Montgomery County Commissioners' Meeting and Election Board Session - August 20, 2026
Montgomery County Commissioners' Meeting and Election Board Session - August 20, 2026
The Montgomery County Commissioners convened on August 20, 2026, for a meeting that included recognitions of retiring employees, a donation to a deputy whose home burned, a brief Salary Board adjournment, and a substantive Election Board meeting. The Election Board approved meeting minutes, polling location relocations, and adopted an updated ballot curing policy.
Employee Recognitions
- Josh P. Grant retired after 26 years of service with Adult Probation, beginning March 27, 2000. Commissioners praised his dedication, service as a defensive tactics instructor, and commitment to staff development.
- Tom Pepe (49 years, started in 1977 as a punch card operator, later web developer) and Roy Bickhart (since 2002, age 70) from ITS are retiring next month. Commissioner Wagner noted the vast technology changes during Pepe's tenure, and Commissioner Winder commended their contributions.
Donation to Deputy Tyler
- Sheriff Tilkenney reported that Deputy Tyler's home burned down. A county payroll deduction drive raised over $7,000 from county colleagues. Deputy Tyler expressed gratitude for the support.
Salary Board Adjournment
- A motion to adjourn the August 20, 2026 Montgomery County Salary Board meeting was made, seconded, and carried unanimously.
Election Board: Minutes Approval
- The board approved the minutes of the June 8, 2026 Election Board meeting.
Election Board: Polling Location Changes
- Mira Baelson, Deputy COO, requested authorization to relocate two polling locations for the 2026 general election due to unstable utility services (water main break, power and heat issues in previous elections). The motion was approved unanimously.
Election Board: Ballot Curing Policy Update
- Commissioner Winder introduced an automatic ballot curing policy: when a mail-in ballot has a correctable error (missing signature, missing secrecy envelope, etc.), Montgomery County will automatically cancel the defective ballot and mail a new ballot package with an explanation, rather than only notifying the voter. This policy originated in Dauphin County, which achieved the highest curing rate in the commonwealth. Commissioner Winder cited that in 2024, nearly 44% of Montgomery County voters with deficient mail-in ballots never had their vote counted.
- Commissioner Debello expressed reservations about the cost and voter responsibility, but acknowledged the legal requirement for a curing process. He appreciated the addition of marking canceled envelopes with a red symbol. The policy was adopted unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Recognitions of retiring employees Josh P. Grant, Tom Pepe, and Roy Bickhart.
- Donation of over $7,000 to Deputy Tyler from county employees.
- Approval of June 8, 2026 Election Board minutes.
- Approval of relocation of two polling locations for the 2026 general election and beyond.
- Adoption of updated automatic ballot curing procedures, effective for the 2026 general election.
- Commissioner Debello requested a high-level election timeline on the county website; staff indicated it will be posted by September 1, 2026.
- Commissioner Debello also requested scheduling of future Election Board meetings publicly.
- Commissioner Winder noted ongoing consideration of moving to a different voting machine system, ideally before the next presidential election.
Meeting Transcript
Um your supervisor wasn't able to make it today but wanted to share a note about about you. So I can take no credit for writing this. Josh P. Grant began his career with the department on March 27, 2000 as a probation officer assigned to supervision caseload in the Willoughgrove Courthouse Annex. Since then he has risen through the office to become assistant supervisor and then supervisor. Josh consistently demonstrated a commitment to staff development and officer safety through his service as a defensive tactics instructor, helping to train countless employees throughout his career. Josh exemplified dedication and a steadfast commitment to public service. His contributions have made a lasting impact on the department, his colleagues, the community, and the county as a whole. We extend our sincere gratitude to Josh for his many years of distinguished service and congratulate him on a well-earned retirement. So thank you for your service to the county. It's it's very rare that you see someone that gives decades worth of service to an organization, but to public service. So I hope you have plans to do something uh way more exciting than adult and you know, I'm not trying to put it down, but I can imagine how stressful adult probation is. But congratulations on on your retirement. Thank you for for years of service to the county. Anyway, I was just gonna I mean you did a very good job, you know. I can yeah, I tried to do that. But I want to echo everything that Commissioner Wagner said. Thank you for for 26 years of service here at Montgomery County. Um I I've kinda I've said this in the past, it's always sad to see you know somebody that's dedicated, you know, a large portion of their career here at Montgomery County. But we're also happy for you to be leaving and enjoying going into retirement. So well deserved, and I know many many will miss you. But again, we want to congratulate you for everything that you've done here in Montgomery County, all the lives that you've impacted uh in a positive manner. And uh so again, thank you and enjoy enjoy your time now. Uh just think that my first Monday morning when the alarm clock goes off early in the morning, you look at it and say, I don't have to go anywhere. So congratulations. Come on up, we're gonna grab a grab a picture with you. Congratulations. There you go. That's pretty cool. Okay, look right here. One, two, three. Great, thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. Uh my name's Gordon Gown, I'm the deputy CIO for ITS here. Um we in ITS have two employees retiring next month. Um first is uh Tom Pepe. Um has been here 49 years. He started in 1977 as a punch card operator in our mainframe room over in the courthouse. Uh since then, Tom uh went on to become our web developer. Um was here when our first web page went live in the early 80s, and has been through more website designs than I could even think about. And he was instrumental in the new website um going up and live. So he's gonna be very missed. Um I was hoping he'd make 50 years because I figured that like a big proclamation, but I think 49 is pretty good. Uh the second person's name is Roy Bickhart. Um Roy has been in IT since 2002. Um he's played many roles throughout our department from infrastructure to help desk. Uh he was our IT liaison up at DPS for a number of years. And when he told us we were retired, he was retiring. I had I was like, wow, okay, congratulations. And I found out he was 70 years old, and I was like, why have you waited so long?
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