Harmony isn't the biggest community in Butler County. In fact, on the basis of its size, it can be described as tiny.

But it has grounds for feeling huge these days, its council president having been named 2008 Outstanding Council Member of the Year for Western Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Borough Councils Association. Jeff Smith, the council president, received the award at a banquet June 10 at Seven Springs Resort.

He has been a Harmony councilman since 1998 and has been president since 2000.

"You try to do a good job, you hope you do a good job, but to be recognized by your peers for doing a good job — that's a good feeling," Smith said.

Smith's performance was exemplary in the wake of extensive flooding connected with Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and he is a strong advocate of municipal cooperation and promoting his community whenever possible.

His effort to do a good job is bolstered by the respect he has gained among officials of nearby communities.

His is an example that other government officials in Harmony and elsewhere should seek to emulate.

The Seneca Valley School Board is wrong in not taking a strong stance against board members who fail to attend meetings.Consider the case of Anthony Evans, who represents Cranberry Township West III, Region 4, on the board. According to board records, the last meeting Evans attended was Nov. 12, 2007, and records show Evans hasn't regularly attended board meetings since earlier in 2007.Evans' board service has come under scrutiny in the wake of the board member being charged with drunken driving in connection with a one-vehicle accident March 21 in Lawrence County.Evans, who is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, careless driving and driving an unregistered vehicle, faces an arraignment Aug. 5 in Lawrence County Court."The Seneca Valley School Board will discuss Mr. Evans' position on the board during the next board meeting in August," said board president Dean Berkebile in a statement. "The board and administration wish him well."But it remains troubling that the board has been content with operating without a full board present to consider meeting agenda items. And, it's equally troubling that Evans has been content to retain his board position despite his inability or unwillingness to attend meetings.Attending meetings and committee sessions is a routine part of board service.In his trouble with the law, Evans is charged with having had a blood-alcohol level in excess of 0.16 when the crash occurred. The legal limit in Pennsylvania is 0.08.That's a poor example for someone holding a position of public trust. But this unwelcome attention on the school board could have been avoided if the board enforced stricter attendance rules.

The clock continues to tick toward the end of Pennsylvania's fiscal year, but there's still not a hint of evidence that lawmakers and the Rendell administration have gotten anywhere near to a budget accord.Therefore, the increasingly more pressing question is whether the two sides are headed toward an impasse that like last year will result in a furlough of "non-essential" state employees. Last year 24,000 employees were put out of work temporarily and some services were curtailed.The fiscal year ends at midnight June 30, and until an approved and signed budget is in place, the commonwealth by law is not permitted to spend money — which some state residents might consider to be a good thing, but which is neither realistic nor in the commonwealth's ultimate best interests.A limited basis for optimism at this point is that tempers haven't come to a boil in the legislature or administration. In the budget battle of 1977, when Milton Shapp was governor, the situation became so bitter that 20 legislators were involved in a fight on the floor of the House.Some observers have indicated that the two sides this year might not be as far apart as the situation might appear. But at the same time, optimism isn't flowing from the legislative halls that the end of budget preparation is near.Not all is bad about a protracted budget debate. The budget wrangling oftentimes pares from the spending plan things, or levels of spending, that the state can do without.But it would be more palatable if lawmakers and the governor could achieve that end without resorting to a budget crisis.