William Penn, the founding father of the Keystone State, was a huge believer in local government. For that reason as much as any other, government entity boundaries were developed around the idea that a person should be within an hour’s ride on a horse from their local government office. Out of this came the very large number of townships and boroughs that make up our fine state. Lycoming County is the largest county geographically in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it is composed of 52 incorporated entities, including one city, nine boroughs, and 42 townships.

Representatives from ten of these townships were at the 97th Annual Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors Educational Conference, held at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA. PSATS is an organization devoted to providing training and networking for township supervisors, as well as being an advocate for township concerns in Harrisburg.

Some 1,700 township supervisors, managers, secretaries, engineers, and solicitors from all over the state came to general sessions and workshops over April 15-17. Surprisingly, even Governor Wolf, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, and Josh Shapiro, Attorney General, all made appearances. They had to know they were facing a skeptical audience given that they were all Democrats, and the Democratic Party won just seven of the 67 counties in the state in last fall’s election. This meant that almost all of the conference attendees came from Republican counties, and the tepid response they received showed that they were not winning too many hearts.

More enthusiasm was shown to Senator John Gardner, PA Senate Majority Whip, and State Senator Scott Martin, Majority Chair of the Senate Local Government Committee. Both were very frank on the struggles that are going on in Harrisburg and were interrupted with applause throughout their talks.

Besides this VIP lineup, there were some 80 workshops led by experts from all over the state and region. These ranged from very specific areas such as Act 26 on alternate on-lot sewage systems and PennDOT standards for approved products for lower-volume roads to more general topics such as preparing for the 2020 census and website design. Besides the speeches and workshops, there were hundreds of vendors with booths set up in a massive hall and an outside parking lot where heavy equipment was displayed.

The interaction in all these activities with fellow township officials leads to tremendous networking. It is somewhat comforting to learn that the difficulties in dealing with flooding and stormwater issues, Fire Company and EMS coverage, blight, and other such matters are not unique to our own local communities.

Yet, for all that, this is an educational conference and explains why thousands of township officials come year after year. Few folks realize the complexity of serving as a local official, and constant training is the only way to keep up. But what also drives them is doing a good job for those they represent. This is why local government has been referred to as pragmatic politics. It is William Penn’s dream in action. Borough council members and township supervisors represent government at its lowest level, and since these officials are neighbors to their constituents, they feel the same pain. And as the saying goes, no pain — no gain.