Montco Daily Dose March 7 2008
Ken Davis Will Not Run For Re-Election
Dinners, Dinners, Dinners
Commissioners Meeting
911 Scandal
Ken Davis Will Not Run For Re-Election
The worst kept secret in Montgomery County politics is now official.
Ken Davis’ tenure as leader of the MontcoGOP will end after two terms in May.
Bill Shaw @ Writemarsh coincidentally takes a look back at his legacy.
Ken Davis assumed office in April 2004 with a 70,000 edge in GOP registration over the D’s. He has lost 49,000 of it in under 4 years.
The numbers are staggering! During Ken Davis’ tenure as Chairman, which, in reality, didn’t start until September of 2004 (due to the legal battle following the 2004 chairman’s race),two things have happened…one is that more new residents and first-time registrants are choosing “D”. Secondly, Republicans have registered democrat to vote in primary elections and haven’t cared to re-register as Republicans. Third, and most heinous, is they are disgusted with the party shenanigans and have changed their registration in protest.
The letters are included below in their entirety. May I direct you to the “internet” section on page two.
Unfortunately, that paragraph can cut in two directions.
In anycase, that makes the race the Bob Kerns Show, as he is still the only officially “in” candidate, though I would suspect that Davis’ intentions make it easier for Jim Vlahos to throw his hat in the ring.
Dinners, Dinners, Dinners
There were a pair of political dinners this week in the MontcoGOP. The Chairman’s Dinner with something like 60 in attendance and the Bruce Castor retirement dinner, with about 400.
It was noted that [County Solicitor & Matthews fanboy] Barry Miller was spotted at the Castor event.
Joke was that Barry was sent down to see who showed up; if that is true and he was there, it is pathetic.
A committeeman who is not a member of the Chairman’s Club reported that somebody from MCRC called him to offer him a free ticket to the William Penn dinner. He took it.
Another source has verified both of those claims as true.
Commissioners Meeting
The economic development fund was on the agenda, with Jim Matthews defending the need without really defending it. See this King James episode for more info.
Bruce Castor pointed out that this was the beginning of the $50 million dollar Joe Hoeffel slush fund, before voting against it.
The money that moved out of the Clerk of Courts & Prothonotary’s office accounts has been “returned”.
Former Prothonotary Bill Donnelly and former Clerk of Courts Jane Markley, both Republicans, raised the money through fees their offices charged to residents who initiated legal actions. State law provides for the imposition of such fees in order to pay for centralized electronic recordkeeping in these county row offices. The two officials have said they transferred these automation funds out of their offices for sound administrative reasons after speaking with county Finance Director John Ganser.
Mr. Castor, a former district attorney, expressed discomfort with the money returning to the original offices. He believes that Mr. Donnelly and Ms. Markley had the legal authority to appropriate the money as they saw fit and that the board of commissioners could not legitimately reverse these actions.
Another two to one vote.
911 Scandal
Well, at least nobody burned to death in their own bed.
Photographs were posted on one of the workers’ MySpace.com profile depicting call center staffers in the midst of an apparent exchange of adult gifts on the night of Dec. 22-23 of last year. Workers were pictured holding bottles of rum and one was shown wearing a ball gag and holding a phallic-shaped device.
Another photograph depicted an employee sitting back in her chair with a dazed countenance and a Michelob box in her lap, though the county determined the box to contain innocuous camping items and no beer. The Department of Public Safety and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Jim Maza indicated no alcohol was proved to be consumed but they emphasized that the jurisdiction forbids possession of alcohol on its property.
Lax behavior by center staff members is also not believed to have led to any delayed response to emergency calls that night. One call that night went 13 seconds before someone answered it, a normal maximum for a shift according to Public Safety Director Tom Sullivan.
Naturally, everyone in county government has taken the opportunity to scold and lecture.
Possibly Related...
Comments, compliments or complaints?