Voters should chart a new course in Montco commissioners race | Endorsement

Montgomery County is facing its biggest leadership shake-up since Democrats took control of county government in 2011.

In January, Val Arkoosh resigned as chair of the three-member Board of Commissioners to join the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the other Democrat — Ken Lawrence Jr. — isn’t seeking reelection.

On May 16, registered Democrats will choose up to two candidates from the five running to replace Arkoosh and Lawrence. Republicans (who, as the minority party, will have one seat) can choose up to two of three candidates to represent them in November.

The new commissioners will have to tackle the problems facing the state’s third-largest county by population, including a lack of affordable housing, maintaining infrastructure such as bridges and roads, and helping guide the county’s post-pandemic economic recovery. Montco commissioners will also oversee the administration of the 2024 election, including mobilizing voters to cast their ballots. This is an important job, given the county’s increasingly crucial role in state and national elections.

Sadly, as Democrats have gained more power in Montgomery County, they’ve followed a familiar script for parties in control. They’ve developed a strong political machine, including power brokers who operate behind the scenes to get their favored candidate elected.

In one example, recently detailed by Inquirer reporter Andrew Seidman, Michael P. Clarke, managing partner of municipal law firm Rudolph Clarke, helped Kimberly Koch and other Democrats take over the Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors in 2019, after which Whitpain hired Rudolph Clarke as the town’s law firm. Koch is now running for county commissioner and has Clarke’s backing once again.

None of this is illegal. But it’s also not a good way to govern a county.

This board wants voters to decide who represents them — not the political machines. For that reason, in the Democratic primary for Montgomery County commissioner, voters should support candidates who can operate independently: Noah Marlier and Neil Makhija.

Marlier comes to the job with county government experience — a key quality, given that a refreshed board would be tasked with overseeing the county’s $500 million budget. Marlier grew up in Jenkintown and worked as an assistant district attorney for the county. He is now the county’s elected prothonotary, the civil clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, where he has worked to make the office more efficient and made strides to help people facing domestic abuse and eviction. Given the affordable housing problem Montco is facing, this experience will prove especially relevant. In his work, Marlier has reached out to communities whose voices have often been neglected, work he pledges to continue as commissioner. This is an important trait for an increasingly diverse county.

Makhija may be relatively new to the county — although his wife grew up in Lafayette Hill, and they plan to raise their family in Montco — but he brings a lot to the table, including experience in elections, which the party can draw on for 2024. As head of Indian American Impact, Makhija helped boost voter turnout among Asian Americans in recent years. An attorney, he’s been on the right side of fights over the opioid crisis and workers’ rights, and he’s picked up some key endorsements, including those of Sen. John Fetterman, former Gov. Ed Rendell, and State Sens. Vincent Hughes and Katie Muth. If elected, Makhija would be Pennsylvania’s first Asian American to serve as a county commissioner.

Jamila Winder, who has occupied Arkoosh’s seat since she left earlier this year, is running for a four-year term. There’s a lot to like about Winder, the first Black woman to serve as Montco commissioner. But after she was endorsed by the party, she chose Koch as her running mate — even though the majority of hundreds of members of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee elected to leave the second spot on the Democratic ticket open, so voters could decide. Her actions are concerning.

Of the three candidates running as Republicans, this board recommends Liz Ferry and Tom DiBello.

Ferry is the vice president for state legislative affairs at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia and has spent seven years as an elected commissioner in Upper Dublin Township. DiBello has experience in the private and public sectors as a Limerick Township supervisor and as Spring-Ford school director.

Another qualification both share: They are not the third candidate, the incumbent (and bombastic) Joe Gale, whose confrontational style on the board has been counterproductive. Gale has called Black Lives Matter a “hate group” and wants to restrict voting access by eliminating mail-in ballots and requiring photo ID. He has even criticized hard-right former candidate for governor Doug Mastriano for being too moderate. Mastriano’s supposed offense? Supporting an act that expanded access to mail-in ballots.

GOP voters have an easy choice. For Democrats, voters will decide whether to continue down the path of pay-to-play politics or chart a new course with Marlier and Makhija.