Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Meeting - October 23, 2025
Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Meeting - October 23, 2025
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners met on October 23, 2025, to discuss upcoming municipal and judicial elections, the county budget, community events, and public safety initiatives. Commissioners provided updates on election preparation, the AI council, SNAP benefit risks due to federal shutdown, and local grants. The Board received presentations from the District Attorney on the biannual Drug Take-Back Day and from the President of Montgomery County Community College on the college's annual report and achievements. A proclamation was issued for Polish American Heritage Month. The Board also heard extensive public comment, primarily focused on immigration enforcement and a proposed county welcoming policy. Routine approvals included the meeting minutes, a resolution for an America 250 grant, the personnel list, bid advertisements, and multiple contracts.
Opening Remarks and Updates
- Chair Keija noted that the November 4 elections are approaching, with about 50,000 mail-in ballots still out and 50,000 returned. He encouraged voters to return ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
- The Chair thanked 428 judges of elections and 2,412 poll workers, including 226 students, for their roles.
- He announced the launch of the AI council and referenced an incident at North Penn High School where a student was found with a gun, stressing the importance of security technology.
- On the county budget, the Chair reported that Montgomery County maintains a AAA bond rating (top 5% of U.S. counties) but is drawing down fund balances due to the state budget impasse. He cited rising costs: health care up 18% in two years, 10% higher than anticipated, and new unfunded mandates. Savings were noted: $1.4 million from renegotiating a prescription vendor contract, $500,000 from reduced outside legal spending, and $200,000 from bringing ombudsman services in-house.
- Commissioner Winder highlighted the Careers for Tomorrow expo in Oaks, with 70 employers and over 1,000 students from 27 Montco schools. She also announced a November 6 screening of American Delivery on maternal health.
- Commissioner Winder recognized October's "Way to Go" winners: Adrian Johnson (Board of Assessment Appeals), Wanda Pacheco (Register of Wills), David Thomas (Public Safety), Jen DeParlo (Correctional Facility), and Carol Morris (District Court).
- She reported that the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has paused SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown, affecting about 65,000 Montgomery County residents. She urged federal leaders to compromise and noted the county's 73 food pantries and a new warehouse in Lansdale to support food distribution.
- Commissioner DeBello discussed Monco 2040 grants, noting $250,000 awarded to Perkiomen Township for park upgrades (community garden, dog park, nature trail). Over ten years, 157 grants totaling $21 million have been awarded to 54 municipalities.
- He described attending the Ukrainian American Sports Club's 75th anniversary gala in North Wales and the annual centenarian lunch (over 350 residents age 100+ in the county, with 24 attending).
- He announced the Veterans Month flag raising on November 7 at the courthouse.
Presentation: Drug Take-Back Day
- District Attorney Kevin presented the "Nightmare on Pill Street" campaign for the biannual Drug Take-Back Day on October 25, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are 37 participating police departments, including drop-offs at Giant and Wegmans locations.
- Statistics: 6,853 pounds collected in April 2024; 5,584 pounds in October 2024; cumulative total since program started: 138,000 pounds of pills.
- He reported a 27% decrease in overdose deaths last year but noted that numbers are slightly ahead of the previous year, emphasizing continued effort. Pills are incinerated via a contracted company. The program aims to reduce overdose deaths and overprescribing.
Presentation: Montgomery County Community College Annual Report
- Dr. Nicky Stecky Press, College President, presented the annual review. Highlights include: women's basketball first national championship; recognized as one of 16 most promising community colleges to work (national, out of over 1,000); Readers' Choice awards from local newspapers; enrollment exceeded targets by nearly 3% for the second year.
- Middle States reaccreditation: two-year process resulted in 13 commendations, no recommendations for change, no requirements for reporting.
- Class of 2025: over 1,200 graduates; large portions are first-generation and students of color; age range includes a 15-year-old earning an associate degree alongside high school graduation.
- Top programs: Liberal Studies, Business Administration, Nursing.
- AI integration: teaching ethical use, integrating competencies, preparing students for career readiness, and developing societal literacy. Uncoming upgrades to the Monty Chat bot and exploring AI for transcript analysis.
