Rumors abounded at the Westover Country Club this evening. I'll get to them later.
First and foremost, the rally was fun. There was an Irish band that played (go figure) Irish music and a Johnny Cash song. The hors douv...er, appetizers were the typical fare, nothing to get excited over, but filled the void. The open bar meant that your humble blogger was kept in mucho Coca Cola all night long (I never drink alcohol when I have the bike out).
The highlights of the evening? MCRC Chairman, Bob Kerns was fantastic. He spoke about the campaign, spoke of the need for us to pull together and make this a banner year for Montgomery County. Then, the candidates got up and spoke, and to my surprise, I wasn't bored to tears. They all spoke of the elections, the hard work that they were doing to get elected, and the need for volunteers and money.
The highlight of my evening? Politics notwithstanding, I'd have to say that the highlight of my evening was finally meeting (face to face) fellow blogger and Times Herald columnist, Lisa Mossie (Bluftoonie, and PAWaterCooler.com). (To read Lisa's 9/18/08 column, click here)
Rumor time
Jim Matthews. He wasn't there, but the rumor mill was doing a rather brisk business on his behalf.
Rumor #1: J-Turd has been asked, and has accepted the role of treasurer in his brothers non-committed run against Arlen Specter for U.S. senator in 2010.
Rumor #2: James Rex "ai-ai-ai" has been asked by certain powers that be in PA politics to start his own version of the "Chairman's Club", to try and siphon money away from MCRC fundraising efforts, but will hold off until after the election in November to do so. (Keep your eyes especially on this one folks, and please, don't give in. Our county chairman is doing a fantastic job and needs your support in order to bring Montgomery County back to it's former glory as a Republican county.)
Neither rumor has been corroborated, but they're out there.
Also noticably absent was the contingent from Abington. It seems that a certain Muni-Chair decided that his meeting was more important than MCRC business, instead of changing location to the Country Club, chose not to attend.
Quorum was not met and the bylaws were not voted on. Pity, because the old bylaws are seriously outdated and the new ones are quite good.
There's always January.
B.
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Re: The County Republican Candidate's Rally
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
MCRC News Release, Vol 1, Issue 2
MONTGOMERY COUNTY GOP CHAIRMAN CALLS ON COMMISSIONERS TO HONOR CAMPAIGN PROMISE AND APPEAL BARNES DECISION
Contact: Robert J. Kerns 610-279-9300
June 11, 2008 -- Montgomery County Republican Committee Chairman Robert J. Kerns today urged the County Commissioners to abide by their campaign promises and do everything in their power to keep the world-renowned Barnes Museum in its current location in Lower Merion.
The Commissioners must decide no later than Monday June 16th to appeal an adverse court ruling on the matter. Yesterday a coalition of people known as "the Friends of the Barnes" met with Commissioners Matthews, Castor and Hoeffel to urge them to appeal the ruling. At that meeting, Commissioner Castor, a lawyer, former District Attorney, and Shareholder/Director of the Blue Bell based litigation firm of Elliott, Greenleaf and Siedzikowski presented a legal analysis of the merits of an appeal. Castor concluded that the issue is not "settled law" as it related to the ability of a county government to bring a court action of this type, and further determined that the County could not possibly face any "sanctions" from the court for taking an appeal since Pennsylvania law allows losing parties to appeal without fear of reprisals.
Upon reading a news account of the meeting the commissioners had with Friends of the Barnes, Kerns asked Castor his legal reasoning. Kerns, a lawyer and former county solicitor (who worked with Commissioner Hoeffel) concurred with Castor's conclusions: "It would be a tragedy for the county to lose the Barnes. There is absolutely no down side to the county filing an appeal. Commissioner Castor's legal analysis is right on the money. Every litigant is entitled to an appeal."
In May, a Montgomery County Judge ruled that a county lacked "standing" to bring a court action to try and keep the collection from being moved to Philadelphia. However, that question has not yet been addressed by the state supreme court. The trial judge relied on a court decision from a court lower than the supreme court in making its determination that the county lacked standing. The judge also ruled that the county had a reasonable basis for bringing the suit and that therefore no "sanctions" were warranted.
Concluded Kerns: "All the commissioners are on record saying they would do whatever they could to 'save the Barnes.' Now is the time to step to the plate."
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Calendar of Events
Dear Readers,
As most of you know, the MCRC web site in under construction and will be back up and running in due time.
Until then, I have asked Brittany Tressler to supply me with a list of events to post here on my blog, until the website is back in full swing.
Just click on the link to the right to view a printable calendar. As with all works in progress, I wanted to get the events of the next few weeks up posthaste...I will be working on this on a daily basis until I have all of the scheduled events listed.
Thanks for your patience!
B.
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