Tom Galella might run for Lackawanna County commissioner

Sometimes, politics around here generates a chuckle, sometimes a belly laugh.
Have I got a belly laugh for you.
Tom Galella, Chuck Volpe’s buddy, for Lackawanna County commissioner.
On the Republican ticket.
I’m not laughing because this is preposterous. Far from it. Mr. Galella is an intriguing candidate with some real background in government work.
I’m just already picturing Mr. Galella tangling with Democratic County Commissioner Jim Wansacz at a commissioners meeting.
Sorry, can’t help it.
Anyway, Mr. Galella told me today he’s seriously considering running as a Republican. He’s been a Republican most of his life, though he switched to the Democrats so he could support Mr. Volpe’s Senate run in the 2010 Democratic primary. (He actually switched back and forth more than once, but more on that later.)
“It’s just something I’m considering,” he said in a telephone interview. “Obviously, when you talk about running for office, it’s not something I’ve done in the past.”
Mr. Galella said he talked to Mr. Volpe about it and Mr. Volpe supports the idea, but it’s still early on his decision-making process.
“This just took off today because today was the first day I ever discussed running for county commissioner,” he said. “If I do run, I will be running as a Republican … I’ve had it as well as every other taxpayer in this county.”
Mr. Galella, whose father was city treasurer under Mayor Jim Connors, was geographic information systems coordinator under the regime of later-convicted Republican County Commissioners A.J. Munchak and Robert C. Cordaro. Nowadays, he’s an insurance adjuster/investigator for Mr. Volpe’s company, Excalibur Insurance Management Services LLC.
— BORYS KRAWCZENIUK