For a man who barely won re-election last month, Montgomery County Commissioner Jim Matthews is turning into Hugo Chavez.Matthews came in third place for three open seats on the Montgomery County commissioners' board, but he's acting like a dictator in the final days of 2007.
He's playing political hardball within his own party. Somebody should remind Jim Matthews he's not his brother, Chris Matthews, the loudmouth MSNBC TV host.
Jim Matthews has been accused of going after a longtime county worker who did not support his re-election effort. Matthews, as a member of the county salary board, does have a say in who gets hired or transferred within county government.
GOP foot soldier Marcy Toepel, a Republican who lost the race for county Clerk of Courts last month, is trying to hold on to a county job by seeking a transfer to the Recorder of Deeds office, which is still controlled by Republicans.
Under the leadership of Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman Ken Davis and his benefactor, Bob Asher, the GOP lost five county row offices in the Nov. 6 election, which has left many Republicans scrambling to find new jobs. Row offices are used by both sides to reward party faithful.
Matthews decided to get Toepel back by taking her name off the transfer list at a recent salary board meeting. (Courthouse insiders say that Toepel is a hard worker and would bring a wealth of experience to the recorder of deeds office, so there's no question that she is qualified to do the work.)
Matthews' action has angered many Republicans. One prominent GOP attorney, John I. McMahon Jr., who has worked for the party and raised thousands of dollars on behalf of GOP candidates in past 30 years, was so incensed by Matthews' vindictiveness that he switched his party registration to Democrat on Monday.
"Your own vindictive and ruthless actions in removing her name from the salary board, thereby blocking her from maintaining employment in the courthouse after her recent election upset in the clerk of courts' race, speaks volumes about your leadership," McMahon said in a letter fired off to Matthews.
"Your actions clearly highlight yet another example of the sickening political infighting and personal agendas which has characterized the leadership of the Montgomery County Republican Party in recent years," McMahon said in the letter. "It only gets worse!"
Matthews, who is controlled by Ken Davis and Bob Asher, has already alienated half the Republican Party members in Montgomery County. He's not exactly bosom buddies with the other GOP Commissioner-elect, Bruce Castor, who is a longtime critic of Davis and Asher.
Let's not forget that Matthews failed to deliver Montgomery County for the GOP when he ran as lieutenant governor on the Lynn Swann ticket in 2006. Matthews has aspirations for statewide office, but that's not going to happen when he's becoming a political pariah in his home county.
What will Matthews do in January when the new commissioners' board is sworn in? Will he make a deal with Democrat Joe Hoeffel?
If Matthews continues to burn bridges within his own party, how can Castor support Matthews for the influential post as commissioners' chairman? Will Matthews work out a secret power-sharing deal with Hoeffel, the liberal Democrat who finished second in the voting behind Castor?
Is that why Montgomery County voters kept Republicans in control of county government for another four years? To give Joe Hoeffel more a role? Would voters support Matthews had they know he'd settle old scores against his own party and possibly give Hoeffel a bigger role in county government?
When will Montgomery County Republicans realize that the Matthews-Davis-Asher wing of the party is leading the GOP over a cliff?
Read the full story on the growing GOP rift in today's edition of The Mercury at www.pottsmerc.com
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