Montco to revisit ethics proposal

A proposed ethics policy to bar Montgomery County employees from being political candidates or fund-raisers was shelved yesterday by commissioners favoring an even more restrictive plan.

Commissioners Chairman James R. Matthews had called a circa-1998 set of top-level employee restrictions "draconian" before he helped repeal it in 2000. But the other two commissioners discussed reviving it - on a far broader group of workers.

Thus, an agreement between Matthews and power-sharing partner Joseph M. Hoeffel to block scores of employees only from running or raising money - which would be a unique restriction in the four Pennsylvania suburban counties - is being toughened even before it becomes law.

Over Matthews' objections, 100 or more county-employed attorneys and financial decision-makers could soon be barred from campaign work, speech-making, political demonstration, or serving on party committees, in addition to the earlier political restrictions, under the revived 1998 policy.

Matthews had joked that the old rule, which covered eight employees during its brief run, restricted "just about everything but breathing."

However, Hoeffel and a rival commissioner usually frozen out of power, Bruce Castor, found themselves in agreement - and with enough votes to overrule Matthews, 2-1, once commissioners work out which departments' decision makers should be covered.

"If Bruce Castor keeps his commitment in two weeks and votes for the stricter version of the political-activity ban to cover the largest group of people, we'll have it," Hoeffel said.

Castor said he believed commissioners did not have authority over employees in county row offices, such as rank-and-file prosecutors, and predicted that restrictions on them would fail in practice or in court.

However, he said he would vote for sweeping political prohibitions on "everybody who works for Montgomery County," which has thousands of employees, believing that the rules will stick only for top-level staffers under the county commissioners.