Bruce Castor: The Last Man Standing

Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. has had to put up with a great deal of ignominy at the hands of fellow Commissioners Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel over the past four years.

Castor was the top vote-getter in the 2007 election and was expecting to play a major role in leading Montgomery County government. Instead, Matthews stabbed Castor (and county taxpayers) in the back by entering into a back-room, power-sharing deal with liberal Democrat Joe Hoeffel.

The Matthews-Hoeffel regime has nearly bankrupted what was once one of the most fiscally-sound counties in Pennsylvania.

The Montgomery County Republican Committee censured Matthews for his betrayal and told him not to bother running for another term because the party would not support him. The Democratic Party also had enough of Hoeffel and told the career politician he would not be endorsed for re-election in 2011.

On Tuesday came the bombshell news that Matthews is facing criminal charges for a variety of alleged improprieties during his tenure as a county commissioner.

From a story by reporter Jenny DeHuff of the Norristown Times Herald

Alleging that Matthews repeatedly lied to jurors "with impunity," District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman unsealed a 69-page grand jury report detailing charges of perjury and giving false statements during a press conference Tuesday morning.

The presentment was the culmination of an 18-month investigation into the inner workings of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. The allegations are extensive, from no-bid contracts with a Matthews-affiliated title insurance company to allegations surrounding his violations of the state's open meetings laws during repeated breakfast meetings at an East Norriton diner.

Ferman identified five areas outlined in the grand jury report, including the alleged use of campaign funds for personal expenses, the county's competitive (or non-competitive) bidding process, allegations of Sunshine Law violations by two of the county commissioners, matters of expenditures through the county's open space program, and a potential conflict of interest involving Matthews and a company called Certified Abstract, which had been given the county’s contract for title insurance.

So what does Bruce Castor, a former two-term county district attorney, think of all this?

DeHuff contacted the only commissioner who will be returning in January and this is what Castor had to say about Matthews, whom he described as a "very arrogant man" -

"Jim Matthews lied to the voters, to his supporters, to his contributors, to the party – those things don't surprise me, but when he lies to a grand jury, that is a crime. My experience is that perjury cases before a grand jury are almost always successful for prosecutors. I cannot recall a perjury charge in any court that I've ever worked in or around that did not result in a guilty verdict, because it's such a rarely used charge. A prosecutor only uses it when they're sure they're going to win."

It appears Bruce Castor will get the last laugh.

Grand Jury: Montco Commissioner Jim Matthews lied under oath

Nothing has gone right for Republican Jim Matthews since he turned his back on voters and made a power-sharing deal with Democrat Joe Hoeffel four years ago.

Matthews' back-room deal led to deficit spending at the hands of Hoeffel, censure for Matthews from the county Republican Committee, which eventually forced Matthews from the GOP ticket.

The Matthews-Hoeffel deal also caused the defeat of the Republican majority on the commissioners' board for the first time in 140 years.

Now Matthews is facing criminal charges.

When you make a deal with the devil ...

Grand Jury: Montco commissioner lied while giving testimony - pottsmerc.com

Newspaper: Matthews, Hoeffel have embarrassed Montgomery County

Montgomery County used to be a model for how a county government should be run - until Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel took over.

After running the county into the ground over the past three years, Tweedledee and Tweedledum must face the voters in 2011.

Matthews, Hoeffel have embarrassed Montgomery County - pottsmerc.com

Who will be Bruce Castor's running-mate in 2011?

Veteran Montgomery County political observer Margaret Gibbons writes about the jockeying for next year's race for Montgomery County commissioner.

Incumbent Bruce L. Castor Jr. will be one of the Republican nominees, but forget about Turncoat Jim Matthews for other spot. Matthews has maneuvered himself into Arlen Specter territory. He's a man without a party and will be tossed away by both parties.

From Gibbons' column:

The jockeying for the county Republican Committee's two county commissioner endorsements in next year's elections is already under way.

GOP incumbents Bruce L. Castor Jr. and James R. Matthews, former running mates who do not like each other one bit, have said they will be running for re-election next year. No surprise there.
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However, there are others who believe that Matthews, who was censured by party leaders for his unprecedented alliance with Democratic Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel III, cannot win that second GOP endorsement and they want it for themselves. And, to date, these believers are all women.

