Sightings: The Final Chapter

There's a quote, "good things come to those who wait." For what it's worth, they sometimes do.

I started this blog in January 2008 because several people, including Joe Meo, of the Whitemarsh Republican Committee, didn't appreciate my comments regarding Jim Matthews back room deal with Joe Hoeffel. You see, I was then secretary of Area 6, and often would send an email out chronicling Jim's behavior and expressing my opinion on the matter. Because they didn't appreciate me using my position for a bully pulpit (although most of my detractors have and still do so), I did cease sending the emails.

Instead, I decided to start the blog to express myself and offer my opinions.

Over the years I've chronicled Jim's lies, the impact his actions have had on our county and the price we are all paying for it. Over the past 3+ years, I've never been wrong in anything I've posted about Jim Matthews. I've been aggressive in my endeavor, and never apologized for what I have done, while bringing to you the antics of a power-hungry egomaniac. Today, Jim Matthews was arrested and charged with perjury and false swearing. He was arraigned in District Court in Norristown at approximately 11:55 today.

What, me perjure?

I'm very happy about this. Why? Because, for 3+ years, I've been pissed off that my time was wasted asking people to vote for Jim Matthews. Because I believed that Jim wouldn't turn his back on our party, no matter how much he disliked (read despised) Republican Commissioner Bruce L. Castor, Jr.

I thought Jim Matthews was an honorable man. I was wrong then, and when I realized I had been duped along with so many of the people of Montgomery County, I started this blog to call Jim on everything untoward that he has done since taking office.

You might ask, why did you stop blogging suddenly, about a year and a half ago? Well, I had been out of work for a while, and writing my blog was not as important as my families financial standings, which were in dire straits for a while. It also had started to disrupt the peace and harmony of my home. So, I backed off.

Fortunately, Jim became a caricature of himself in the waning year of his tenure on the board of commissioners, his ego getting in the way of solid, Republican governance. Jim Matthews can single-handedly be blamed for the financial mess the county now "enjoys".

Back to the present...Jim was arraigned today on charges of perjury and false swearing to the grand jury. Jim also broke a gag order placed upon him by the grand jury, according to NBC10 reporter, Deanna Durante in her report this afternoon (watch video report on NBC10 page).

Over the past year and a half, one of my principal desires has been to be present at the "perp-walk" if Matthews was arrested. Today, that desire has been fulfilled. During my lunch break, I was able to not only watch the "perp-walk", I was able to sit in on Matthews arraignment in District court in Norristown, in front of Judge Hunsicker. The hearing was pretty much vanilla, over and done in minutes, with bail being set at $50k (unsecured) and a preliminary hearing date of December 16th being set. The perp-walk was the real treat, it was an early Christmas present:

Yes, that's me, heckling Jim.

Needless to say, a journey of just 2 months shy of 4 years has pretty much come to an end. This will probably be my last post on "Writemarsh" about Jim Matthews, as this day has pretty much reached the apex of my reasons for starting this blog in the first place...to see Matthews brought down in shame for the egregious behavior he has displayed as a Republican and as a human being, for the past 4 years.

Funny thing, I wasn't the only person telling people what a bad man Jim Matthews was. Bruce Castor told us from day one not to trust Jimbo. In today's Times Herald, Republican Commissioner Bruce L. Castor, Jr. was quoted as saying:

“Jim Matthews lied to the voters, to his supporters, to his contributors, to the party – those things don’t surprise me, but when he lies to a grand jury, that is a crime. My experience is that perjury cases before a grand jury are almost always successful for prosecutors. I cannot recall a perjury charge in any court that I’ve ever worked in or around that did not result in a guilty verdict, because it’s such a rarely used charge. A prosecutor only uses it when they’re sure they’re going to win.”

Final note: as I was writing this post, Jimbo resigned as Chairman of the county commissioners. They say rats usually are the first to jump off of a sinking ship. Good riddance.

B.