The battle is on.

Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson’s demotion of Fire Chief Nick Ban Jr. to lieutenant has ticked off some city council members and firefighters. They think Donaldson overstepped his authority. And they didn’t appreciate the ambush-style move the mayor made without giving any advance notice to council.

Donaldson says he thought long and hard about his decision. He sought the advice of attorneys and acted in the best interest of the city, its 17-firefighter department and the department’s $1.84 million budget. He says the department needs firmer leadership.

Donaldson did not provide details but he did emphasise that the demotion should not in any way be seen as a mark against Ban’s character.

City Councilwoman Kathy Kline, director of public safety, is challenging Donaldson’s authority to demote Ban without the consent of other council members. She intends to fight Ban’s demotion.

She acknowledged she’s not sure what she could do to reverse Donaldson’s decision, but her interpretation of the Third-Class City Code regarding mayoral authority is a little more stringent than Donaldson’s.

“He (Donaldson) thinks he can just make decisions on his own, and he can’t. There is a reason the city has a five member council,” Kline said.

The fight is likely to become bitter and contentious. It could get ugly. It could be protracted. There will be winners and losers, alliances and rivalries — which might endure into the next municipal elections.

So be it.

It’s actually refreshing to see government being conducted out in the open, in the manner that democratic governing was always intended. Democratic government thrives on vigorous and open debate.

As for advance notice, it could be noted the mayor notified council just before notifying the public by announcing his decision to the Butler Eagle.

By contrast, how many decisions are made behind closed doors or by straw poll ahead of the actual vote, away from the prying eyes and ears of the press and public? How many public meetings are sterilized recaps of passionate arguments that have already been staged and decided? How many tacit deals are cut and tolerated?

Worse yet, how many arguments go unfinished or issues go unresolved over concerns about public reaction or acceptance?

Or how many decisions shuffled off to committee or are delayed, tempered, softened and sweetened by consultant studies and reports, only to wind up collecting dust on some forgotten bookshelf?

Sometimes it’s better to make the decision, right or wrong, than it is to agonize over the options. Better to rip off the Band-Aid than to think about how much it might hurt.

Keep in mind that Donaldson is building the Centre City parking garage and hotel envisioned by his predecessors. Like it or hate it, Centre City wasn’t Donaldson’s project to begin with — it was proposed a decade ago — and he’s getting it done anyway.