The first Butler Eagle editorial of 2014 predicted a season of change for government in Butler County in the coming year.

Yet for county government it seemed the more things changed the more they stayed the same.

Incumbent Republican county Commissioners Bill McCarrier, the board chairman, and Dale Pinkerton succeeded in their two top objectives:

• Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, the county’s nursing home, was sold to a private operator for $20.4 million, nearly $7 million more than the county’s minimum asking price.

• Construction of a Government Center Annex is well under way, with completion scheduled for August. The $12 million project includes roof work on the government center and courthouse as well as replacing three air conditioning units on the government center roof. The annex will house county human services.

Both were accomplished over the routinely agitated objections of the board’s minority Democrat, Jim Eckstein.

All three commissioners’ terms are up at the end of 2015. McCarrier and Pinkerton have said they won’t seek re-election. Eckstein is expected to run again in what’s anticipated to be a crowded field of candidates.

At the municipal level, Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson ends his first year in office with his top campaign objective — improved police protection — just beginning to come into focus. In November, Donaldson pushed for part-time police officers to supplement the city’s full-time force of 23 officers. A $36,000 line item in the 2015 budget will provide more than 2,000 additional man-hours of police protection from part-timers.

Donaldson’s plan for the startup of a community watch program has not materialized. Other issues — economic development, parking and the Centre City project, to name a few — have demanded Donaldson’s and the city council’s attention for much of the year. Let’s hope the mayor’s plan finds traction in 2015.

And speaking of Centre City, the first component — a new Rite Aid pharmacy — is complete. The store at South Main and Cunningham streets has been open for nearly a month. Ground could be broken as soon as this spring for a Marriott Springhill Suites hotel and a 225-space parking garage. The project is expected to anchor and enhance the downtown business district for decades to come.

For the Butler School District, a pending decision will shape the future of the community’s public schools. The school board is studying options to close some of its 11 neighborhood elementary schools and possibly the junior high school. While most residents agree consolidation is necessary to cut expenses, much of the debate has centered on two issues: whether or not to keep the elementary model of kindergarten through grade 6 intact; and whether to close the junior high or repurpose it for grades 4 through 6.

There is no dominant, obvious answer to consolidation. Whatever the school board decides will disappoint some people. The consolidation issue tops the community agenda for 2015.

As for 2014, farewell. It’s been a memorable year.