Monday, December 19, 2011

Sun block working well in Montgomery County


  • I know we just visited this topic, but this is such an important issue I don’t think dedicating at least a few columns to it is going too far afield.
  • For those of you new to the area, or for those of you who have been sitting in the dark for the past several weeks, I’ll give you a little back story.
  • The Grand Jury investigating the goings on in county government just came back with a 69 page report. And while it was loaded with incidents the jury found to be appalling, none of it rose to the level of criminal charges, sanctions, fines or even a slap on the wrist, except of course for the not so minor detail of one of the county commissioners allegedly lying about his association with a company doing business with the county.
  • But just to make sure we’re on the same page here, we need to go back to 2010 to talk about why the Grand Jury was looking into the county government in the first place.
  • Early in that year one of my reporters heard from a friend, who has a friend who knows a guy, about two of our three county commissioners meeting at a local restaurant on the Tuesday before every commissioners meeting.
  • So, in the spirit of All the Presidents Men, said reporter heads over to the restaurant and grabs a nearby booth.
  • Sure enough, the conversation being overheard was loaded with governmental jargon.
  • It didn’t take much for the reporter to call the third commissioner, the one not invited to early morning coffee klatch, and ask if indeed some of the things she was hearing were being discussed at the official meeting the next day.
  • Not only were they being discussed the third commissioner confirmed, but the other two often seemed ready to vote on items that had hardly been discussed in public at all.
  • Well before all of this took place, another reporter was peppering one of the commissioners with questions about his connection with a consulting firm that was also a major contributor to his campaign, but that’s for another column. There’s also no real reason to keep telling you who the major players are in this space because I really want everyone to pay attention to exactly where the light should be shining, which is on the regularly scheduled meetings two of our three elected county commissioners readily admit to taking part in.
  • Just as a refresher, remember, there are no Sunshine law fines being levied.
  • 11 comments:

    Collegeville Mole said...

    Stan, You suggest that No sunshine laws fines were levied. You can take the Pennsylvania Ethics Board for what they are worth and that would be zilch. They will tell you the Awning was down in front of the restaurant eliminating the sun from shinning in. You for one, will not and cannot believe that this B.S. is believable. The politicans take care of one another, you can take that to the bank.

    Anonymous said...

    If I was 2 make a Zombie film about things walking around & getting nothing done except hurting people couldn't I just use Repubs in Congress and Montgomery County, PA as cast?

    Anonymous said...

    Why don't your reporters do their fly on the wall stuff with that hypocrite, Christ Christie. It was reported that after Democratic lawmakers sent Gov. Chris Christie a budget he didn’t like on June 30, he took out his veto pen and sliced $900 million.

    The Republican governor then added an unprecedented jab at Democrats who control the Legislature by cutting $3.8 million from lawmakers’ staff salaries.

    But after the Democrats threatened to make Republican lawmakers’ staff eat the cut, Christie quietly restored the money through an obscure accounting procedure that did not require legislative approval, high ranking Democratic lawmakers told The Star-Ledger. It happened in late July, they said.

    Anonymous said...

    are you on xmas break like your repub house people on xmas break in their minds? get over this non issue and report the lack of work by castor and the payoff to castor by his dui buddy and his Marino buddy who let off a felon who then killed an innocent man with an illegal gun.

    Anonymous said...

    I really do not see any connection with your post on 12/21 Anonymous... Well, I take one case at a time and if you are constantly breaking the rules (laws) set down what kind of government do we have? Yes, you will be judged by your friends or any type of associate. But, if you are aware of the down side of their way of living, then you must disassociate yourself professionaly. That makes sense. This case with the Commissioners and how the Grand Jury ruled I find appalling too. I'm glad we now have a new Commissioners Staff, good or bad that will see some other lights for Montgomery County.

    Anonymous said...

    You repugs are all alike just like that fat tub of lard in Wisconsin commenting on the First Lady and her push to get kids off the game boards on their tv's and out to play. No one would have dared to speak about Laura Bush in that manner! However, this is America and making unwanted comments about the physical attributes of black women is some what of a tradition. Perhaps he's forgotten that we no longer stand on the auction block for judgement.

    Anonymous said...

    Hope castor gets voted off in the next election and the tea party disappears.

    Anonymous said...

    One of your mentors and heroes got slammed. Too bad Castor wasn't caught giving preferential treatment to drunks and mobsters.

    A federal judge on Friday barred high profile Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio from detaining people simply for being in the country illegally, in a ruling that faulted the local lawman for enforcing federal immigration law.

    The 40-page written opinion by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow came on the same day he issued legal sanctions against Arpaio over destroyed documents.

    The decisions come as a further blow for the controversial sheriff, who already has faced rebukes from the U.S. Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

    Both rulings by Snow stemmed from a 2007 civil lawsuit against Arpaio and his agency, which accuses his officers of racial profiling of Latinos in traffic stops the judge found were conducted as immigration sweeps.

    The judge also said officers with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department (MCSO), which covers Phoenix and surrounding areas, circulated emails that "compared Mexicans to dogs" and portrayed them "as drunks."

    Anonymous said...

    Santorum played a key role in an effort by Republicans in Congress to dictate the hiring practices, and hence the political loyalties, of Washington's deep-pocketed lobbying firms and trade associations, which had previously been bipartisan.

    Dubbed "the K Street Project" for the Washington street that houses most of these groups, the initiative was launched in 1989 by lobbyist Grover Norquist, whose sole aim, he said, was to encourage lobbying firms to "hire people who agree with your worldview, not hire for access."

    But the rubric "K Street Project" came to encompass the entire climate of cozy cooperation between Republicans and lobbyists.

    When Republicans won control of the House in 1994, House Majority Leader Tom Delay and others organized regular meetings with lobbyists that reviewed K Street job openings with an eye toward filling them with party loyalists, who would in turn steer support and donations to the members.

    By 2001, Sen. Santorum was also holding one-hour breakfast meetings with lobbyists on alternating Tuesday mornings at 8:30 a.m.

    In 2004 he denied being involved with Norquist's effort to staff K Street. But Santorum convened Senate Republicans to discuss the appointment of Democrat Dan Glickman as head the Motion Picture Association, according to Roll Call, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill.

    "Yeah, we had a meeting, and yeah, we talked about making sure that we have fair representation on K Street. I admit that I pay attention to who is hiring, and I think it's important for leadership to pay attention," he told the paper at the time.

    In 2006, as the influence-peddling scandal that sent lobbyist Jack Abramoff to jail unfolded, Santorum said he was ending the breakfasts in his conference room. However, his staff confirmed to Washington newspapers that they resumed almost immediately, on the same day and at the same time, at a location off the Capitol grounds.

    Anonymous said...

    Santorum's breakfast party works well for his finances. He is an out-in-far-right-field lunatic and people are seeing what he has done in the past catering to the rich to become rich and ignoring the poor. Saw his video and he insulted black people once again.

    Android app development said...

    No one would have dared to speak about Laura Bush in that manner! However, this is America and making unwanted comments about the physical attributes of black women is some what of a tradition.