Castor and Brown Talk Transparency, Ethics

Describing Montgomery County a 21st century county living with an 18th century government, Bruce Castor and Jenny Brown said Tuesday that under their leadership, the county's board of commissioners would advance "true reform" and restore public trust in county government.

During a meeting with the media at in Norristown, Castor stressed a particular need for rules to protect whistleblowers in county government. The incumbent commissioner said that county employees approach him on "almost a daily basis" to tell him about hostile workplace situations, "mischief" and unethical practices taking place in county government. He declined to cite specific examples because, he said, the current lack of a whistleblower policy would put these employees' jobs in jeopardy.

Brown and Castor said that county officials needed to be held accountable for decisions by "non-biased" personnel to ensure that decisions are being made in the public interest and are not "politically motivated" through donations or "personal political agendas."

Brown contrasted the ticket's position with one of its Democratic opponents, Leslie Richards, who Brown said “scrapped the ethics policy when elected to [the Whitemarsh Board of Supervisors].”

Commissioner Joe Hoeffel and James Matthews drew criticism and a grand jury investigation last year following allegations that they were illegally discussing county business over breakfast, a violation of the state's Right to Know laws. The controversy prompted the state's top open records official, Terry Mutchler, to suggest that the law may be unrealistic when applied to a three-member board.

This summer, the state Supreme Court struck down county ethics rules intended to prevent county employees in "sensitive" positions from participating in some types of political activities.

The Republican ticket for majority control of the three-member board also announced plans to make video of commissioners' meetings available through the county's website so that members of the public could compare official and press accounts of proceedings with raw, unedited footage.

In keeping with the transparency theme, the two candidates also reiterated on finance reform. Brown and Castor, if elected, plan to have an online database of county finances and expenditures accessible to the public through the county website. They said that showing the public all donors, along with amounts donated, will prevent political influence from affecting county decision-making through monetary donations.

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