The three women who have expressed an interest in that second endorsement include county jury commissioner Marie N. Cavanaugh of North Wales, Lower Merion commissioner Jenny Brown and Lower Merion GOPer Jill Govberg, who sought the endorsement four years ago but bowed out when she did not secure enough votes. Govberg has been attending the commissioners' meetings regularly for more than a year. It will be interesting to watch this play out.

PhillyBurbs.com: Above, beyond call of caring

Serving two masters

Margaret Gibbons has been covering the Montgomery County Courthouse for a long time. And when she smells something fishy, she tends to share it with her readers.

From her latest column in The Doylestown Intelligencer:

Forget about formal ethics policies. Forget about legal conflicts of interest.

Anyone, using semantics, can get around both.

Instead, just use common sense and focus on right and wrong.

And there is just something not right about Montco solicitor Barry M. Miller serving as the county's top legal adviser and also as solicitor of the county voter services office while also serving as the treasurer of Matthews' campaign committee, even if that campaign position is in title only.

The decisions and advice by the county solicitor and voter services solicitor should be nonpartisan. Maybe they are.

However, the public cannot help but wonder if a person so much in Matthews' inner circle as to hold a title in his campaign committee is looking out for the public's best interest or Matthews' best interests. Come on, Barry, give up some of those hats to eliminate that type of wondering.

Read the full column at the newspaper's Web site.

Hoeffel/Matthews contract awarding under scrutiny

Something fishy going on in Montgomery County under the Joe Hoeffel/Jim Matthews regime. Might be time to convene that grand jury, boys.

PhillyBurbs.com:  Contract awarding under scrutiny

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Watchdog group questions Montco solicitor's dual role

The things that go on inside Montgomery County government under Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel ...

From a story by reporter Keith Phucas in The Pottstown Mercury:

A non-partisan citizens' watchdog group believes Montgomery County solicitor Barry Miller could be on shaky ethical ground serving as both solicitor and campaign treasurer for county commissioners' Chairman James R. Matthews.

Barry Kauffman, executive director of the Harrisburg-based Common Cause Pennsylvania, said elected officials' roles should be clearly delineated and avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"It sounds like (the solicitor) is treading close to ethical lines he doesn't want to cross," Kauffman said. "I think it makes the public uneasy."

Read the full story at the link below:

Watchdog group questions Montco solicitor's dual role

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Newspaper: Thorns to Hoeffel, Matthews for politics as usual

From the editorial page of The Pottstown Mercury:

THORNS to Montgomery County Commissioners James R. Matthews and Joseph P. Hoeffel, whose contract awards to campaign contributors are continuing the pay-to-play culture that prevailed in the county for years. Officials admitted Feb. 4 they had not sent out solicitations for lawyers to handle a $35 million bond deal, a requirement for professional service contracts under a county ordinance. The law had been put in place in 1998 as a safeguard against political patronage in contracting. Hoeffel, a proponent of the ordinance 12 years ago, is now accused of ignoring the rule along with Matthews and solicitor Barry Miller. County Controller Diane Morgan on Thursday threatened to withhold payment on any professional services contracts that run afoul of the county's law, she wrote in a letter Wednesday to Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. The accusations between Castor and the Matthews-Hoeffel alliance are flying fast and furiously. Meanwhile, these three have a county to run. Let's consider good government over petty politics as a change of pace.

Read more at the newspaper's Web site.

Jim Matthews denies wrongdoing in insurance choice

Montgomery County Commissioner Jim Matthews has stepped in it again, awarding a $3 million county contract to a firm that contributed generously to his last political campaign.

From an article by Keith Phucas in today's edition of The Pottstown Mercury:

NORRISTOWN — Facing increased scrutiny over Montgomery County's decision to self insure employees and questions about the county's dealings with a health benefits consultant, CBIZ, that contributed to his campaign, commissioners' Chairman James R. Matthews denies he's done anything wrong.

