The World According to Jim

In 1999 Jim Matthews was running for Montgomery County Commissioner, with Republican running mate Michael Marino. The incumbent Republican commissioner at that time, Mario Mele was not endorsed by his party but ran anyway. According to “Montco maverick shakes up vote for commissioner,” by Matt Stearns, Inquirer May 12, 1999:

Mele has counted that a Marino-Matthews victory would bring back the days of machine politics and result in the return of no-bid professional contracts – which, he said, would only increase county costs and ultimately lead to increased taxes.

Later in the article Matthews responds:

Matthews called the patronage issue “a joke.”

“I walk into that courthouse with a businessman’s perspective,” Matthews said. “There hasn’t been any touch put on us as to political expectations.”

Things changed a bit after Matthews was elected.

In 2003 the chairman of the county’s Aging and Adult Advisory Council recommended Ross Schriftman be appointed to the board and the council supported him. Matthews and Marino declined to second the motion of the lone Democrat on the county commission, Ruth Damsker, that Schriftman be named to the board. Here again, from the Inquirer (“Commissioners enjoy a (mostly) quiet meeting,” by Larry Lewis, July 25, 2003):

Schriftman, a member of the Montgomery County Democratic
Committee and a veteran of three campaigns for political office, is
considered a national authority on long-term care for the elderly.


Marino told Damsker and the citizens gathered for the session
that he had heard Schriftman was a possible candidate for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel 3d and was seeking to "build a resume."


Matthews agreed. "I will not be pursuing the appointment of a
lifelong political adversary," he said.

Later in the article:

Marino and Matthews, in turn, accused Damsker of causing
trouble to create election issues.


"This is the way it works," Marino told Damsker. "You've got to
be a big girl on this."

Okay! Well, it’s always nice to know where you stand. That is not a majority commissioner that I would expect to come out very strongly on women’s issues.

As a contrast to Schriftman, an article in the Intelligencer on the same subject “Montco commissioner stirs political storm,” by Milessa Milewski on July 30, 2003, notes:

Damsker said a political agenda did change the Republicans'
mind when it came to state Rep. Ellen Bard, a Republican. She said they did not call for the removal of Bard from the county's Open Space Preservation Task Force after she announced she was running for Hoeffel's seat.

The Intelligencer had another article on the issue on August 18, 2003, “Board appointment process creates county battleground,” by Jeff Shields. Here are a few excerpts:

Granted, it's been 25 years since the Democrat [Ross Schriftman] last ran for the Pennsylvania legislature. But he should have known that Republicans never forget. At least not in Montgomery County.

"I remember he was a pain in the butt, politically," said Montgomery County Commissioner Jim Matthews, who was a Young Republican when Schriftman ran for office.

later

County commissioners appoint about 350 people to 42 boards, ranging from the paid Board of Assessment Appeals to the Office of Children and Youth Advisory Committee. Some boards' by-laws require representation from specific positions, such as a mayor, state representative or agency head, but by far most of the appointments are made at the discretion of the county commissioners.


Democrats argue - and Republicans agree - that those who cross the GOP will not get appointed. That means not only "pain-in-the-butt" Democrats ("There are too many fish in the sea to appoint a political adversary," Matthews said), but also Republicans who step out of line.

later

Democrats represent 38 percent of registered voters in the
county, but only about 19 percent of the county's appointees are Democrats, according to an Inquirer analysis. Republicans, with 51 percent of registered voters, dominate the appointed boards at 76 percent. The remaining 5 percent of appointees are either independent or did not show up in local voters' databases.

later

Marino, known for being apolitical in other areas of county government, admittedly reserves his political rewards for the committee appointments.


And Matthews doesn't blink when he says that Charles Allebach, the longtime Republican mayor of Souderton, was tossed from the county Agricultural Land Preservation Board last year because he supported Democrat Jim Maza - Allebach's longtime family friend - for state Senate.


"I don't know why they did it, but it's their prerogative," said Allebach, 82, who had been chairman of the board since its inception 13 years earlier.


Republicans put out the word that Allebach and about 20 other Republicans who supported Maza had done so at their own peril.


Matthews said that such retribution "can appear very vindictive and childlike," but that it was important for Republicans to send a message. With so many issues in Harrisburg decided on party lines, Republicans can ill afford to put Democrats in office.


"You can't just give away an endorsement for the Senate like that, because it can tear down a whole legislative agenda," Matthews said.

However, Matthews is not completely unreasonable:

Matthews said he was willing to appoint more Democrats to reach a level of about 25 percent representation.

That was very good of him, don’t you think?

Nor was that the only time partisanship came into play after Matthews was elected. Read this from the June 15, 2000 Morning Call (“Montgomery might rescind ethic measure,” by Frank Devlin:

One of the hallmarks of Montgomery County's previous board of commissioners, which ran the county from January 1992 to January 2000, was its effort to take politics out of county government.


Led by former Chairman Mario Mele, the commissioners put contracts out to bid to avoid the appearance that political allies were getting county jobs.

They banned courthouse employees from taking part in political activity during the work day.


In 1998, they decided that holders of certain county administration jobs, including director of human resources, were not allowed to participate in politics, even on their own time.

Earlier that month the new board, with majority commissioners Marino and Matthews voted to repeal the ordinance banning political activity. Damsker voted against the repeal. Although she herself held an office in Cheltenham, she checked with the state’s Ethic Commission and was told she could hold both, although she did not run again after her term expired in 2001. (“Montgomery commissioners repeal political ethics ordinance,” by Frank Devlin, Morning Call, June 16, 2000)

The Inquirer also had an article on the subject, “A Montco Tammany Hall? Democrats say it could be,” by Matt Archbold, June 7, 2000. Here is the last paragraph:

He [Marino] said that the focus of the resolution was to restore civil rights to all county employees, and that all people should have the right to be involved in the political process.


Of course, Marino said, he would like to hire people of like-minded philosophy, and they are typically Republicans, but he said he would hire the best person for the job in all cases. "Of course, you pick the people that support you philosophically or otherwise," he said.

The requirement for competitive bidding for personal or professional services also came under fire. As reported in the Inquirer on April 20, 2000 (“Commissioner critical of anti-patronage rule,” by Matt Archbold):

Marino did not raise the issue for a vote despite having the two votes necessary to get it approved by the three-member board. He had the support of fellow Republican Commissioner James Matthews.


Marino said he wanted the county government "to function as quickly and as effectively as possible," and he noted that state law did not require counties to solicit bids for professional services.


Marino said that if he did attempt to hire political friends on the basis of contributions and not quality, his fellow Commissioner Ruth Damsker, a Democrat, would point that out.

Remember that “she’s a big girl / this is just how things work” comment earlier? Same guy.

Marino did not run for a second term. Matthews ran instead with Tom Ellis, who is also not running for a second term. This year Matthews is running with Bruce Castor. The Democratic ticket for commissioner is Joe Hoeffel, who helped put into effect the regulations that Matthews helped dismantle, and incumbent Ruth Damsker.