Butler County Controller Jack McMillin has been controversial at times, but he also has done a good job as county government's fiscal watchdog.

Because of that, McMillin should not have resorted to halting discretionary work for other county offices simply because he's been the target of outside criticism about his office's total and overtime expenses — expenses that don't seem excessive and, by the way, were approved by the county commissioners.

It's within the rights of Cranberry Township Supervisor Bruce Mazzoni — or any other county resident — to question or criticize the spending in the controller's office. McMillin should have simply answered the questions posed and then continued his work undeterred, as long as the commissioners concurred with his office's operation.

According to McMillin, his office performed 67 items beyond what is required by law.

Anyone elected to a public position opens himself or herself to criticism over the way office duties are handled, over decisions made. Being a target of criticism is part of the job.

McMillin has been criticized at times and stood his ground, because he was confident that what he was doing was right. Why McMillin has allowed Mazzoni to influence the way the controller's office runs — the discretionary work has saved county government considerable dollars — is puzzling.

McMillin is retiring at the end of this year, but his responsibilities are no less now than they were five years ago.

According to McMillin, Mazzoni's comments at a meeting on Feb. 6 were unjust and unfair. If so, McMillin had no obligation to change anything, and now is depriving county taxpayers of his office's skills by refusing to do the discretionary efforts.

McMillin has said that his actions should not place any serious burden on any of the row offices since much of the hard work has been done.

McMillin should rethink his current stance. It's unbecoming of an official who has worked hard over the years to help keep county fiscal issues on the right path and save taxpayers many dollars along the way.

Debate can continue over whether the Butler County commissioners should have sought sealed bids for bond counsel services tied to construction of an office building, rather than mere quotes. But as long as the commissioners open the quotes process to anyone with the appropriate specialized expertise who wishes to submit one, and then release details of the quotes to the public before making their selection, either process seems acceptable.Seeking quotes certainly is preferable to the way previous boards of commissioners selected their bond counsels, for projects such as the new county prison.Those previous commissioners had picked bond counsels without seeking other proposals.The project in question is the building that would house human services offices. Plans call for it to be built on the site of the former prison next to the Government Center.The bond counsel-selection process must be transparent and fair. County residents should demand nothing less.

Police officers are trained to be alert and suspicious, and, commendably, Butler Township Patrolman Jonathon Schaffner put that training to work last Sunday evening.Much to the chagrin of two men who allegedly were stealing scrap metal from a fenced-in area owned by the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Railroad along Kittanning Street, Schaffner's training caused him not to ignore fresh tire tracks at a time when he felt such tracks probably should not have been there.Schaffner observed the tracks shortly before 9 p.m. near Raun Trucking. Moments later he spotted a sport utility vehicle, with its headlights off, emerge from the rear of the trucking company.Schaffner observed scrap metal in the rear passenger compartment of the vehicle, and the vehicle did not immediately stop when Schaffner attempted to pull the vehicle over.After the vehicle stopped, police found in it 880 pounds of stainless steel valued at $762. A Clay Township man and a man from Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, were charged on Tuesday with theft-related and other charges stemming from the incident.The men also allegedly caused about $300 damage to the fence at the railroad yard to gain access to the metal.Some police officers might have dismissed the vehicle tracks as those of a railroad or trucking company worker who had gone to the site earlier in the day — or, of a couple seeking romantic privacy.To Schaffner's credit, his alertness and suspicion thwarted a theft that might never have been solved.The arrests delivered a message to scrap thieves that they shouldn't feel too secure in any assumption that the cover of darkness guarantees a safe getaway.

The Pittsburgh Pirates deserve a big thumbs-up for the contract extension — through at least the end of the 2014 season — given to manager Clint Hurdle.Hurdle’s leadership has returned the Bucs to respectability, and this should be the year that the team records its first above-.500 year in two decades. With the talent the Bucs currently have aboard, they can be regarded as serious playoff contenders, as they were last year for much of the season.Hurdle is a big key to the Pirates’ future success. It would have been a mistake if the Bucs’ front office would have made the extension difficult or impossible.