The commissioners voted 2-1 in November for the county to insure employees next year, after Blue Cross notified officials the company had lost about $6 million covering the county staff and would no longer provide coverage. Instead, the insurer with be the county plan's administrator.

"They were whacked last year and didn't want to get whacked again," Matthews said Tuesday. "They're going from being gamblers to being managers."

Matthews and Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel voted for the self insurance plan; Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. voted no and wanted to know more about the insurers' plans who refused to give the county price quotes.

Phucas notes that Matthews received six contributions from CBIZ employees totaling just over $23,000 on Oct. 9, 2007, during his last campaign for county commissioner.

Read the full story at the newspaper's Web site.

Newspaper: Joe Hoeffel wastes more taxpayer money

From The Pottstown Mercury's editorial page:

THORNS to Montgomery County Commissioner Joseph Hoeffel for pursuing an appeal of a recent court decision that invalidated the county's authority to prohibit employees from political activities. Such policies have already been knocked down by state courts, so an appeal of the county decision furthers the waste of taxpayer money. THORNS as well to Hoeffel's political foe, Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr., for saying he would support the appeal because it would make Hoeffel and Commissioners Chairman James Matthews look bad. "I want Hoeffel and Matthews forever to be known as the two commissioners who thought they could do anything they wanted until they got spanked by a state court," Castor said. The ethics policy prohibited about 120 county employees from politicking during working hours — or on their own time — as long as they held their government jobs; however, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Sheriff John P. Durante filed lawsuits challenging the rules and won. Furthermore, Matthews has said the D.A.'s office was included in the ban to get back at former D.A. Castor for trying to include Matthews' friends in county government in the ordinance. We wish these three would confine their fights to the playground and leave taxpayers out of it.

Castor stands up for Montco workers

A good Letter to the Editor by Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. setting the record straight about the poor fiscal record of fellow commissioners Joe Hoeffel and Jim Matthews. The letter was in response to an editorial in the Doylestown Intelligencer blaming rising health care costs for the county's fiscal woes, but neglecting to mention two years of irresponsible spending by Hoeffel/Matthews.

From Castor's letter:

Your editorial completely missed the point that while Commissioners Matthews and Hoeffel have no problem heaping the burdens of their wild spending practices and financial mismanagement onto the backs of our employees, they are unwilling to make any cuts to their pet projects or crony employees.

The rank-and-file employees have sacrificed enough to help get us out of this mess Hoeffel and Matthews have created. It is time for them to lead by example and inflict some of the pain on themselves before heaping it further on anyone else in the county, including the taxpayers.

Read the full letter at the link below:

PhillyBurbs.com: Health care costs an unfair burden for Montco employees

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Turncoat Jim Matthews: 'I wanted him (Castor) to hurt, to feel the pain'

Margaret Gibbons does a nice job of pealing away the layers of hypocrisy on the reasons Montgomery County Commissioners Joe Hoeffel and Jim Matthews enacted an illegal policy to prevent some county workers from seeking elected office.

Matthews, especially, shows why he's not fit to serve as a county commissioner. (He's already been censured by the Montgomery County Republican Committee and will probably pull an Arlen Specter and run as a Democrat if he decides to seek reelection.)

As for Hoeffel, he's clueless. The judge essentially smacked him upside the head and Joe think he won the case.

The only person looking out for Montgomery County taxpayers is Republican Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr.

This is the best part of Gibbons' story from The Doylestown Intelligencer:

Following Nicholas' ruling, Hoeffel said, "We need more ethics and less politics in the Montgomery County courthouse. This ethics policy was a good faith attempt to achieve that."

He noted that the ban on political activity still remains for employees directly under the commissioners’ supervision. These employees range from the administration’s own employees such as the chief and deputy operating officers and members of the county solicitor's office to members and certain employees in the assessment appeals board to the purchasing director.

"So we got court approval for most of our employees subject to the resolution," said Hoeffel. "It's a good day, not a bad day."

Matthews said that one of the major reasons he worked to include the district attorney’s office in the ethics legislation was to get back at Castor, his former running mate, because of Castor's attempt to use the same legislation to go after his friends in county government. This would include long time Matthews ally, county Solicitor Barry M. Miller who worked on various Matthews political campaigns.

