During its March 3rd meeting, Whitpain Township’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to appoint the firm of Rudolph Clarke to serve as its solicitor. Only Republican Fred Conner voted against the appointment. All of the Democrats voted for it.

The “Clarke,” in Rudolph Clarke is Michael Clarke, who is a big donor to Democrats in Montgomery County. This week we will examine if he donated to Whitpain politicians, but here is an article MoreThanTheCurve.com published about his donations in Conshohocken, Plymouth Township, the Colonial School District, and Montgomery County Treasurer Jason Salus.

Clarke getting appointed should not surprise anyone. There is a history in Montgomery County of Democrats becoming a majority on an elected body and one of their first actions is appointing Clarke’s firm as solicitor.

In addition to Whitpain, The Hatboro-Horsham School Board and Upper Gwynedd Township Board of Supervisors were flipped to Democratic Party control in the 2019 election and in early 2020 the new boards voted to appoint Rudolph Clarke as the solicitor.

In 2018 Democrats took control of Plymouth Township’s Council and appointed Rudolph Clarke as the solicitor.

In 2017 the already Democratic Party controlled Colonial School Board saw new Democrats join who had received a $2,500 donation from Clarke. The board then voted in early 2018 to appoint Clarke. That led to a year of Democrat infighting as the new members then passed a policy that would effectively limit bidding on the construction of a new school to union shops. In the 2019 election, all of the incumbents up for election who voted for Clarke and the policy lost, along with all of their running mates.

The Whitpain Township appointment is also problematic in another way. Clarke is the solicitor of the Montgomery County Tax Claim Bureau, which falls under the Montgomery County Treasurer’s Office, which is led by Jason Salus and where Michele Minnick, chair of the Whitpain Board of Supervisors, works as the Assistant Director. Salus now has an employee and his favorite attorney in place running the township.

Clarke has also been the recent focus of controversy. In Falls Township (Bucks County) where he serves as the solicitor, he was caught on video mocking the fact that police officers were getting recognized. You can read all about this incident on LevittownNow.com.

Former Whitpain Supversior Ken Wollman, who was a Democrat when he was elected and served, has been issuing warnings since before the 2019 election about Salus’ influence on the board. In a recent Facebook post, he questioned what happens if Salus asks Minnick to get something done in the township and Minnick disagrees? He is not only her boss but as a party leader also plays an important role in any political aspirations she may have. If you do not think Salus holds endorsement over incumbents, we ask you to read this statement from a Democrat who previously served on the Colonial School Board.

More to come.