Old PNC Bank building on chopping block

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The former PNC Bank building is being foreclosed on. For a paltry $350,000 you can make a bid on the building. If you've been around Norristown for a while you'll know they just rehabbed the lobby, and it had to have cost a small fortune for the work. 

The Gangs of Norristown

You may have never heard of them, but they're there. While Norristown police continue to tell the local media there isn't a gang problem in the county seat, The Scoop has just found out that Family Services of Montgomery County's Norristown Communities That Care is asking for nearly a quarter million dollars to help combat the problem based on a report from, wait for it, the Norristown Police Department. The Chain Street gang: Bang Bang. The Lafayette and Chain streets gang: LC. The Oak and Smith streets gang: ONS. Some of the gang members are as young as 13, and two of the gangs, Bang Bang and LC have more than 3 dozen members. The Scoop recommends you pay close attention to the streets mentioned above, and stay away, far away!

New chief in Norristown

Don't be surprised if Norristown hires back current police Capt. Willie Richet to be chief after he retires. Richet and current police Chief Russell Bono are retiring under the controversial 'drop' program next April, giving council plenty of time to find a replacement. However, The Scoop has it on good authority that council wants a black police chief, and they're willing to pay Richet full salary to come back, at least for a while. Of course, Richet will also be bringing in his tidy little pension as well. Not bad work if you can get it.

Warming up for the election

Let's predict what's going to happen in November.
Starting at the top.
Romney defeats Obama.
Now, let's focus a little on Montgomery County, where we live, work and play...for the most part.
Matt Bradford in the 70th has a write-in candidate for an opponent. Jim Phillips is simply not going to be able to last as a write in.
Mike Vereb in the 150th has a former reporter for The Times Herald, Kelly Devine attempting to give him a run for his money. Next!
Marcy Toepel is in the 147th and I don't think a former Golden Girl is going to be able to unseat her. That's right, Betty White is running for state rep. Ok, it's not that Betty White.
The most interesting race is going to have to be the rematch of Warren Kampf and Paul Drucker. Kampf took the seat away from Drucker about two years ago when Drucker came out in favor of tolling Route 422.
We'll let you know as soon as the dirt starts flying in the 157th. Should be the most fun race of this election season.

Keeping tabs

We know, we know, it's been a while since The Scoop gave you anything worthwhile to chew on, but to be honest, things have been kind of quite in Montgomery County, Pa. That's what happens when a new regime comes in and starts doing things the way they're supposed to. We have to admit, the previous four years were pretty easy pickings. Now we're just going to have to dig a little deeper. Don't worry, though, we're keeping tabs on the new inhabitants of One Montgomery Plaza. The first hundred days have been relatively quit, but that's all going to come to an end when budget season rolls around. They'll find out soon enough that the county  has been balancing its budget on a house of cards.

One Montgomery Debacle

Wait, the actual name is One Montgomery Plaza. It is a debacle though.
I know we've written about this before, but now the entire building is wrapped in gauze because the county is afraid the public is going to be pelted with bricks falling from the facade.
Who is responsible for purchasing this piece of petrifying property?
We can go all the way back to the Matthews, Ellis Damsker regime.
The Scoop has to wonder if any of them ever heard the phrase due diligence.
The parking garage was falling apart at the time of the purchase, and yet they said, sure, let's buy it.
What really needs to come to light, though, is the building inspection that must have taken place before the county signed the check to buy the building. And who was the former owner?
Follow the money my friends, follow the money.

The Great Escape

Not only a great movie, but also it seems, the new motto of former Montco commissioner Jim Matthews.  When will the average Joe and Jane wake up and understand they're being bamboozled by our elected officials? 

The Scoop is waiting for the final outcome, which most likely will be a walk through the park for Matthews and no jail time what-so-ever, but Matthews has indeed pulled off the great escape. 

Dirty deeds done dirt cheap in Montco

Well, well, well. What a fine mess the richest county in the state has gotten itself into. Being $40 million off the mark is one thing, but how they're planning on making it up is quite another.
So, here's the Scoop.
Commissioners elect Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards have pledged no new taxes. Hell of a thing for a team of Democrats to pledge, but they did. So, with a county that is coming up more than $40 million shy, what are they supposed to do? That's an awful lot of social services no self respecting Democrat would dare touch. We hear they're making a deal with Republican turned Democrat turned turncoat Jim "I've been a lame duck for three years" Matthews. Matthews will raise taxes for them now in exchange for Richards and Shapiro keeping all of Matthews cronies in their high paying positions.
There is one fly in the ointment, though. What if Joe "I never met a tax hike I didn't like" Hoeffel won't go for it?

Election PostMortem

Now that it's finally here, and finally leaving as the rest of this night wears on, The Scoop would like to make a few predictions. First, the Montgomery County District Attorney, Risa Ferman, running against no one, will finally have to step up and file charges against outgoing county commissioner James Matthews. There's enough for an indictment, and if one isn't forthcoming, Ferman doesn't make it to another election. The second is that Norristown does absolutely nothing to those responsible for the unbelievable shame and sham that was perpetrated on the residents of the condominium complex on Sandy St. That's just a couple for you. We'll be back in the next couple of weeks to keep the ball bouncing.

