Which factor is most disturbing about Monday evening’s fatal shootings at a township board meeting in northeastern Pennsylvania?

The proximity? It happened in Monroe County, less than 300 miles away.

Familiarity? The township supervisors form of government is how many of us govern ourselves.

The suddenness? Without warning, a long-simmering dispute bubbled over violently. Three people were shot dead, and a 59-year-old resident named Rockne Newell has been charged with their murder.

The incident has us spooked with the realization a fatal shooting like this could happen here just as easily as it happened there. A certain landlord in a certain Butler County municipality even alluded recently to the possibility of gun violence while expressing frustrations with local elected leaders.

And that leads us to the most basic question: How do we engage in lively, effective government without worry of reaching the boiling point of violence? Or, as the late Rodney King put it after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, “Can’t we all just get along?”

Getting along constitutes the grand covenant of government. We all sign on to the proposition that all men and women are free — but we also agree to limit our freedoms so as not to infringe on the freedoms of our neighbors.

Of course, not everyone agrees on the limitations, nor should they. It’s perfectly admissible in wide-open places, such as West Texas, for people to carry guns and drive with an open beer, but it’s not OK to do those things in a crowded place like Singapore, where even chewing gum is prohibited.

Because people will never agree on all the details, government involves police and military protection, political parties and processes, and court systems with prisons. Even so, nearly all of us support the principle of the grand covenant: that we can all strive to get along.

In an earlier time, individuals who rejected the covenant had another option. These people were called pioneers. They moved to remote places and established their own governments.

Pioneering was not an option for Rockne Newell. The disabled junk dealer lost his property in a court fight over complaints that he lived in a storage shed, built an illegal culvert and used a bucket outside as a toilet. At his arraignment Tuesday, a judge asked Newell if he owned any real estate. “They stole it from me,” he replied. “That’s what started all this.”

It could be debated that individuals like Newell might have flourished in another time and place. But in the here and now, municipal officials must perceive and prepare for potential threats from individuals like Newell. We suggest a two-fold approach.

First, plan ahead. Have a protocol in place, such as a police officer or other security personnel in attendance or on standby for meetings. Municipal proceedings must be conducted in a secure atmosphere that promotes free exchanges without threat of violence.

Second, adopt policies that include prompt and consistent dealings with the public. Treat constituents with respect, fairness and compassion, and strive to serve them equally.

In other words, assume some individuals aren’t abiding by this grand covenant of government, this tacit collective challenge to get along; but at the same time, conduct yourself in a way that gives them no additional reasons to reject it and resort to violence.