"I wanted him (Castor) to hurt, to feel the pain," said Matthews. "He (Castor) was directing all his efforts at my friends so they could not be in politics, so I figured we could throw in the DA's office and see if he likes that."

Matthews said he will seek the repeal of the ethics legislation now that Nicholas has ruled that it does not apply to the personnel in the row offices, claiming it is not fair to other employees to have restrictions while row office employees have none.

So you see kids, this has nothing to do with good government. It has to do with two career politicians carrying out their petty, personal vendettas using your tax dollars. Montgomery County deserves better than Joe Hoeffel and Jim Matthews.

Read the full story at the link below:

PhillyBurbs.com: A Montgomery County judge has ruled that county commissioners can’t control the political activity of employees of the sheriff and district attorney.

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Judge nixes 'power grab' by Joe Hoeffel

An attempt by professional politician Joe Hoeffel, a Democrat, to prevent some Republicans from seeking elected office in Montgomery County has been struck down in court.

The ruling comes as no surprise. The "ethics policy" enacted by Joe Hoeffel, a lawyer, and his sidekick, Jim Matthews, was clearly illegal. The political shenanigans by Hoeffel/Matthews cost the county a lot of money and distracted from their incompetence in running county government.

The Hoeffel/Matthews political ban was quickly challenged in court by the Montgomery County District Attorney and the Montgomery County Sheriff.

A judge ruled this week that the county commissioners do not have the authority to regulate district attorney and sheriff’s offices' employees.

From a story by Keith Phucas in today's edition of The Pottstown Mercury:

The ethics ordinance banned certain county employees from participating in political activities while they work for the county government.

The prohibition, which applies during working hours and during employees’ free time, forbids them from running for elected office, campaigning for a political candidate or managing a political campaign.

On Wednesday, Castor said he had predicted during the debates on the ethics policy earlier this year that it would invite a court challenge and hailed the judge’s decision.

"I said all along this was nothing but a power grab," he said. "Matthews allowed himself to be manipulated by Hoeffel."

Judge William T. Nicholas ruled the policy invalid for people working for the DA or the sheriff, writing in his opinion that the commissioners "do not have statutory authority to regulate the hiring, firing or supervision of employees of row officers."

Read the full story at the newspaper's Web site.

(P.S. -- After nearly bankrupting Montgomery County over the past two years, Hoeffel is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Pennsylvania in 2010, promising to continue the failed tax-and-spend policies of Ed Rendell.)

Castor tabbed to replace Hoeffel

With Democratic Commissioner Joe Hoeffel a no-show for the meeting, Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr., a Republican, was voted chairman of the county Board of Elections on Thursday.

Castor was nominated by commissioners chairman James R. Matthews, while Prothonotary Mark Levy nominated Matthews, who refused the nomination. Levy abstained from the vote, so Castor and Matthews cast the only votes.

Matthews was voted vice chairman of the Board of Elections.

Hoeffel resigned as chairman because he is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Pennsylvania in 2010.

Castor tabbed to replace Hoeffel - The Times Herald News: Norristown, PA and Montgomery County (timesherald.com)

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Bruce Castor drops bid for Wonderling state Senate seat

Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. announced today he will not seek the Republican nod for the soon-to-be-vacated 24th District state Senate seat held by Republican Rob Wonderling.

Castor was one of three Montgomery County politicians competing for a chance to fill Wonderling's unexpired term in a special election this fall.

Castor's surprise announcement leaves state Rep. Bob Mensch, R-147th, as the likely choice to run on the GOP ballot.

The other potential GOP challenger, former state Rep. Jay Moyer, announced late Monday he's dropping out. Moyer endorsed Mensch and said he wants to concentrate on another run for the 70th House District seat that he lost in 2008.

Castor said he received plenty of encouragement from residents of Bucks, Lehigh, Northampton and Montgomery counties about a 24th Senate District run, but he decided to finish his term as a commissioner in Montgomery County, which is facing a fiscal crisis under the leadership of Democrat Joe Hoeffel and GOP turncoat Jim Matthews.

