West Norriton commissioners join call for Joseph Gale’s resignation; Readers join outcry in letters to the editor.
WEST NORRITON » At Tuesday’s West Norriton Commissioners meeting, the board discussed creating a formal letter to be sent to the Montgomery County Commissioners, expressing outrage at the recent statement by county Commissioner Joseph Gale on regional protests against the death of George Floyd.
“Our board is going to draft a resolution condemning what Commissioner Gale said and make sure that it is delivered to all of the county commissioners,” noted president Marty Miller, referring to Gale’s press release concerning Black Lives Matter. “As the leadership of all our area councils and boards, we wanted to be sure that we got something out quickly because we don’t ordinarily meet from all of those groups but our board discussed it. I added it to our agenda to produce a document for our approval as a resolution.”
“Gale released a statement on the county letterhead on social media decrying Black Lives Matter as a terrorist group, and it was just appalling to me. Our board was sickened and repulsed by it, and we’re going to take appropriate action to ensure that our community doesn’t agree with this and our community officials are in total opposition to these baseless and racist statements.”
Signed by Miller, President of Norristown Area School Board Shae Ashe, East Norriton Supervisors Chairman Kevin McDevitt, and Norristown Council President Derrick Perry, the letter reads:
“Our communities have faced some of the toughest obstacles the last several months that have tested the resiliency and strength of our constituents. We continue to fight a pandemic impacting the black and brown community — residents are asked to make significant sacrifices to flatten the curve.
“Just as things are beginning to return to a new normal, our country’s history of racism showed its ugly face with the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. As the country marches to end racism in America, our own community must do their part to put an end to the bigotry and racism. The Republican County Commissioner’s statement on ‘rioting & looting in Philadelphia’ is dangerous and harmful to our community. While this is sadly still something that needs to be done all too frequently, this time it comes from an elected official who represents a county that, by itself, is more populous than four states.
“We write this in regard to a statement, issued on county letterhead, by the Republican County Commissioner. There are too many instances of racism and bigotry to name specifically, from a person who usually uses the word ‘Philadelphia’ with intent as racist shorthand for ‘a place where people with dark skin live’.
“We denounce every word of this screed and stand with Commissioners Arkoosh and Lawrence in their call for unity. The first step towards moving towards a more united county, he must resign immediately.
“The leadership of the Norristown Area School District, Norristown Borough, East Norriton Township, and West Norriton Township are united in the following beliefs:
• Black Lives Matter;
• People must have their non-violent protests heard and seen without threat of reprisal from the police or military forces;
• Our communities are strengthened by diversity of all types, including (but not limited to) race, gender, faith, age, political belief, gender identity, and disability;
• We must do better to honor and respect our neighbors, both those we see when we look out our windows, and those in neighboring towns, counties, cities, and beyond, and
• We must spot hateful speech and action, call it out and denounce it when we see it, and do our best to conduct ourselves with tolerance and consideration.”
“Our board is going to draft a resolution condemning what Commissioner Gale said and make sure that it is delivered to all of the county commissioners.” — Marty Miller, West Norriton commissioners president