The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Local officials join the call for Gale’s resignation
Nine more elected officials in the region have added their names to the list of people calling for the resignation of Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale.
On June 18, eight members of the Pottstown School Board signed a letter asking Gale to “voluntarily resign.”
Board member Steve Kline said he could not sign because he works for Montgomery
County and signing the letter, written by Vice President Katina Bearden, would be a conflict of interest for him.
On June 20, Limerick Town- ship Supervisor Patrick Mor- roney issued a similar state- ment in the wake of the board of supervisors’ refusal to take the matter up for discussion and possible action at the June 16 meeting.
Ever since June 1, when Republican Gale issued a “press statement” condemning the Black Lives Matter activist group as a “radical left-wing hate group” that “perpetrates urban domestic terror,” he has faced a storm of protest from elected officials and citizens alike.
As the protests have grown, both outside the county courthouse in Norristown and at Gale’s home, some counter-protesters have also emerged to support Gale, particularly since he pivoted and added the issue of abortion to the defense of his original statement.
Noting that Gale was elected to represent 83,000 people on a platform of “people before politics,” the school board letter notes that Gale is failing to represent the diverse population of the county and is “putting politics before people.”
“Calling Black Lives Matter a hate group tells the public you have not performed your due diligence to become knowledgeable about its roots or its mission,” the school board letter reads.
Black Lives Matter is “a multicultural organization united to speak against hate, racism and egregious acts of violence against black and brown lives,” according to the letter. “Black men