"If I were to run in the Special Election I would vacate my seat as a commissioner at a critical point in the budget process, leaving my colleagues to adopt a budget with no third commissioner in place or with a new commissioner who had little or no time to study the budget before being asked to act on it," Castor said in a written statement. "I do not believe that is fair to the citizens of Montgomery County to create such a situation and at this time I believe the best way I can serve the citizens is to remain a commissioner and a vocal critic of the policies that have led us to this point while offering my own suggestions on a better way to govern Montgomery County."

Castor was the top vote getter in the 2007 election to fill three Montgomery County commissioner seats. Hoeffel finished second and Matthews came in third thanks to a last-minute push by Castor to get Matthews re-elected at the request of party leadership.

Instead of joining Castor to form a GOP majority on the board, Matthews made a deal with Hoeffel to form a power-sharing arrangement, where Hoeffel supported Matthews as commissioners' chairman in return for obtaining unprecedented control of county government by a minority commissioner.

Hoeffel has hired all sorts of Democratic Party cronies to high-paying county jobs in the past 18 months.

"For 18 months, I have warned that the spending policies pursued by the county commissioners would lead to an unavoidable budget crisis," Castor said in a written statement. "Last year my colleagues used $16 million of our savings and failed to fund $7 million in pension obligations to our county employees in order to balance the budget. They do not have that option this year. The Finance Department projects a $50 million plus budget shortfall for 2010 while reminding us that the pension obligation will come due at the end of this year -- an obligation my fellow commissioners failed to budget for and now do not have the funds to meet. I cited this failure as one of my principle reasons for voting against the 2009 county budget.

Castor is the lone voice of fiscal reason on the commissioners' board and said he will work to inform Montgomery County taxpayers about the irresponsible spending by the Hoeffel-Matthews regime.

"This year we face a mounting deficit that my fellow commissioners will attempt to blame on the economy, Harrisburg, Washington, and just about anyone and anything else they can," Castor said. "But the fault lies in their reckless pursuit of cronyism, patronage and borrow and spend governance using tax dollars to fuel their appetite. This year may be the most critical budget deliberations in the history of Montgomery County. I believe I have an obligation to see this budget process to completion and that is what I intend to do."

The 24th District Senate seat will become vacant on Aug. 1 when Wonderling steps down to take a new job as president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Republicans should be able to hold Wonderling's seat in a special election this fall and again in 2010 when a full four-year term is up for grabs.

Democrats have had trouble finding a candidate. The leading contender, state Rep. Bob Freeman, D-136th Dist., bowed out last week after a poll showed Freeman losing to both Castor and Mensch.

Columnist: Jim Matthews is off the team

From a recent column by Margaret Gibbons, who covers Montgomery County government for the Doylestown Intelligencer:

Have you checked out the Montgomery County Republican Committee's new Web site at montgomerycountygop.com?

Go to the section where it lists the GOP "team's" roster of elected county officials. Notice anything missing?

That's right - there is no photo or even a mention of commissioners chairman James R. Matthews, who was censured last year by party leaders because of his unprecedented alliance with Democrat Joseph M. Hoeffel III that left Matthews' running mate, Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr., as the odd man out in the current administration.

Guess there is no room under that so-called Big Tent for Democrat-leaning GOPers.

Castor exposes more cronyism in Montco

The patronage system is a alive and well in Montgomery County under the direction of Democratic Commissioner Joe Hoeffel and his doormat accomplice, one-time Republican Jim Matthews.

The lone Republican commissioner, Bruce L. Castor Jr., objected to another example of cronyism by Hoeffel/Matthews when Matthews' longtime secretary was appointed to head the county's Human Resources department, bypassing a more qualified applicant.

The hiring of Eleanor Schneider comes several months after her husband, Thomas, was hired as the county's fleet manager even though he lacked qualifications for that job.

Matthews is headed in the same direction as Arlen Specter. He will never get the Republican nomination to run for re-election. He might as well join the Democratic Party, especially if he continues serving as Hoeffel's lapdog.

Read the full story at the Norristown Times-Herald Web site.