- The college was selected for the Aspen Institute's Unlocking Opportunity initiative, focusing on post-college success and economic mobility.
Polish American Heritage Month Proclamation
- David, President of St. Mary's Polish American Society, accepted the proclamation. He shared the society's 10-year effort to save St. Mary's Catholic Church in Conshohocken, which reopened in 2018 and now draws nearly 1,000 weekly attendees. The society holds annual food sales and a scholarship program.
Public Comments & Testimony
First Public Comment Period (related to agenda items):
- David Morgan (Ambler) expressed concern about the Justice Center design cost of $31 million and asked for full transparency on the county campus plan. He noted confusion about the total cost figure ($415 million) and requested that the Board provide detailed spending breakdowns.
General Public Comment Period:
- Vincent Sobasinski (Payne Township) critiqued the nine percent tax increase in 2025, cumulative 33% over three years, and personnel cost increases of 14.5% (five times inflation). He suggested reviewing pension options (401k/403b) and questioned whether the stop-loss insurance contract was competitively bid. Commissioner Winder responded that the benefits consultant was competitively bid and saved $200,000.
- Preston Lutwater (Limerick Township) thanked the Board for ensuring peaceful demonstrations on October 18 ("No Kings Day") and expressed disappointment over the federal shutdown affecting SNAP.
- Christy Yingling (East Norton) urged passage of a welcoming policy for immigrants, citing economic benefits and lower crime rates in diverse communities.
- Linda Weaver (Limerick Township) described a threatening incident at a polling place and implored everyone to lower political rhetoric. She also stated she was one of 1,500 protestors on Saturday and denied being a paid demonstrator.
- David Morgan (Ambler) commended the Board's maternal health event and reiterated concerns about cumulative tax increases (51.84% top-line increase from 2020-2025).
- Ed Moy (West Norristown) opposed a welcoming policy, arguing for strict immigration enforcement. He claimed illegal immigrants bring drugs and crime and asserted that ICE agents should not be hindered.
- Rabbi Elise Wetcherman (unidentified municipality) strongly supported a welcoming policy, framing the issue as one of due process and constitutional values. She noted Cheltenham Township unanimously adopted a welcoming policy the previous night.
- An unnamed speaker (daughter of menorah analogy) shared personal experiences of discrimination and urged welcoming policies.
- Holly Pollock (Lower Frederick Township) supported a welcoming policy, citing diversity.
- Stephanie (North Wales Township) identified as a legal immigrant of 30 years and urged support for ICE and enforcement of immigration laws. She argued that illegal entry disrespects legal immigrants and the rule of law.
- Kaylee Taylor (Cheltenham Township) supported a welcoming policy, noting that many detained individuals were pursuing legal status. She emphasized due process.
- Michelle Ingarto (Lower Salford Township) criticized tax increases (109.4% cumulative increase since Democrats took control in 2012), questioned spending on DEI and new positions, and advocated for slimmer government.
- Caitlin Santos (Willow Grove) supported a welcoming policy, arguing it protects law enforcement and opposes unmasked agents violating due process.
- John Bale (Norristown) described ICE detentions as breaking families and causing trauma; he warned of increased crime if proactive community support is not provided.
- Peg Idol (Skippack) expressed heartbreak over immigration enforcement and supported a welcoming policy, stating many detained individuals were trying to go through legal processes.
- A speaker (name not caught) corrected misconceptions about immigration wait times, citing family visa backlogs (e.g., Mexico siblings from April 2001; Philippines from January 2008).
Key Outcomes
- Minutes Approved: Unanimously approved the October 9, 2025 meeting minutes.
- Resolution Approved: A resolution supporting an America 250 grant application with a $25,000 county match was approved.
- Personnel List Approved: The October 23, 2025 personnel list was approved.
- Bids and RFPs Advertised: The advertisement schedule for bids and RFPs (Exhibit A) was approved.
- Contracts Approved: The contracts, awards, amendments, and renewals (Exhibit F) were approved, including a redesign amendment for the Justice Center that will save costs by accommodating the District Attorney's office, avoiding the need for additional rented space.
