GOWANDA — For two solid hours Saturday afternoon, Rep. Eric J. J. Massa learned a whole lot about what his constituents were thinking.

The Corning Democrat, representing a district sprawling from near Elmira all the way to this Cattaraugus County village, heard first and foremost from about 75 people that scars from last summer’s flash flood are far from healed.

Tri-County Memorial Hospital, they told him, must be rebuilt from the ravages of the August storm. Despite a poor economy, record deficits, and two wars, those in Gowanda told Massa there are no excuses for failing to secure federal dollars for their hospital.

But that doesn’t mean all those other things don’t matter. Voters in northern Cattaraugus County said they don’t like wasteful spending, that they are wary of a single-payer health care plan, and most said they are tired of the Afghan fighting that resulted in Wednesday’s funeral for one of Massa’s Hornell constituents.

Some were angry. Most were respectful. But all seemed to appreciate the opportunity to express in person their concerns on any topic to Massa, the only Western New York member of Congress who personally conducts town meetings in his district.

In fact, Saturday’s session at Gowanda Central School was his 79th since taking office just 13 months ago.

“To me, this is imperative,” Massa said at the session’s end. “Even in the face of anger, angst and anxiety, it’s important to stand there and listen.”

That’s not to say Massa, a veteran of 24 years in the Navy, didn’t do his share of talking. During his first town meeting in Gowanda, he displayed a flair for the dramatic as he reeled off facts and figures and a firm grasp of the issues before him in Congress.

Afghan war opposed

Though he received some pushback from supporters of President Obama’s policies in Afghanistan, Massa could not be more clear about his opposition. Fighting has consumed the country for centuries, he said, and no amount of nation building is about to stop it now.

“It is strategically, financially, ethically and morally wrong,” he said, “to ask Americans to fight and die for what Afghans will not fight for.

“If you think we will create a Jeffersonian democracy in a country that has been fighting among itself for 3,000 years, then you and I have a serious disagreement,” he added.

As Massa prepares for what is expected to prove a strong Republican challenge this fall, the congressman seemed to take every opportunity to separate himself from Obama during Saturday’s session.

“I don’t work for the president,” he said regarding Afghanistan. “He is not my boss. You are.”

He stressed that he was one of the few Democrats to vote against the health care and climate change bills, which he acknowledged has not exactly endeared him to the White House.

“I don’t know if I’ll get a Christmas card,” he said. “I desperately want him to succeed, which is why I oppose him in Afghanistan. He can’t succeed there.”

But as much as any sitting New York Democrat, the GOP seems to have Massa squarely in its sights. Only the second Democrat since Reconstruction to occupy the seat of what is now the 29th District (Stan Lundine of Jamestown was the other), he eked out a victory over Republican Randly Kuhl as part of the 2008 Democratic landslide. But now Republicans look to regain what they consider their rightful turf, with former Corning Mayor Tom Reed already an announced candidate.

Tory Mazzola, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee — the group charged with re-establishing a GOP majority in the House — called the Massa district “a top priority in New York state.”

“In a district where voters don’t want big government or high taxes, he goes along with [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi,” Mazzola said. “He voted against health care, but because he wants a single-payer system.

“Voters in his district want jobs,” he added.

Massa acknowledges he was on the receiving end of angry town meetings last summer, when national ire over health care proposals reached its zenith. And on Saturday he said he is now ready to vote for about 10 health bills — instead of a comprehensive proposal — that will address individual topics like banning denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Free trade blamed

He also blamed free trade agreements for much of the nation’s growing deficit, and said the manufacturing core of the economy can never rebound until free trade pacts are nixed.

“Free trade agreements are not free; they have gutted the very core of this country,” he said. “I will die before I vote for a free trade agreement.”

But if there was one topic that dominated Gowanda Central’s auditorium on Saturday it was the future of Tri-County Memorial, which was severely damaged by the August flood. Speaker after speaker told their congressman that hospitals in Buffalo, Jamestown or Dunkirk are too far away, and that the federal dollars to resurrect the facility must be found.

“My husband would be dead today if not for Tri-County,” one woman told him.

Massa said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will find the money to rebuild. He acknowledged that the need to reduce the deficit is not helped by expensive rebuilding projects like what is proposed for Tri-County, but he added that’s why new priorities ought to be assigned to recoup the trillions of dollars spent in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But he promised that he will be back, even telling one critical constituent that he indeed hopes to return for a photo opportunity some time this election year. He is not ignoring global challenges, he said, and neither is he ignoring “micro” situations like Tri-County.

Massa said he’s used to the brickbats and grousing. He could pass on holding town meetings, he said, but then would not have the opportunity for the direct conversation he called so critical to the job.

“This is genuine America,” he said. “It’s important for me to stand there and receive that. It’s what you sign up for when you become a public official.”