Early involvement in politics

Matthews was first elected to the Board of Commissioners in 1999 with District Attorney Michael Marino. In the 1999 primary election Matthews defeated Mario Mele,^[2] whom Republicans had accused of making a power sharing deal with the third commissioner, Democrat Joe Hoeffel, and supporting higher taxes in exchange for the commission chairmanship.^[3]

In 2003, Matthews ran with Tom Ellis for the county commission. Facing incumbent Ruth Damsker and Frank Custer, the pair won, but with a narrower margin, less than 10,000 votes,^[4] than Republicans were accustomed to.

Matthews courted some controversy in 2005 when he led an effort to ban cigarette smokers from working for the County. He and the commissioners reasoned that by outlawing smoking by County employees, they would be able to reduce health benefit costs. Later that year, the Commission retreated from that position, citing potential legal concerns. Montgomery County now offers anti-smoking aids to its employees as well as cash bonuses for those who stop smoking.^[5]

In 2006, he declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor. Lynn Swann endorsed him for the position and he subsequently won the May primary unopposed. In the fall general election however, Swann and Matthews were defeated by Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell, garnering only 39% of the vote.

In 2007, Matthews made a third, successful bid for the commission. Early in the campaign, Matthews and Ellis were opposed for the Republican nomination by State Representative Kate Harper, former Lower Merion School Board member Jill Govberg, District Attorney Bruce Castor and former State Representative Melissa Murphy Weber. The challengers charged that Matthews and Ellis could not keep the county government in GOP hands in the upcoming election. Matthews countered that he could indeed win given his experience in county government and his name recognition. Running on his own, Matthews narrowly captured the party endorsement finishing behind Castor.^[6]

Matthews and Castor faced off with Hoeffel, who sought to return to the commission after a stint in Congress, and incumbent Ruth Damsker in the general election. Matthews was attacked for support from Bob Asher and a lobbying contract awarded to party chairman Ken Davis. Matthews raised a campaign account separate from Castor and counterattacked Hoeffel and Damsker with charges that they would raise property taxes.^[7]

On election day, Castor, Hoeffel and Matthews were all nominated, with the latter edging the incumbent Ruth Damsker by just over 6000 votes. Matthews received the lowest vote tally of the three.^[8] Matthews was, until his arrest, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners following a power sharing agreement with, ironically, his fellow candidate Hoeffel.^[9] Matthews was formally censured by the Montgomery County Republican Committee (MCRC) on November 17, 2008 for his deal with Hoeffel, with the MCRC Chairman Robert Kerns declaring Matthews was "no longer a Republican".^[10]

Legal and political issues

Despite announcing he would seek a fourth term without party support, Matthews withdrew from the contest, along with Hoeffel, after rumors of alleged violations of state Sunshine laws and awarding of no-bid contracts surfaced. A subsequent grand jury investigation was critical of both Hoeffel and Matthews over their discussions of county business over private breakfast meetings. Matthews was later arrested and charged with perjury. The day of his arrest, Matthews resigned as Chairman but not as Commissioner. Hoeffel and Castor summarily fired county solicitor Barry Miller, a close friend and ally of Matthews, who also served as Matthews' campaign treasurer and closest advisor. Castor nominated Hoeffel to the position of Chairman ruefully saying he did not want the chair for himself by likening the post to becoming "Captain of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg." Matthews did not attend the public meeting where these actions took place. Hoeffel and Castor further ordered staff to consider how to remove Matthews from any boards or commissions on which he serves at the pleasure of the commission. Matthews subsequently resigned from all these positions after news accounts reported Hoeffel and Castor's intention to remove him.^[11]

Matthews subsequently agreed to be placed into an accelerated rehabilitative disposition program for nonviolent offenders. He will serve a year of probation on one charge of perjury, after which time his record can be wiped clean of the perjury charge if he remains out of trouble.^[12] Matthews will also be forced to testify in a lawsuit against the county's contractor, XSPAND, for delinquent tax collections. The lawsuit, brought by a competitive firm, MRS, alleges that Matthews and Ellis, while they were Commissioners, improperly steered county business to XSPAND and pressured the borough of Norristown to hire it as well. They are also accused of improperly sharing confidential information with former Governor Mark Schweiker, a lobbyist for the firm. Matthews and Ellis countered that the contract generated significant savings in delinquent tax collection costs.^[13][14]