Friday night lights in Methacton

How is it that an affluent school district like Methacton is still in the dark ages when it comes to athletic fields? The district has the money to upgrade a couple of fields to turf, and they've (the parents, coaches and players) have been trying to get lights at the football field for years, and yet it never seems to happen. The Scoop thinks it would be a good idea to find out who lives closest to the high school where said lights might interfere with someone's Friday night soirees.

Montgomery County going broke?

Once one of the richest counties in the state, Montgomery County is now flirting with disaster. They owe millions. How did this happen? If you ask The Scoop the answer might be that they never should have spent $150 million, and then another $60 million on open space before they finally pulled the plug on the program. There's also the giant money pit otherwise known as One Montgomery Plaza. November is just around the corner and while everyone is looking at the top of the food chain for changes, people should also be looking at the other elected positions, where large employee payrolls thrive.

Rafferty for AG?

We said we had The Scoop on Montco DA Risa Ferman throwing her hat in the ring for the state Attorney General's seat, and we still haven't heard a difinitive no, but, now state Sen. John Rafferty is definitely throwing is figurative hat (The Scoop has never seen John in a hat) in the ring. So, is the county DA deferring to the state senator?

The One Montgomery County Money Pit

OK, so we've written about this before, but, seriously, who inspected One Montgomery Plaza in Norristown before the county plopped down your hard earned tax dollars to buy it?

The Scoop has it on good authority that the county's own property management director didn't even look at the building before it was purchased. Really?

Now, where does that lawsuit stand? You know, the one where the company working on the garage that was falling apart when the building was purchased is suing because the county apparently didn't pay them.

What a money pit.

Would a little due diligence have been too much to ask?

Montco DA for AG?

The Scoop has it on good authority that Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman will throw her hat in the ring for state Attorney General, ala the former district attorney Bruce Castor. Does Risa have the muscle?

A Gang Mentality

While the local police chief and county district attorney don't want to admit it, there is a gang problem in Norristown. And now it has escalated to murder. As you're driving through Norristown check out the graffiti. It's not your average kids play, even though they want to play it off as 'wannabes.' If a half dozen thugs get together and they 'wannabe' in a gang, guess what? They are. So, The Scoop wants to know....what are you going to do about it Norristown?

Where will the chips fall?

Here's the question: Does current Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor have the muscle to pull running mate Jenny Brown through in November?

Here's the answer: No

Here's another question: Does Castor have enough muscle to be the top vote-getter come November?

Here's the answer: No

The chips are going to fall, and The Scoop believes Castor is thinking they're all going to fall in his lap.

The answer: No

Garage deal coming back to bite county

Who's idea was it to by One Montgomery Plaza?
Sounded pretty good at the time, didn't it?
The county would buy it because they needed more office space, and they would continue to pay the school district the property taxes.
Well, they're trying to get out of that little agreement, but that's not the worst of it.
Did they actually send someone over to inspect the building before they decided to throw our tax dollars at the money pit?
The Scoop has it on good authority that the county was actually told to not buy the building, that it needed to many repairs.
Have you ever seen more scaffolding around a building longer?
And to add insult to injury, the county is now being sued by the contractors working on the building because they're not getting paid.

Who really wants Route 422 tolled?

What's the real Scoop here? No one wants Route 422 tolled, except of course for a couple of politicians. Certainly the people who put them into office don't want to see it tolled. We the taxpayers already pay enough taxes to keep our roads in great shape, and expanded when needed. The problem is, the money is diverted to other pet projects. So why is this being pushed through? According to state Sen. John Rafferty there isn't a bill in either the House or the Senate to do so, and he should know since he chairs the Senate Transportation Committee.

On the outs

The Scoop has been out of commission, but you know what, things have been rather boring lately anyway.
So let's play catch up.
What happened to the Montgomery County commissioners, Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel, who were caught up in Breakfastgate?
We know it's a slap on the wrist for violating the Sunshine Act, but shouldn't there at least be a slap on the wrist?
And how about Matthews and CBIZ?
The Scoop has heard it is in the hands of the feds, but they sure seem to be dragging their feet on this one. Seriously, how do you declare your campaign funds are your money and you'll spend them anyway you please and not get taken down for not paying taxes on the money?

Sheriff roulette

What favor did newly elected Gov. Tom Corbett owe, and to whom, to nominate former Whitemarsh police Chief Eileen Behr to the vacant Montgomery County Sheriff's post? Seriously, this post has been vacant since former Montgomery County Sheriff John Durante passed away more than a year ago. And if it's a Republican thing then why not the other Republican candidate? Something doesn't smell right, but The Scoop is on it. Rumor has it Corbett owed a favor to someone out west who had a friend in the east. Ain't politics grand?