In less than six months, voters will decide if Republicans are to continue to govern Montgomery County. There are many valid reasons that voters will choose to change.

And those reasons focus on the Republican candidate for re election, incumbent Commissioner Jim Matthews, and the Montgomery County Republican Committee chair, Ken Davis, who, with the support of Bob Asher, engineered the endorsement of Matthews over the competent and experienced Melissa Murphy Weber.

The choice of Matthews was Asher's doing. Matthews contributed $4,000 to Asher in the weeks right after the Montco Endorsement Convention and $1,000 a month and a half before the convention.

Asher-Davis-Matthews must go if the party is to survive in the county.

According to a recent poll reported in the Times Herald, "if the election for Montgomery County commissioner were held today, Matthews would be the odd man out in the four-candidate contest, and Democrats would have captured control of the county's three-member board of commissioners for the first time in more than 130 years." Indeed, former Congressman Joseph Hoeffel outpolled Bruce Castor 49 percent to 42 percent, and incumbent Ruth Damsker outpolled Matthews 30 percent to 26 percent.

Thus, the presence of Matthews on the ticket is already pulling the popular Castor, the most popular elected official in Montgomery County, down. And, lest there be any question about why this has occurred, "only 36 percent believe the Republicans have done a good job managing the county and deserve to be kept at the helm, while 53 percent believe the GOP has been in power too long and that the Democrats deserve a chance."

Noting that the voter sample included a majority of Republicans (45 percent) over Democrats (42 percent), pollsters noted that these 500 voters were accepting the risk that Democrats would do to Montgomery County what they did to Philadelphia: high crime, high taxes, increased deficit spending, and fewer tangible results.

On the Duane Morris Government Affairs Web site (www.dmga.com), Ken Davis himself admits the conflicts of interest between being an official in the Republican Party and his own private gain:

"Ken was a member of former Mayor Edward G. Rendell's Private Sector Task Force on Management and Productivity, and directed and wrote a study of the city's commercial and economic development policies. Governor Rendell has since appointed him to Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.

"With the introduction of gaming in Pennsylvania, Ken has taken an active role in the implementation of the new law. His knowledge of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the legislators who crafted the statute make him a valuable resource to those interested in entering this exciting new industry."

The Phoenixville News reported: "Public Affairs Management (predecessor to Duane Morris Government Affairs) was attractive, the commissioners explained at the time, because it has representatives from both sides of the aisle. One of its principles was Davis, who was a Lower Merion Township commissioner at the time, while another was former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel."

Matthews and fellow Commissioner Tom Ellis are accused of using insider influence to a vendor favored by a crony, former Republican Gov. Mark Schweiker, who was paid $90,000 a year to make phone calls on behalf of Municipal Revenue Services.

(Note: This is a bipartisan scandal, like many other matters Ken Davis is involved in. Former New Jersey Gov. James Florio and former Philadelphia Controller Joe Vignola are involved. )

Rank and file Republicans must demand:

* Ken Davis resign as Montgomery County Committee chair;

* Duane Morris Government Affairs returns all monies taken from the Montgomery County taxpayers;

* Matthews and Ellis fully disclose all details, as well as cost (legal and otherwise), of the Municipal Revenue Services lawsuit to the Montgomery County treasury;

* Matthews and Ellis disclose all "no bid" contracts in the county and relationship of vendors to them, their law firms, businesses, family or members of the Montgomery County Republican Committee;

* Matthews withdraws as candidate for commissioner, to be replaced by Melissa Murphy Weber;

* The party returns to core principles of limited government, economic freedom, personal autonomy and individual initiative;

* Real involvement with activists and Republicans in the decision-making processes of the party, instead of a few connected leaders with their own agendas. What struck us was how many people (on the committee) and on the inside of the party have a financial stake in what the commissioners do.

Bob Sklaroff and Bob Guzzardi are Republican activists in Montgomery County.