Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Perfect seasons

No, I'm not talking about the New England Patriots. Doesn't it seem like they're in the Super Bowl every other year? I know they're not, but it sure seems like it some times.
Anyway, I'm talking about the Norristown Area High School boys basketball team and the Methacton High School girls basketball teams.
These two schools are on a roll to say the least.
The streaks started me thinking about all of the great athletes to come out of our area.
I can name a few, but I was hoping for a little help.
Let's get off politics for a couple of minutes and talk sports.
Who do you think is the greatest athlete to come out of Montgomery County?

Monday, January 14, 2008

Caught in a different Trappe

Two wrongs don't make a right. I thought it was wrong for former councilman Mark Carrig to stay on after he had moved out of town and he eventually did the right thing and resigned.
Now council has appointed solicitor Bob Brant to the zoning hearing board, if my source is correct, and not the planning commission. Either one doesn't really matter for the point I'm trying to make. First, I don't know Mr. Brant. I'm sure he's a fine person, but he also happens to represent a real estate investment company that proposed an 88-townhouse project to council.
I could be wrong, but it certainly sounds like a conflict of interest to me. And you know what they say about the appearance of a conflict.
If there's some kind of 90-day probationary period for commissioner members I would suggest council reconsider the appointment.

Friday, January 11, 2008

The truth certainly didn't set us free

The truth of the matter is we don't know what possessed Jim Matthews to sidle up to Joe Hoeffel. Jim knows exactly why he did it and maybe some day he'll let the rest of us in on it. We know he wanted to appoint his own solicitor. He got his wish. But other than that, is being chairman really that much more prestigious than vice chair, which is what he would have been had he stayed true to Bruce Castor? And, if he would have allowed Bruce to pick his own solicitor he would have been chairman.
I asked you guys to send me a note or two on what's going on with appointments in your townships. I basically heard from Whitemarsh and Lower Providence.
Some people, read Republicans, in Whitemarsh is a little upset that Sean Kilkenney was appointed solicitor out there. Personally, I don't know Kilkenney, but I have seen his name pop up as solicitor in a few other municipalities and I'm wondering how many he can take on before he's spreading himself too thin. You'd think he'd have his hands full with Norristown alone.
Speaking of solicitors, Lower Providence is on the verge of changing theirs as well. Folks out there are upset with a new appointment to the zoning hearing board, and now they're getting a new solicitor.
The year's starting off with quite a bang. Stay tuned folks.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

The moment of truth

The moment of truth is almost upon us. Montgomery County commissioners will reorganize next week and as we've reported in The Times Herald, Republican Jim Matthews has formed an alliance with Democrat Joe Hoeffel to wrest control of the county from incoming commissioner, and Matthews running mate, Bruce Castor.
Unless there's a last minute deal the Matthews/Hoefell duo will be running the county and Castor will most likely be spending more time at his law firm.
To those of you who donated to the Matthews/Castor campaign, if it were me, I'd be asking for my money back.
Look, this isn't really about some unholy alliance. There's a chance that Matthews/Hoeffel will do just fine running the county, but that's not the point. This is about all of the people who thought they were voting for a team only to find out one member of the team jumped ship right after pulling into the harbor.
There will be reorganization meetings all over the county next week. Drop me a line and let me know how you think things shook out in your town. Not that I'm implying that there's any kind of shakedown going on here, but, boy, won't it be interesting to see who the next county solicitor is?