[UPDATE: Mayer has admitted to me that she is not a doctor. Details here.]

Yesterday, DRJ posted on a comical town hall meeting that Sheila Jackson Lee held in Houston on Tuesday, in which Jackson Lee talked on her cell phone as a constituent asked a question.

A reader writes to raise questions about whether there was a Barack Obama plant at Jackson Lee’s town hall meeting, in the form of one “Dr. Roxana Mayer,” who was mentioned in this Houston Chronicle article:

Some attendees at the meeting spoke in favor of the plan, go so far as to want a system where the government had complete control.

One supporter, Dr. Roxana Mayer, a physician who does not live in Jackson Lee’s district, praised the reform plan for overhauling a broken system.

“I don’t know what there is in the bill that creates such panic,” she said.

MyBarackObama shows a Roxana Mayer was a Texas Delegate for Obama (click on Directory in the center of the page).

But I can’t find any evidence that she’s a doctor. Instead, I find evidence of a Roxana Mayer who appears to be a graduate student studying social work at the University of Houston, where Jackson Lee’s husband is a vice president for student affairs.

If Roxana Mayer is a doctor, she isn’t listed where you would expected her to be listed. For example, the AMA Doctor Finder doesn’t list any physician named Roxana Mayer.

Nor does the Texas Medical Association.

Now, this is not conclusive. It is not clear whether all doctors are members, and I suppose that it’s possible that some kinds of doctors may not be listed there. (For example, I’m not sure about the licensing or registration requirements for osteopaths.)

However, the University of Houston lists a student by the name of Roxana Mercedes Mayer.

In addition, Linked In lists a Roxana Mayer — who, according to LinkedIn, is slated to graduate from the University of Houston with a Masters in Social Work in 2010.

And oddly, there is a connection between Jackson Lee and Roxana Mayer’s University of Houston. Namely, Jackson Lee is married to one Elwyn C. Lee, who has a dual appointment as the “University of Houston System vice chancellor for student affairs and University of Houston vice president for student affairs.”

What does it all mean? I’m not quite sure at this point. But it’s enough to make me go:

Hmmm.

P.S. I have whited out the e-mail address in the screenshot of Roxana Mayer’s University of Houston listing, although you can see it at the link. I have written the Roxana Mayer at the e-mail address to see if she will answer some of my questions.

P.P.S. Hey, if Obama can do it at his own town hall meetings, who’s to say it’s not happening everywhere.

PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF UPDATE: A picture of the Roxana Mayer at the town hall meeting, hugging Jackson Lee, is clearly the same person as a Roxana Mayer on MySpace from Houston, TX.

Not the greatest vetting by the Chronicle.