LETTER: Reilly puts big dent in public trust

As a loyal Republican who has voted in virtually every election for the past 30 years, I am troubled by the admitted "campaign transgressions" of York County Commissioner Reilly.

While the state Attorney General's Office has found no "information that was prosecutable," and thus no apparent violation of the letter of the law, it seems to me that there was certainly a violation of the spirit of the law.

Someone currently serving his fourth term as county commissioner (and running for a fifth) should be aware of the potential pitfalls of county personnel performing political functions.

Attempting to minimize this "transgression" as a minor "technical infraction" or claiming any investigation of the issue is a waste of "a significant amount of taxpayer money" strikes me as the kind of cavalier attitude that has given the term "career politician" such a bad connotation.

The trust of the electorate is one of the greatest assets a politician can acquire. While these actions don't necessarily shatter this trust, in my opinion, they do put a pretty big dent in it.

In 2012, Reilly signed the "U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge." Maybe it's time he applied that to local office.

MIKE BUCKINGHAM

York City