News & Issues: Candidate Interviews
Montgomery County Republican Commissioner Candidates:
Jim Matthews and Bruce Castor*
- Why are you running as a candidate for County Commissioner?
Jim Matthews :It is as simple as I love my job. It is not the money. I did well in real estate and mortgage banking. I’ve sacrificed financially to be a part of this. It’s a priceless endeavor. In that regard I guess you would call it a “reverse” sacrifice.
- What is the most pressing issue facing the county and what are
your plans to address it?
Jim Matthews :
The most pressing issue for Montgomery County is the same one that faces every suburban county. We have to equal the expectations of human services for our citizens. We have about 8,500 mental health and drug and alcohol clients. About 4,500 physically challenged clients. Thousands of Medicaid qualified who need skilled nursing facilities; and children who need shelter and protection. Meeting these needs is not an option, it’s an imperative. You have to come up with the money, and make sure we are meeting essential human service needs. We also must maintain a safe county seat because we require that our citizens come to jury duty and apply for many county services in person. To that end, we do our best to provide for a client friendly environment, with county-paid added pedestrian security. Human services and public safety are our top priorities. We’ve added a police firing range, a new burn building for our volunteer trainees, and a state-of –the-art computer dispatch system for our volunteer fire trainees, and a state-of-the-art computer dispatch system for our police and fire and emergency services responders. Providing for all of this at a reasonable cost is paramount, and quite a challenge. We’re always looking for new angles to keep costs down. Despite that, I’m confident that we will once again lower county taxes next year. I honestly don’t think that we have to promise anything new, or recreate county government. Instead we have to strive to continue the high quality of delivery of essential services.
- If approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, would you support
the imposition of a countywide real estate transfer tax to pay for
open space preservation?
Jim Matthews : Absolutely not. The ‘American Dream’ remains the owning of ones own home. I don’t want to add another brick in the wall between renting and homeownership by increasing the RTT. We don’t need that burden; the individual aspiring to ownership doesn’t need that burden.
- REALTORS® are very knowledgeable about their communities
and the real estate industry. As a County Commissioner how would
you utilize
this expertise? Would you consider appointing individuals recommended
by our organization to real estate related boards and commissions at
the county level?
Jim Matthews :Yes, I support realtors being involved with county government, including on our boards and commissions. I believe the knowledge and expertise realtors have relating to the housing market in our county would be a real asset.
- Access to accurate real estate records is an important issue
for our REALTOR® members. Would you support funding to the Recorder
of Deeds and Assessment offices to ensure availability and accuracy
of this information?
Jim Matthews :
A leader always looks to where he or she is comfortable when seeking counsel. As I said, I’ve been in this business for decades, and know many sharp folks in the real estate industry. I have and will continue to count on their skills. I’d look for even more advice from your leadership that in the past, and I have made many appointments to county boards from our field that have certainly advanced the county agenda of service.
- Have you been endorsed by any political party or organization?
Jim Matthews:
The county did a complete changeover of systems in my first term, against my advice. The new Recorder of Deeds has had my full supporting making it right with a better installed system. As to assessment system, I am comfortable with our county board and our annual update system. It is not a perfect world, but I will not throw away $15 million for a new assessment, as has been suggested by my opponents. The residential market would take another shot to the chin, vis-à-vis commercial-industrial values. Our appeal hoard as about 1,500 appeals a year vs. the 15,000 in the year following our county wide assessment.
- Why should a REALTOR® vote for you?
Jim Matthews:
Realtors should vote for me because I know what’s important for them. I’m fair. I always get as fully informed on an issue as possible, and fully review the repercussions of a decision. I know the Realtors are about the quality of life in a home marketplace. To me ‘location, location, location’ means a quality-of-life setting. Human service deliveries, public safety, trails, everything we care about, such a transit, are about a ‘location’. I think that the Realtors should have great trust in me. To learn more, visit http://www.matthewscastor.com.
*Jim Mathews responded for both Republican Montgomery County Commissioner Candidates.