Castor fires back at Matthews-Hoeffel regime

The Castor-Matthews feud continues in Montgomery County.

Responding to recent comments by Montgomery County Commissioners' Chairman Jim Matthews in The Philadelphia Bulletin, GOP Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. fired off a lengthy letter to the editor to set the record straight about the many excesses in Montgomery County government since Matthews and Hoeffel formed a pact to run the commissioners' board.

"What the Democrats could not win at the polls, Matthews awarded them by making a deal that denied the voters the government they elected - he hijacked the election pure and simple," Castor writes.

Democratic Commissioner Joe Hoeffel also feels the sting of Castor's rebuke:

Hoeffel ran on a platform of "cleaning up the government." Instead he and Matthews have flooded the government payroll with their cronies and buddies. One of Hoeffel's key allies was hired for $90,000 to work PART TIME. That's right, $90,000 to work 5 days out of every 10. If that were a full-time job he'd make $180,000 a year - more than Governor Rendell. That makes him the highest paid employee in the county, paid more then the commissioners or the District Attorney.

With "Matthews' complicity, the Democrats are running amok," Castor says in the letter, pointing out spending on consultants and hiring of political cronies.

"The money they are wasting, the games they are playing, and the shenanigans that occur every day at the court house are done at the expense of our residents," Castor writes. "Men, women, children, seniors, veterans and others who have come to expect the very best from Montgomery County are losing out because of the rampant egos, cronyism and patronage of the Matthews-Hoeffel regime."

Castor says in the letter that he's working hard to represent the taxpayers of Montgomery County:

"In just three months I have cast more "no" votes than Ruth Damsker, my predecessor as 'minority commissioner' cast in her entire eight years. I was elected to do the right thing by the people of Montgomery County, regardless of party, and that is what I will continue to do."

Read the full letter at The Bulletin's Web site.