Matt Holliday, the Chester County Prothonotary, spoke with VISTA Today about moving 13 times while growing up in Greater Philadelphia region, getting his working papers at the age of 14, the lessons he learned from his earliest jobs, and how he incorporated those into his future positions.

Holliday also discussed how attending West Chester University was the single best choice he’s made in his life, how he’s lived in the same five-block radius in the borough for the last 15 years, and his entry into politics, where attributes his success to having friends on both sides of the aisle and putting partisanship on hold to foster good relations for the betterment of the people he serves.

Where were you born, and where did you grow up, Matt?

I was born the youngest of two boys right outside of Norristown in Montgomery County. I didn’t grow up anywhere specific because we moved thirteen times around the Greater Philadelphia region before I went to college in West Chester in 2004.

Why so many times?

My mom was a single mom trying to make rent. My parents divorced when I was five years old, so we were always looking for affordable places near a job that my mom was working. We stayed mostly in Delaware County. The longest I remember ever living anywhere as a kid was in Broomall. We were there for four years.

What did your mom do?

She had a lot of different jobs. She was a certified health and physical education teacher for nine years at North Penn High School in Montgomery County before I was born. From there, she bounced around. At one point she was managing a limousine company before working for the CEO of The Signal, a cell phone insurance company in King of Prussia. She cleaned houses. She was a waitress. She was a jack-of-all-trades and did what she needed to pay the bills. 

What are your memories of growing up?

Out of all the places I lived before coming to Chester County, Broomall was my favorite. When we lived in Broomall, I remember the blizzards that hit in the 1990s. I did my best to shovel every driveway I could to make some money. I’ll never forget when a friend of mine and I organized an epic snowball fight with all the kids in our neighborhood. Luckily, none of us got frostbite, but we were out there for six or seven hours because you could do that back in the day. 

What was your first job growing up?

When I got my working papers at fourteen, I worked at Acme by the Granite Run Mall. I was a bag boy and a cart guy. That was my first official job. Shortly after that, I was a shift manager at Maggie Moo’s ice cream shop in high school.

Before that, I had a phonebook route from the time I was seven or eight to help out my mom. When I was eight years old, I sealed the floors of airplane hangers at Dover Air Force Base. My brother and I always tried to have a job to help my mom out.

What lessons did you take away from those first jobs?

The work was physically demanding. The hangers at the airport did not have heat or air conditioning. When I was distributing phonebooks, it did not matter if it was summer or the dead of winter, the books had to be delivered.

It was a good lesson to work hard and do what you have to do, so I wasn’t doing that forever.

Did you pick up on your mother’s work ethic?

I definitely learned how to work my way into leadership or management in my different positions because of her. In those positions, I was able to make more money and contribute financially.

What particular skill set do you have that allowed you to continually work your way into management?

I think a lot of times, especially in retail, employers are looking to promote workers who will stay longer, learn the tasks and the business itself, and really commit to the job. That’s what I brought to each business where I worked.

You were doing that even as a kid?

My family has always said I was born as an eighty-year-old man!

What kind of music did you listen to in high school and college?

I didn’t listen to a lot of music in high school that I can remember. In college, I was an RA for a few years, but I did move off-campus with a group of friends my junior and senior year. When I lived with them, we listened to a lot of Coldplay, One Republic, and the Fray. I guess you’d call it alternative rock. We always had Piano Man, Don’t Stop Believing, and all the classics playing at our parties as well.

Were you a good student?

I excelled at the subjects I enjoyed, and I got by on the subjects I didn’t enjoy. I was always more of a history and English guy than a math guy. I did work hard in every class though. Back then, I was always in too many extracurriculars at once, which meant I missed a class or two.

Did you play any sports in high school?

We moved a few times in high school, which did not help when trying to join a team. We also did not have the disposable income at home to afford the extra costs of playing on a sports team.

I was on Student Council, Future Business Leaders of America, and I was one of the leads in the Fall play. I tried to be involved with the things I knew wouldn’t cost my mom too much. Additionally, I couldn’t stay too long after school because I had to get to work.

Of those activities, did you have a favorite one?

I really enjoyed being in FBLA – Future Business Leaders of America. I learned a lot of great lessons in high school from that program.

