Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Montco Redux,, or, My Ooopps

After having to correct the post twice, it might be a good idea to just try again, with updates it might be a good idea to just try again. Apologies for the errors.

According to a GOP press release posted on both PAWaterCooler and Writemarsh,
a fax was sent out regarding an upcoming Democratic golf outing fundraiser. The gentleman sending the fax was Sean Kilkenny, who serves as the solicitor for (among others) the Montgomery County Controller. As chair of the Democratic fundraiser he sent invitations to businesses asking them donate to or help sponsor the event.

One of the faxes was sent to Gambone Development Corporation. The name of the individual it was sent to is, to me at the point, a little unclear. However it wound up in the hands of Brian Miles, human resources director, and also chair of the Whitpain GOP Committee. It may have been addressed to him. Should that name ring a bell for anyone else, that is the man who registered damskerhoeffel.com and hoeffeldamsker.com before current Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel and his then running mate Ruth Damsker could do so (Source: "Damsker Hoeffel team wants their domain names returned," by Margaret Gibbons, Times Herald, August 8/11/07). Miles was also an aide to Jon Fox in the 1996 Fox / Hoeffel congressional election ("Fox ekes out win by only 10 votes," by Jaclyn LaPlaca, Daily Pennsylvanian 11/06/96)

While many political donations from the Gambone family are to Republicans, the company did contribute to Michael Nutter's mayoral campaign. Joe Gambone of Gambone Development and Kilkenny did serve together on the Government Affairs committee of the Home Builders Association of Bucks / Montgomery Counties. Kilkenny is also the solicitor for Norristown where a Lil Gambone serves on the planning commission. It is very possible that Kilkenny was using an HBA list. Here the question of who exactly the fax was addressed to is very important. If it went to Miles specifically, and if Miles is not the designated government affairs or community outreach person, then someone made a big blunder. If Miles does serve in that capacity it would be interesting to know whether and how many similar invitations have been received from both political parties.

Another reason it would be interesting to see the original document is for the date sent. Kilkenny served for four years in the Judge Adjutant Generals' Corp and thereafter in the Army Reserves. He is currently on his annual two week Reserve training / duty. Did he send the fax hurridly before leaving or was it held and not released until he was away?

These questions are as yet unanswered and seeing a scan of the actual fax would be very helpful. See also Margaret Gibbons story, "Montco GOP chair accuses Dems of pay-to-play push," PhoenixvilleNews, 6/10.

My thanks to the two people who emailed me with updated or corrected information. I do appreciate it.

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