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Civility Among Officials Vital

The leading cause of divorce in the United States is tension between married couples, resulting from financial stress, it has been reported. Clearly, the same concern affects local government officials.

On Tuesday night, Steubenville Mayor Jerry Barilla ordered a police officer to remove city Councilman Bob Villamagna from a meeting. That happened after Villamagna had been involved in an acrimonious exchange with City Manager Jim Mavromatis, then tried repeatedly to interrupt Barilla.

It appears to have begun with a discussion about moving the police department to the city building, out of the facility it has occupied for more than 50 years.

At one point, after Mavromatis said he wants the move to “be done right,” Villamagna shouted at him, “I run the city, not you.”

Later, after being cautioned by the mayor, Villamagna was escorted out of the meeting.

Good for him for recognizing he should have been more restrained. “Was I out of line? Probably,” he told a reporter after the meeting.

Villamagna went on to explain: “I take this job seriously to protect the people of this town. … I get frustrated with the nonsense going on.”

No doubt there is a level of frustration among every municipal official. The past few years have not been the best of times for Steubenville. The economic hit of steel mill closures and declining population has made it difficult to maintain municipal services.

Just now, council members are considering a major increase in utility rates, made necessary in large measure by decades of failure by previous councils to spend money needed for preventive maintenance and upgrades of water and sewer infrastructure.

So yes, there is plenty of tension to go around.

Shouting matches and interruptions of other people will only make it worse, however.

Good men and women serving in local government — where just about everyone works hard and has no hope of big remuneration — all have the same goal. They may differ, sometimes greatly, on how to get there.

That needs to be recognized by all involved.

Let us hope Steubenville officials can move on in a spirit of civility, even when they disagree.

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