In college, I really enjoyed being an orientation leader and a Resident Assistance in Killinger Hall. I was Study Body President. I was in a service fraternity – the oldest student organization at West Chester University – the Friars Society, which was formed in 1937. I was a judicial hearing conduct officer. Any committee they had and wanted a student to lead, I was on board. 

You had a lot of choice for college, why did you choose West Chester?

Truthfully, we did not have a lot of money to even pay the application fees for a bunch of different colleges. At the time, I wanted to be a history teacher, and West Chester had a great history program. West Chester University had an excellent reputation and was an affordable education.

Looking back, was West Chester the right choice for you?

Honestly, it was the single best choice I’ve made in my life. The people I met there have turned out to be lifelong friends. The lessons I learned there still stay with me. I also found Chester County and realized I never wanted to leave. Having moved thirteen different times growing up, it’s ironic that I’ve stayed within a five-block radius in downtown West Chester for the last fifteen years.

In college, when did you realize you were bringing something unique to the table?

I think probably my sophomore year. A few different folks began to notice me after I was appointed West Chester Borough representative from Student Government. In this role, I met the then-Mayor, Dick Yoder, and first-time Borough Councilwoman Carolyn Comitta. They saw something in me and told me to get involved in the community. Simultaneously, some folks on campus saw those same management qualities and encouraged me to explore more leadership positions on campus.

Who gave you your first big break in politics?

A friend of mine was working on Shannon Royer’s state representative campaign in 2006, and he asked if I wanted to join the campaign. When Shannon ran again in 2008, I served as his Deputy Campaign Manager, even though I was still in college during this time. At that point, I knew I wanted to have a career in the political business.

What did those people see in you?

I think they saw my desire and willingness to help. I was willing to do whatever it took to get a job done. I had a good work ethic, followed through, and treated people with respect and kindness.

Unlike some in politics who get ahead by tossing out insults, you are an accommodating person. How did you find your voice in politics? 

I’ve done well in politics because I have friends on both sides of the aisle. When I was at West Chester, Carolyn Comitta, not realizing I was a registered Republican, asked me to be her campaign manager for mayor. And that was after knowing me for four years!

I always put partisanship on hold to foster good relations for the betterment of the people I serve. I had role models and people I looked up to on both sides of the aisle. In Harrisburg and Washington, both sides are always pointing fingers at one another. By surrounding myself with

Democrats and Republicans, I find that I’m always learning something new.

Having the childhood I had, I tend to always see the glass half full rather than seeing the world as a bleak or depressing place. Finding the good in everyone and finding a way to work with everyone is the only way to be successful and move forward. When we build coalitions, we can achieve more.

Why did you decide to run for office?

In large part, ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be someone who helped others. I used to want to be a District Attorney but realized that financially, going to law school wasn’t in the cards for me. Once I moved on from that idea, I knew I wanted to get into public service.

I spent five years as Chief of Staff for Representative Dan Truitt. While I was doing that, I really enjoyed the constituent services aspect of it. In that role, I realized I wanted to call the shots, so I could make the final decision on things. If I wanted to be able to do things my way and at the same time be able to fully delve into helping people the way I wanted to, I knew I needed to be the elected official, rather than work for one.

Looking back, who were the people who propelled you and gave you your break?

Like I said earlier, Shannon Royer. Skip Brion valued my work ethic and wanted to see me move forward. Carolyn Comitta and Kathy Cozzone were helpful to me over the years. It was a lot of people within and outside of politics.

Outside of politics, a lot of community leaders like Richard May, Tracy Sammarone, Bill Ronayne, and other business leaders who heavily invested in non-profits and civic organizations within our community. As soon as I joined the Rotary Club of West Chester at twenty-five, I picked up an extensive support network of people who nudged me forward.

As the incumbent Prothonotary, what are your priorities?

For the last four years, my staff and I have worked incredibly hard to improve how the justice system helps those who need it. If you’ve been a victim of stalking or domestic violence, you would come into the Courthouse and file a protection from abuse order.

Before I was elected to this office, it wasn’t necessarily the smoothest process to file a protection from abuse order.

