the Stivers event happens at 7 p.m. at the Makoy Center in Hilliard, one will be held at the same time in Tiberi's district at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus in Clintonville. Both Tiberi and Stivers have confirmed that they are unavailable, but organizers say they’ll go on without the guests of honor if necessary.

The Tiberi event was planned after 1,700 people signed a petition calling for him to hold a town-hall meeting. The Republican from southern Delaware County has consistently offered to meet with small groups of constituents, but that has not satisfied those who say he needs to meet with a larger group to get the full scope of their concerns about issues, especially the pending repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

“It’s not the same,” said Mia Lewis, a Clintonville freelance writer who is helping to organize the Tiberi event.

She and a small group met with Tiberi, and she said he smiled politely and listened to her concerns about the impact of an Obamacare repeal. Tiberi is the chairman of a House health subcommittee, with jurisdiction over the law.

“I get the sense that Republicans really believe that this is Astroturf and people don’t care about it, but they’re wrong,” she said, referring to the slang term for the opposite of a grass-roots movement. “People really do care … and they want to hear from him.”

A Tiberi spokeswoman said the congressman has scheduled “back-to-back meetings with constituents to discuss health-care reform over the past several weeks in his central Ohio office.”

“These are important opportunities for Rep. Tiberi to listen to their concerns, respond to them directly and engage in a constructive conversation,” said spokeswoman Olivia Hnat.

Similarly, Courtney Whetstone, Stivers' chief-of-staff, said the congressman is happy to talk with people: Stivers has held three telephone town halls this year. Those interested in participating can call the Hilliard district office at 614-771-4968.

Critics have said the events are often more listening sessions than anything else, and that the ability to ask questions is limited.

Whetstone said Stivers received the invitation to tonight's event just five days ago, and said he had other events on his schedule.

"He wants to have a constructive conversation with his constituents; however, the event is organized by a Democrat running for Hilliard City Council and has speakers slated such as the former Ohio Democratic Party chairman," she said, referring to Chad Queen, the event organizer, and David Leland, the state representative scheduled to speak. "That doesn't sound like the start of a constructive, nonpartisan conversation."

Tiberi and Stivers are far from anomalies: Across Ohio and the country, voters who have been galvanized by President Donald Trump have begun calling for town-hall meetings, echoing the raucous atmosphere created when the tea party started showing up en masse for such events in 2009.

Democrats, however, seem to have little reluctance about attending. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Township, accepted an invitation to appear at a town-hall meeting organized on her behalf by UHCAN Ohio, a health-policy group, on Tuesday night in Columbus. The meeting was to focus on health-care issues, according to an online invitation.

Many lawmakers have shied away from the events, worried about getting involved in a scene with voters yelling questions.

But John Russell, a Democrat who has helped to organize the Tiberi event, said lawmakers should be ready to be challenged.

“Hostile or not, it’s the job of a congressman to show up and interact with constituents directly, particularly when so many of them are demanding the chance to be heard,” Russell said.

Queen, meanwhile, said he has gone to great lengths to organize the Stivers event to be productive, not aggressive.

“Our goal is to keep it as respectful and nonpartisan as possible,” Queen said. “I don’t want him to feel like he’s walking into an angry mob.”

Queen said his efforts to organize the town-hall meeting are unrelated to his city council campaign.

Although spokespeople for both Stivers and Tiberi said their bosses won’t attend, Tiberi will be represented in at least one sense. Organizers at his meeting have produced a giant cardboard cutout of the veteran lawmaker that they plan to display.

jwehrman@dispatch.com

@JessicaWehrman