Letter To The Editor

Visualize one of those old movie sets of a grand mansion that has fallen into disrepair. Creaky doors. Sheets over the furniture. Heavy drapes drawn keeping out the sunlight. An old grandfather’s clock that stopped ticking 20 years before. Cobwebs everywhere.

Well, it may not be quite as extreme, but from a governmental and political standpoint Montgomery County’s government has fallen into a similar state. For over 100 years one party has controlled the courthouse. One party has made the decisions. One party has handled the upkeep of the county with benign neglect, and treated it more like a caretaker than an owner. Power, patronage and perks have counted for more than good policy, visionary thinking and strategic investment. At a recent press conference we described how we would sweep away those cobwebs, draw back the drapes to let the sunlight in, and get that old grandfather’s clock to reflect the times we face.    

We talked about our H.E.A.R. plan that stands for hold the line on taxes, efficiency, accountability and reform.    

We stated quite clearly that we would not raise taxes and then spelled out why we believe we can make that claim.    

During the first 90 days we will conduct comprehensive reviews of county real estate holdings, use of technology, necessary infrastructure repairs and other aspects of county government to get a handle on county spending, and run a more efficient operation. We will also conduct internal audits of spending controls and publish all county spending in an online database to ensure that taxpayers know how their tax dollars are being spent. We need to do more with less, keep an eye on the bottom line and balance our budget without gimmicks, and not solely on the backs of county workers. One of the ways we will do this is with zero-based budgeting standards, which will allow us to start assessing government from scratch, not from a platform constructed over more than a 100 years where everyone says, “that’s the way we do it.”

Our contention that the county’s situation has been allowed to deteriorate over the years received affirmation from a surprising source. Just a few days after we talked about removing the cobwebs, one of our commissioner opponents, incumbent Commissioner Bruce Castor was quoted in a news story saying that Montgomery County was “a 21st century county with an 18th century government.” A startling contention since Mr. Castor has been on the county payroll for 26 years and has been a majority commissioner for the past four years, which begs the question whether he is part of the solution or part of the problem.

Not to belabor a visual, but we believe we can sweep away the cobwebs, because we both have done it before. 

Leslie Richards will be the point person on the efficiency review to be conducted in the first 100 days of the new administration, because she has already done the same in Whitemarsh Township where she led a similar review that resulted in a more efficient government, technology advances, elimination of duplicative services and no tax increases for Whitemarsh residents the entire time she has been on its Board of Supervisors.

Josh Shapiro has been a point person for cutting waste in state government where he was the author of a 14-point reform bill aimed at cutting the cost of the Legislature. Several of those measures have been enacted and have cut more than $30 million from the cost of the General Assembly. Shapiro also served as the Chairman of the Legislative Audit and Advisory Commission which has sole authority to audit the books of the General Assembly. He opened up the process, posted the audits online exposed the existence of a more than $200 million legislative surplus which he urged be promptly returned to the taxpayers.

We are also sure that we will have close to 3,000 people who will help us in Montgomery County’s version of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, and those are the dedicated county employees, who, too many times under Republican rule, have been treated as faceless, nameless people roaming the mansion, and who too often have had to shoulder the brunt of budget cuts when commissioners found it easier to cut pay or benefits rather than change “the way things are done.” These employees will be valuable assets and agents of change as we create a new 21st century government to match our 21st century county. Everyone will be invited to the open house.