I’m also the President of the Chester County Domestic Violence Center. Last year, I spoke with President Judge Jacqueline Cody about forming a private/public partnership. We gave the Domestic Violence Center an office in the Courthouse, and now they have two legal advocates and a full-time attorney stationed here to help victims of abuse. That office can assist with filing for the PFA, information about emergency and long-term housing programs, and counseling programs.

We implemented an electronic filing program as soon as I was elected to office. My predecessor took eight years to establish a plan for an e-filing but never got the site launched. That was my first order of business.

I stuck to my campaign promise of operating the office in a fiscally-conservative manner. In four year, we’ve closed 1,900 defunct cases that had no activity for years. The courts were spending time and money mailing those people every time a new court term came up. We saved a lot of money there.

Yolanda Van De Kroll and I worked together bipartisanly to transfer appeal cases to the Superior Court electronically, a decision that saved twenty-five thousand dollars each year in mailing cost.

We are scanning in a lot of old cases so that information is available instantly, and folks don’t have to delve into the basement archives at the Courthouse and over at the historical society.

We are also proactively converting all the microfilm into PDF digital images because the microfilm machines are becoming extinct.

Ultimately, the customer service in this office is at a whole new level. My staff and I go way above the call of duty for people because typically they are the most vulnerable members of our society. We cannot give legal advice but always go above and beyond to ensure our clients are satisfied and comforted. We also connect them to any groups we believe they’d benefit from their services.

If you’re fortunate enough to be re-elected, how would your priorities shift?

We have some projects in the pipeline that I’d like to launch next year. I’ve had some preliminary meetings with an app developer who is interested in developing an app for the office. There are other prothonotary offices in the country that have and use this capability. That could help with passport information, searching for family genealogy researching, and to give them simple forms to be used in certain proceedings.

We are still scanning a lot of backlog information. We are working on a section of our website with helpful links to non-profits that people may want to reach out to. For instance, if you have a landlord/tenant case, and you’re now facing homelessness, I want people to know there are places such as Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children, Home of the Sparrow, etc. We are trying to continue the momentum and keep being a resource for the tens of thousands of people who use our office every year.

West Chester is still your home?

Yup! I’m very involved in our community here. I’m the President of four non-profits currently: West Chester Downtown Foundation, the Rotary Club of West Chester, Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children, and the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County.

One of those terms is coming to an end in October, the Domestic Violence Center, and I’ll be stepping down after two years as President. I’ll be the President of the Arc of Chester County next year. Those are all opportunities to continue to find ways for the government and the private sector to collaborate on helping people.

What do you do in your free time?

When I have it, I enjoy spending time with my friends. I love to read and walk. You can find me walking around Stroud Preserve and downtown West Chester. Every walk I take, I find something new, and that’s after fifteen years here!

Canvassing the county this year has been a delight for me because the boroughs – West Chester, Phoenixville, Downingtown, Kennett Square – have all come such a long way. The City of Coatesville is starting to look incredible. Revitalization and renaissance are alive and well in Chester County. It’s been so great to see everyone pitching in and working together to make Chester County so great.

I like outdoor dining, so this is my season assuming it’s not too hot! I love to travel, but I haven’t been on vacation in a while and don’t plan to until after the election.

Finally, Matt, what is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

I have to say the single best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is, “you get out what you put in.”

Our candidate educator of the friar society told us that during our candidate pledging semester. He repeated it probably 150 times over ten weeks while we were pledging. As college kids, it annoyed us as he kept saying it. The more I heard it, though, I realized how right he was. If you treat something lightly and don’t invest, you’re likely to get very little out of the experience.

If you roll your sleeves up, pitch in, and get shoulder to shoulder with those around you, you’ll reap enormous professional and personal rewards.

I’ve been a groomsman in seven Friar’s weddings, I’m a godparent to a Friar’s daughter, and I’ve made countless connections through Rotary and the other boards I’m on. These folks have become my family over the years, and it’s absolute proof that the more you put into something, the more you get out of it.

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Editor’s note: The Chester County Leadership profile of Debbie Bookman, the Democratic candidate for Prothonotary, appeared on VISTA Today yesterday.

Publisher’s Note: Laura Wagoner contributed to this profile