Montgomery County commissioners on Jan. 8 approved a series of routine motions — including approval of the December minutes, several board appointments and multiple contract awards — and used the meeting to announce community initiatives and a leadership change.

The board voted to reappoint members to the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority (resolution F‑1), to approve appointments to the Montgomery County Transportation Authority (resolution F‑2) and to fill a seat on the Montgomery County Conservation District (resolution F‑3). In each case the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote, recorded as "Aye; motion carries." The board also approved contract awards and renewals listed in Exhibit B and approved contract actions for the Southeast Pennsylvania regional task force.

Unidentified speakers announced county events and program work: the annual Point‑in‑Time (PIT) count to document homelessness will take place on Jan. 22, and the county’s continuum of care partner Your Way Home is accepting on‑line donations (montgomerycountypa.com/pitcountdonations) to help meet needs not covered by private donations. The board also set the county’s second annual State of the County address for Feb. 11 at Montgomery County Community College to highlight housing, behavioral health, infrastructure, public safety and economic development.

The meeting introduced Pat McTurden as the county’s new director of the Department of Health and Human Services. The speaker described the department as one of the county’s largest, with nine program offices, six strategic management offices, a $478,000,000 budget and nearly 600 county staff, and noted the new director’s experience with research on homelessness, reentry and justice‑involved individuals.

On procurement, the board authorized advertising of bids and RFPs listed in Exhibit A and specifically pointed to an RFP led by the director of immigrant affairs to modernize and expand language access services — including simultaneous interpretation, captioning and braille — across county departments. The board approved a personnel presentation dated Jan. 28, 2026, as presented by Anthony Drew, chief human resource officer.

Public comment included remarks from Matthew Decker, who identified himself as the co‑founder and interim artistic director of a local theater company and invited residents to upcoming performances and an opening night on Feb. 13.

The meeting concluded with the usual housekeeping items and an adjournment motion that carried by voice vote. The board announced its next meeting will be Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. in the same chamber.

"This is an essential effort to understand homelessness in our community," one speaker said when describing the PIT count and donation effort.