Start the new year by working together

REORGANIZATION MEETINGS took place Monday in numerous municipalities, and as the new year begins we are calling for calm and cooperation. Occasional dust-ups are expected in any municipality, but chaos should never be standard operating procedure and personality conflicts involving elected officials should never affect the manner in which government serves citizens. Elected officials should consider themselves public servants first and politicians last. It is inevitable that candidates seeking public office will clash — sometimes with nasty intent — as they try to generate support. However, the mudslinging should end once final votes are tallied. Continuing to snipe away from the gallery serves no purpose. Elected officials on councils and boards of commissioners must set aside petty disagreements and commit all their energy to serving the entire electorate and making decisions in the best interest of the citizens and the municipalities they serve. Officials often face difficult and unpopular decisions, especially involving spending and taxation. Such decisions must be made for the public good and never based on personal gain or the ability to be reelected. Voters most always will accept tax increases based on bona fide need. At times, failure to increase tax levies leads to gaps in important public services that negatively affect quality of life. Tax hikes are hard to take, especially by the Mon Valley’s largely senior population, but so too are bumpy roads and the prospect of insufficient police protection. It is our hope 2026 will be a year of cooperation, one in which each municipality becomes in some way better than it was the previous year. For that to happen, elected officials must learn to work together and seek compromise instead of stubborn disagreement.