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Residents press commissioners on heated apartments, voter administration and county ‘welcome’ policy

Montgomery County Board of Commissioners · February 4, 2026

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Summary

During public comment at the Feb. 3 meeting, residents and community leaders raised an ongoing heating outage at an affordable housing building, urged protections for tenants and debated the county’s stance toward federal immigration enforcement and the local ‘welcome’ policy.

Speakers during two public-comment periods at the Feb. 3 Montgomery County commissioners meeting urged action on housing safety and debated the county’s interaction with federal immigration enforcement.

Commissioner Nikkisha reported that residents of an affordable apartment building in East Greenville (referred to in the transcript as "the Willows") experienced about six weeks without heat. She said ownership transferred over a recent weekend and indicated county staff are exploring legal remedies, including revoking the occupancy permit, and have asked the building owner to pay residents’ electricity costs and rent during the outage. "We've spoken to a number of residents that continue to say that the heat is not working at this building," she said in the meeting.

Public commenter Joe Rooney of Abington urged the board to respect residents during public comment and raised a question about a $101-per-hour rate listed for JusticeWorks Youth Care on the agenda. David Morgan, another commenter, questioned several agenda contract totals (including a $250,000 item in B5 and a $648,000 voter-services total) and urged the board to consider zero-based budgeting.

In a separate public-comment exchange, Reverend Peter Martin of First Presbyterian Church of Norristown urged the board to trust local police over federal immigration agents and tied that point to the county’s "welcome policy," arguing that reliance on local enforcement makes residents feel safer. Commissioners responded that Montgomery County does not control municipal enforcement, that the county has existing policies governing interaction with federal authorities and the county prison system, and that they are working within their legal authority while expressing concern for affected residents.

Commissioners said they would follow up on several items and invited residents to provide documentation and contact staff for next steps. The board did not take immediate formal action on the housing-conditions or immigration-policy items during the Feb. 3 meeting.