Commissioner Meeting Notes

The Montgomery County Commissioners meeting was held on 11/16/23. I was unable to attend, but I watched the video at this link: https://www.montgomerycountypa.gov/95/County-Commissioners

Chairman Lawrence did not make any announcement on what I am going to call “the prison pause”. He talked about the election, the Way to Go Winners, and encouraged people to act on the Small Business Saturday event that is going on this month in preparation for the holiday season shopping. Five people spoke about the prison, thanking them for pausing and asking the commissioners to go one step further and withdraw the demolition request.  There was an online speaker from someone who echoed Lawrence’s sentiment from the very beginning of the prison campaign, basically saying that we should not save a crime scene. 

The rest of the meeting covered things such as the budget proposal, trail improvements, and an open space allocation. Interestingly, there is a tax increase proposed as part of the budget review due to increased spending. As usual, there will be several public meetings to take this proposal to the constituents. Chairman Lawrence announced those dates as well. .

The one question that was not answered was what would happen to the money already allocated to the prison demolition. Some of the speakers alluded to that money but of course with public comment one does not get answers. One of the speakers, who frequently comments that the meetings, spoke about a perceived unfairness toward the candidates for the election. Chairman Lawrence apparently took offense to this comments and actually stopped the speaker’s clock to engage with the speaker. So some dialog can happen if they are angered enough. 

Commissioner Gale and Chairman Lawrence will both be leaving at the end of the year. The Friends of the Prison are working to get meetings with Commissioner Winder, and the two incoming officials, Mr. Makhija and Mr. DiBello. Mr. DiBello pledged support during his campaign so we will be certain to hold his feet to the fire regarding his campaign promise. If any of those meetings occur, I will be sure to let you know.

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