Yesterday as I was perusing the Beaver County Times’ voting guide, I looked over all the boroughs, townships and cities that have offices up for election. An astounding 64 offices, including almost all of the auditor positions, had a notation “no candidates filed”. For all the ranting, raving and complaining about favoritism, nepotism, fiscal irresponsibilty, no one was interested in auditor jobs that could act as a brake on these issues. It makes me wonder. How important could taxes be if no one wants to bother auditing how the money is spent? How important is “local control” if no one want to run for council? To me, this is hard proof the time has come to consolidate municipalities and regionalize services.

On a more humorous note, the Beaver County Times endorsed a Republican candidate for county commissioner, Greg Powell, a local restauranteur, who’s business, the Times later reported in its own voter’s guide, has recently filed for bankruptcy.