Pay-to-Play, Monroe County Style

After initially setting my GPS to take me some place in upstate New York, I finally made it to Ron Angle's 70th Birthday Bash on New Year's Day at the Chelsea Sun Inn. That's tucked away on Stone Church Road in Upper Mount Bethel Township. Although I could tell lots of stories, I'll limit them to one, at least for now. It's about Monroe County Commissioner Charlie Garris.

Monroe County, like most counties, still retains the Commissioner form of government, elected two people from the majority party and a third from the minority party. Garris tells me he spent $38 in his race. His Republican running mate, John Moyer, spent nothing.

He only won by about 100 votes, and tells me he thinks he should have spent $39.