Butler County Treasurer Diane Marburger could have been more careful in her use of words and in her initial explanation of why she recommended that the county keep 89 interest-bearing checking accounts at NexTier Bank.

The county could earn an additional $230,000 by moving the accounts in question to Farmers National Bank of Emlenton. The county commissioners approved Marburger's recommendation Thursday.

In making her recommendation to the commissioners Monday, Marburger said NexTier was the better choice. During a subsequent interview regarding the recommendation, Marburger said her reasoning was based on stability and security issues. The use of those two words, without a more careful explanation, had the potential to raise unnecessary concerns among some Farmers customers and potential customers about the safety of the more than century-old area banking institution.

In fact, Marburger said, by way of a clarification issued prior to the county commissioners' action on Thursday, Farmers was in the top five best-capitalized banks of the 10 banks she evaluated for the banking service in question. She said keeping the accounts at NexTier, which is being acquired by Northwest Savings Bank, would improve the county's electronic banking.

On Thursday, Marburger said her recommendation was not meant to criticize or cast aspersions on Farmers or any of the other banks evaluated. She said she merely wants the county to have access to an online banking system that either meets or exceeds the system currently in use.

On the one hand, Marburger was correct Monday in openly trying to justify why losing $230,000 in interest earnings would not, in fact, be as bad as, on the surface, some county taxpayers might perceive it to be. But, on the other hand, Marburger's explanation, which was detailed in a subsequent Butler Eagle article, had the potential to be misconstrued by some Farmers customers.

Her clarification was necessary.

Oftentimes a resignation within a municipal government operation is regarded as a routine matter and life goes on.That isn't the current feeling in Evans City, where Bill Rape's impending resignation as chairman of the borough's water and sewer authority is being regarded as a significant loss.Rightly so. Over just a few months since Rape assumed the chairmanship, he has recouped more than $33,000 in delinquent water accounts. That number is notable because it represents about 65 percent of the approximately $50,000 delinquent-account total that had accumulated prior to him coming onboard.Communities value the kind of commitment and determination Rape has shown in attempting to fix a problem. Unfortunately, his departure is being necessitated by his decision to move from the borough; legally, he won't be able to serve in the Evans City position once he moves to the Butler area.His resignation will take effect once his move is completed.In addition to his success at collecting delinquent money, he also has been involved with and won praise for his efforts in talks with the borough regarding transfer of ownership of the water and sewer plants to the authority from the borough.Regarding the delinquent money, Paul Foster, borough council vice president, said, “He (Rape) got us up to speed to where we really should be.”Recouping delinquent money isn't an easy task, and it's a touchy subject in a smaller community where everyone knows one another.It takes a special kind of person to achieve what Rape has been able to accomplish in so short a time.Evans City has been lucky to have Rape working for it.

Voters in Northeast Philadelphia finally came to their senses Tuesday, voting to oust Republican John M. Perzel from the seat he has held in the state General Assembly since 1979.Perzel, a former House speaker and one of the architects and chief supporters of the outrageous July 2005 legislative pay-raise vote, merited ouster in the 2006 elections but instead won re-election that year and in 2008.This year, with Perzel as one of three incumbent lawmakers defending themselves against public corruption charges, voters of his 172nd District in Philadelphia County finally had enough of his arrogance and taxpayers-be-damned attitude, relegating him to an unwanted retirement.As some state voters might recall, Perzel, amid a firestorm of protest in the aftermath of the middle-of-the-night pay vote, said in September 2005, “If you're asking me whether or not that I'm going back to fight to repeal what we've done, I am not.”Perzel, who lamented the important personal events lawmakers must skip, due to their legislative service, resulted in the Butler Eagle editorializing on Sept. 13, 2005, that “the time would seem right for voters in Perzel's district to organize a pity party for now, and begin planning a ‘going-away party' for November 2006.”Unfortunately, that didn't happen; what was fortunate, though, was that, despite Perzel's protestations, the General Assembly did in fact repeal the legislative raises.As Perzel prepares to depart, state taxpayers might wish to recall another one of his quotes amid the pay-raise furor, directed in part at Republicans disenchanted over the raise: “You're paying somebody (immigrant farm workers in Lancaster County) to milk the cows $55,000, and you're saying it's excessive for a member of the General Assembly to make one-half of what a congressman makes.”The difference was and is that those farm workers, day in and day out, get their job done, while state lawmakers remain the epitome of poor performance and production, as well as remaining mired in entrenched partisanship.Regardless of Perzel's fate in court, the General Assembly will be better without him.