I've been to town hall meetings. They are long affairs, the type that value endurance almost over anything else.

Something tells me Friday's XXL social justice town hall meeting at the University of Southern Maine is going to demand some serious endurance.

Why? The town hall meeting is the idea of more than 50 nonprofits and social justice organizations, including the Cumberland County Green Independent Party, Maine Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, the Maine Toxics Action Coalition, NAACP Portland Branch, Food for Maine's Future and Maine Veterans for Peace, to name a few.

When you get that many people and that many interests in the room it's bound to take a while to hash things out, right?

As Bruce Gagnon, an organizer of the town hall, sees it, the goal of the town hall is to try and capture this moment in time - with an economy on the verge of collapse and an attentive public - and dramatically reshape the way America deals with health care, the environment, the economy and war.

Gagnon, a member of Maine Veterans for Peace, said people are frustrated with the pace of change in those areas, especially at a time when it seems like the stakes are so high. Gagnon pointed to the continued high spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan compared to the federal dollars allocated for the development of green jobs and climate change. He also pointed to the downturn of the economy and the effect its having on local budgets. Maine is facing a budget shortfall of just over $160 million, which will likely result in reductions in state programs and services.

Many of the groups came together to hold a town hall meeting on the wars overseas in 2006, Gagnon said, and this time they decided to come together to look at broader issues facing the country. Gagnon said groups can develop a type of tunnel vision when they focus on their particular causes or issues. Like any New England town meeting, the goal of this one will be not only to let people air their problems in a public forum, but to try and find some consensus on solutions to the problems facing Maine and the rest of the nation, he said.

Lest you think this will be one big gripe match, there are a few public officials lined up to field questions, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, Maine Senate President Libby Mitchell, and a representative from the Maine Municipal Association. Also on the invite list are Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud and Gov. John Baldacci.

Moderating this affair will be former state senator (and Democratic congressional candidate) Michael Brennan, NAACP Portland branch president Rachel Talbot Ross, The Rev. Bill Gregory, Rosalie Tyler Paul of PeaceWorks and Portland school teacher Sue Anderson.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Hannaford lecture hall in the Abromson Community Education Center on the USM Portland campus.

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