COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel has spent more than $50,000 on telephone town hall meetings to converse with constituents, but the average listener sticks around for less than 5 minutes -- just long enough to hear a question or two.

The meetings have been billed as a way for Ohioans to hear from, question and hold accountable Mandel, who is seeking re-election this year. Democrats have criticized the calls for their timing and content, which does not exclude questions from callers about topics outside the treasurer's office.

Two telephone town hall companies hired by the office have dialed more than 650,000 Ohioans to join nine calls in the past six weeks, according to records obtained through a public information request. More than 111,000 of those called agreed to participate.

Each meeting costs the state about $6,000.

Since Mandel began holding the meetings, which last about an hour, the average listening time has spanned from 2.66 to 5.16 minutes for most calls, according to post-call reports. The average time on the call reached 13, 15 and 23 minutes on three calls conducted by a different firm. But even on those calls, the largest group of callers listened in for 5 minutes or less.

Mandel said congressmen and even his 2012 U.S. Senate opponent, Sen. Sherrod Brown, have used telephone town hall meetings to connect with constituents.

"Like Democratic and Republican elected officials throughout Ohio, Treasurer Mandel is proud to conduct telephone town hall meetings to make himself accessible to his constituents so they have an opportunity to ask questions and hold him accountable," spokesman Chris Berry said. "We have been fully complying with the Attorney General's opinion, including making sure that the telephone town halls do not include partisan political activity."

But Democrats say the phone calls, which are barely publicized by the treasurer's office, are an election-year campaign strategy. Mandel faces Democratic state Rep. Connie Pillich of Cincinnati in the November election.

The following clip is about 5 minutes long, from the beginning of the May 21 call to Cuyahoga County residents. It’s what an average listener on that call might have heard before hanging up.

5 minutes of a Josh Mandel tele-town hall meeting

When would you have hung up?

The 63-minute call in its entirety, as recorded by the treasurer's office, is included below. Push play and let us know in the comments section how long you listened and what you thought about what you heard.