Could Castor have easily prevented the Matthews/Hoeffel coalition?

I received an email from a prominent Montgomery County activist towards the end of last week saying County Commissioner Bruce Castor was at fault for the Jim Matthews/Joe Hoeffel bi-partisan coalition because Castor first went to Hoeffel and offered the same deal.  After talking to Commissioner Hoeffel we can confirm that rumor is just that, a rumor. 

So what was the story behind the deal that was struck to share power when there are two Republicans and one Democratic County Commissioner?

Neither Matthews nor Castor approached Hoeffel to make a deal to cut the other out.  It appears that was never either of their intentions.  Castor, Hoeffel and Matthew had weeks of discussions on whom would be the chair of the delegation.  Castor refused to support Matthews, Matthews refused to support Castor and neither would agree to support Hoeffel.  With the gridlock between the two Republicans all the power was basically left in Hoeffel’s hands.

When both Matthews and Castor refused to get behind the other Hoeffel became one with all the power.  (Ever feel like you are watching an episode of Big Brother when you hear about Montgomery County?)  Hoeffel told Inside Edge it became his choice and for him it was an easy choice to make.  “The discussions made clear to me that Bruce was unable to articulate any specific agenda and vision for county government, while Jim and I found lots of common ground on issues we wanted to push, like economic development, transportation funding and greening the county.  So we formed our bi-partisan coalition,” said Hoeffel.

More Inside Edge