'Go On With Your Dog And Pony Show': Montgomery County Commissioners Clash During Thursday Board Meeting
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) - There was name-calling and accusations as Montgomery County commissioners traded insults during the monthly board meeting. Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, who is a Democrat, and Joe Gale, the only Republican commissioner, spent much of Thursday's meeting sparring over several issues, including mask and vaccine protocols.
"This COVID nonsense, mask outside, mask in the building, you must be vaccinated, is all political theater and it is wrong. And I'm not going shut up and just go on to get along. I'm going to go on and provide those checks and balances," Gale said. "You all should be ashamed of yourselves. And that concludes my comments. Go on with your dog and pony show."
Gale also called Arkoosh a "dictator" and accused the commissioner, who is a Democrat, of purposely leaving his name off of certain county proclamations, while also excluding him from group photos.
Arkoosh responded, with some tough words of her own.
"I want to be very clear, and I am just speaking for myself, but I won't stand next to you unless it is statutorily required because you're racist, you are a COVID denier, you refuse to pay any attention to the science or the facts," Arkoosh said. "And I will not dignify you by putting my name next to yours or standing in a picture next to you when you continue to stab this kind of nonsense. I'm just speaking for myself."
This is not the first time the commissioners have clashed.
In January, Arkoosh accused Gale of being a racist after Gale referred to Black Lives Matter as a "hate group."