- Salary Board: The salary board presentation was approved.
- Next Meeting: Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 10 a.m. in the boardroom.
Meeting Transcript
Call to order the October twenty third, twenty-five meeting of Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, seeing all three commissioners present. Uh, I will ask uh doctor this type of community. I pledge allegiance to the black of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. Okay, so welcome. We are just a few weeks away from our November 4th elections for municipal elections as well as judicial elections across the Commonwealth. Just want to encourage everyone to make sure that they either return their mail and ballot. There's about 50,000 that are still out there, 50,000 have been returned. Or make a plan to vote on election day. I'll be doing a town hall tonight. If you would like to dial in and participate, the number will be posted. It's 855-7567520. Extension 127 is a little eight pounds. We'll post it online. So we'll talk about the process of maintaining the integrity of the election. We'll walk through the security of that. There are always many questions, how we count the business, where we count them, what we do once we receive the tabulation. Because people have a lot of questions about our election process. And although it's an odd year, you have many important races on the ballot from your school board to local municipal officials and the judges convention. I also want to say that Monday was the voter registration deadline, so hopefully everyone is registered. And Tuesday, the 28th, would be the final date of request a mail in ballot, but you should absolutely not wait that long because it will take probably a few days for it to get to you, and then either a few days if you mail it back, which would risk your vote not being counted if we do not receive it by 8 p.m. on election day. So if you are one of the people who gets a late mail in, make sure you take it to a drop box by 8 p.m. on election day because then if there's any mail police, uh we'll still get your vote counted. We've got thousands of people who are on the ballot, including I should just thank uh 428 judges of elections, uh, and we have poll workers supporting them, 2,412 across the county, including 226 students. So thanks to our voter services for making that a seamless process. I know there are a lot of trainings that happen. There are going to be even more once we have new folks who are working as judges of elections, and uh they're all there to help their friends and neighbors vote, no matter who they're voting for. Uh so make sure to cash your ballot. Um we're having a launch of our AI council, and bringing this up because there was actually an incident. I want to thank uh all of the school officials at North Penn High School just talked to the school board president, uh, Kathy. Uh, and there was an incident you may have seen that uh a student uh was uh found with a ton in school, and thankfully nothing bad happened in the sense that no one was harmed. Uh and that's because of the great work and training of our school security staff and atonements of police department's uh response and uh DA has already taken action on that. Um but it's important to recognize that there's a system that North Penn utilizes not every day. Um, but you're now going to consider how to deploy that uh system that's called evolved and it detects weapons. Uh it's metal detector, uh, similar to what you would find in an airport, but it specifically finds a density uh uh of metal that would is likely to be a gun set off and alert. So that's the conversation they're having at North Pend tonight. There's a meeting about about this incident and uh what how should it inform policy? But I think it's you know it's an example of how we could use technology to keep the kids' safe keep guns um out of schools and making sure that uh you know we don't have an incident like this, which is really concerning to all the parents, um, not just where I'm in Monaco. So um looking forward to hearing from the work that North Penn is doing after this incident because they'll have a lot to share with other school districts across the county. So uh I also want to speak briefly on our county budget. And it's even harder now. If you look at every other body in government, there haven't been a whole lot of budgets passed, right? The state government has kind of blown through their budget deadline, and now many of us at the local level are suffering the consequences. Thankfully, in Montgomery County, we've been in a very strong fiscal position, and we've maintained the Part Triple A bond rating, which puts us in the top 5% of counties nationwide in terms of our ability to withstand difficult economic events. Right now, we are, however, spinning down some of our fund balance in order to stay afloat because we're not getting the state funds to run critical programs. Now we can't do that forever, right? And there are some other counties that are already either cutting services or putting the burden on their contractors to work without pay, essentially. And we haven't gotten to that point yet in Monco. So it's incredibly important that we continue to advocate for our state legislators to get to a sense of a budget. And you know, we'll we've talked about that a number of times, but I think what's important at the same time for us is that we find a way at the county level to work as efficiently as possible to maintain you know our fiscal house in order, so to speak, and uh do so at a time when people are feeling rising costs, inflation across the board uh in utilities, construction costs, health care.
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