We already know that Ken Davis is a lame duck as Montgomery County Republican Party chairman. He wasn't going to win another term even before his right-hand man, Jim Matthews, stabbed the party in the back by handing liberal Democrat Joe Hoeffel the vice chairmanship of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.The question now is whether Davis and Matthews will be kicked out of the party.
This is a similar situation that the Legislature experienced last January when Republican Dennis O'Brien was elected Speaker of the House by a Democratic majority. The Republican Caucus doesn't trust O'Brien anymore.
Does anyone in the Montgomery County Republican Party want a turncoat like Matthews sitting in on strategy sessions? You might as well invite Matthews' new best friend, Joe Hoeffel, to the meetings.
And why pretend that Matthews is a Republican. No self-respecting party member would betray 85,000 Republican voters by handing Joe Hoeffel any meaningful role in county government.
And how soon will Democrat Ruth Damkser, who was rejected by voters in November, get a cushy county job now that she has friends (Hoeffel and Matthew) in low places?
The Monday reorganization meeting of the county commissioners took place shortly after 2 p.m. and Matthews made good on his promise to elevate minority commissioner Joe Hoeffel to the vice chairman spot, traditionally awarded to a member of the majority party.
Veteran courthouse reporter Margaret Gibbons reports that Bruce Castor supported Matthews as board chairman (as Castor promised to do) and the vote was 3-0.
But when Castor nominated himself as vice chairman (a post he should automatically have received as the top vote-getter), neither Matthews nor Hoeffel would second the motion.
That's when Matthews nominated Hoeffel as vice chairman. The vote was 2-1, with Castor casting the negative vote.
No Democrat has ever served as vice chairman of the commissioners since as far back as the Civil War, according to Gibbons.
Matthews also slapped Republican voters in the face when he nominated Hoeffel to serve as chairman of the county election board. Castor voted against the nomination. Matthews and Hoeffel go their way.
During a swearing-in ceremony Monday morning, Castor got an opportunity to chastise Matthews for what many see as a betrayal of voter wishes. This is how Gibbons reported part of the speech:
"The public has a negative view of politicians and that is our fault," Castor said. "We hold the key on how they will view us."
Duty, honesty, integrity and loyalty should be the moral compass that guides the commissioners in making the right decision, said Castor, who noted that Matthews now seems to be supporting the same Democratic programs that the pair criticized during the campaign. "By our actions, let us show we are worthy of the public office that voters entrusted with us."
You can read Gibbons' full story on the Montgomery County political shakeup in Tuesday's edition of The Mercury.
(Photo credit/Chris Stanley: Hoeffel and Matthews and their wives at the swearing-in ceremony
2 comments:
I would normally also be upset with what Matthews did. However, Castor deserves to be sent to the political wilderness for what he did in his last month as Montco DA. Instead of admitting that the evidence against the killer Rafael Robb was weak, and he feared an acquittal, he instead said that the plea to voluntary manslaughter was "appropriate", because it was supposedly in the heat of passion. The killer Robb killed his wife after supposedly arguing about their daughter's vacation schedule. A couple weeks later, another Montco man killed his wife - this time in front of his kid. Thank you Commissioner Castor for making Montco safe.
Castor deserves to be in the political wilderness. Although he got the most votes, if he had agreed to the plea bargain ahead of the election, he would have gone down in defeat. Stop the whining.
Mark G
Penn Valley
who will run for congress in PA 13?
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