"A Modest Salary"

Initially I planned to write a long rant about this but sometimes it is better to just set out some information and let people think about it for themselves. However, I reserve the right to rant at a later date.

Montgomery County Commissioner Tom Ellis nominated himself to be the county’s representative to the Independence Blue Cross board of directors. For more information on this situation see “Ellis picks himself for board post,” by Jacob Fenton, Intelligencer 9/01/2007

According to a press release from the Matthews / Castor campaign team:

On a more serious note, Matthews and Castor pointed out that Mr. Ellis has chosen not to take the modest salary provided by the Blue Cross appointment, and instead donate the $12,000 to the Children's Section of the Norristown Public Library.

According to the US Census’s fact sheet on Montgomery County (www.factfinder.census.gov), the estimated average per capita salary for county residents in 2005 is $35,962.

I’m all for people donating to libraries; they are a public good. But calling an amount that is a third of the county per capita income “modest” seems just a tad out of touch with the day to day life of constituents.