Butler County commissioners, current and future, should heed an important lesson from the dispute over recognition of the Merchant Marines on the local World War II Memorial.

That lesson is that whenever anything county owned is involved, the commissioners should maintain a presence in whatever is being contemplated. No private entity should be allowed by itself to make final decisions affecting county facilities — without the broader viewpoint that the commissioners represent.

And the board of commissioners should reaffirm the action of the private entity in a vote of its own.

Had previous commissioners ascribed to that policy, the mariners dispute centering on their desire to be prominently recognized on the front of the memorial in county-owned Diamond Park might never have happened, or at least not continued for so long.

Now, apparently, the mariner dispute has ended with the current board's unanimous decision on Wednesday not to make a final ruling favoring either the private memorial committee or the mariners.

The commissioners merit no plaudits for courage in this instance, despite being elected to make difficult decisions as well as easy ones.

"We are empathetic to the positions of both sides, but the time has come for the board of commissioners to extract itself once and for all from this dispute, and move on with the business of the county," said Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, board chairman.

In connection with Wednesday's decision, the commissioners again offered two alternatives — alternatives that will expire on Oct. 1 — but there were no indications that either might be accepted, with the mariners continuing to feel snubbed by their treatment on the memorial as it now exists.

The mariners are listed with approximately 30 other groups on a single plaque on the back of the memorial, despite the critical role they played during the war and the many wounds and large loss of life they incurred while navigating dangerous, enemy-infested waters to supply troops with fighting materiel and other supplies.

As a July 24 Butler Eagle editorial pointed out, the Merchant Marines, considering their role in the war, deserved better treatment on this county's World War II Memorial than they have received.

Fortunately, that contribution to the war effort is recognized appropriately on the national World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., even if local elected officials and those otherwise associated with the memorial here are content not to fully acknowledge it.

But the situation reverts back to the original decision by a past board of commissioners to lay the responsibility for the local memorial fully in the hands of people who have no direct authority over Diamond Park. Had those commissioners recognized the possibility of unwanted disputes resulting at least in part from the commissioners being outside the loop in the memorial planning, a committee presence by the county leaders presumably would have been maintained.

In rejecting further discussion about the mariner issue, the commissioners are maintaining their stance that the county owns the park, not the memorial. But an appropriate question for now and the future is: Who will own the memorial when memorial committee members no longer are alive?

In having made their decision, the commissioners should ponder that question.

Of course, that likely will be some other board of commissioners' task to decide, since the current board will no longer be discussing memorial issues.