Montco D.A. sues county commissioners

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman has filed a lawsuit against the Montgomery County Commissioners over a new ethics law that prohibits many county employees from seeking elected office.

The recently-enacted law was the brainchild of Democratic Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, a career politician, who some critics believe is attempting to prevent the mostly Republican county employees from challenging Democratic officer-holders.

Hoeffel is supported by Commissioner Jim Matthews, who is the mold of Arlen Specter usually votes with Hoeffel. Republican Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. voted against the "ethics" revisions.

From a story in The Norristown Times-Herald about Ferman's lawsuit:

Ferman said the commissioners lack the statutory or legal authority to regulate operation of the D.A.'s Office.

"I believe the county commissioners do not have the authority to supervise DA’s Office employees, and I think it’s a very slippery slope," she said.

Ferman said the D.A. is an "independently elected row officer, and (the office) needs to be run without interference from other elected officials."

As well, the D.A. questioned the law's fairness given that it prohibits far more employees in her department from partaking in politics than any other county office.

"It certainly has the appearance of the DA being targeted specifically," Ferman said.

Traditionally, county D.A.s or assistant D.A.s have used their political clout to run for elected office. Two former D.A.s, Castor and Michael D. Marino, ran for commissioner while still serving as the county's top law enforcement official.

This whole incident is more political grandstanding by Hoeffel. His arrogance is going to cost the county tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and the county is going to lose the case. Pennsylvania courts have ruled repeatedly that county commissioners cannot tell independently-elected row officers how to run their departments.

Read the full story at the newspaper's Web site.

'Jim Matthews is a doormat'

I almost feel story for Montgomery County Commissioner Jim Matthews because I don't think he has the mental capacity to fully understand how he is being manipulated by the cunning Joe Hoeffel, a Democrat who controls Montgomery County government despite being in the minority on the three-member board of commissioners.

Somewhere in his confused mind, Matthews believes he is calling the shots when the reality is that Hoeffel has Matthews on a leash.

The letter below from The Pottstown Mercury sums up the current state of the three-member board of commissioners. One arrogant and domineering Democrat in Hoeffel, one Republican in Bruce Caster and a doormat in Jim Matthews.

Jim Matthews is a doormat

Jim Matthews, apparently you don't get the message. You have been publicly humiliated when the Huff (Joe Hoeffel) told you to put down your gavel, when you attempted to rule your former colleague and fellow Montgomery County Commissioner Tom Ellis out of order. You placate the Huffster by agreeing to every crony appointment he makes.

Now in this despotic regime where cronyism rules over qualifications you boxed yourself in. The fact being that three other candidates, who are more qualified in human resources than your former secretary, should have been no problem if you were an in-guy. Jim you are out; not an in-guy. You are a doormat. You have been used and abused. You must know that by now. On the other hand, maybe it gives you chills up your leg.

BILL MADARA
Gilbertsville

Thanks to WRITEMARSH! for the graphic.

Newspaper: Montco ethics policy goes too far

A flawed ethics policy enacted by Montgomery County Commissioners Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel appears to violate the U.S. Constitution.

The new policy prohibits county employees from running for public office, effectively denying their rights as U.S. citizens to seek political office. There is also a question of whether the commissioners have any say in what elected row officers such as the district attorney can do.

The case will end up in court, costing Montgomery County taxpayers tens of thousands of tax dollars so Hoeffel and Matthews can flex their political muscles. The new policy is a blatant political ploy by Hoeffel and Matthews to prevent any current office-holders or other county workers from challenging the commissioners when their terms are up.

From an editorial in The Pottstown Mercury:

County employees were not permitted to work on political campaigns while on the county clock before the "new" policy was voted on. The addendum that they're now not allowed to seek public office while an employee of the county goes too far.

An employee of the county is not an elected official and therefore their time should not be infringed upon.

We often have to remind elected officials who get upset with us when we track them down after normal business hours that they are public servants. Obviously, that's not the case with someone who works in an office somewhere in the county courthouse.

We don't believe our county government has the right to tell those people what they can and cannot do when they go home for the evening, or when they're on their lunch break for that matter.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.