For the past year, the weekly Lycoming County Commissioner Meeting on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. is often as exciting as watching paint dry.

In the past decade that I have been attending these meetings; many meetings were so wild they would have made a great rodeo show. However, these three commissioners, who are quite different in personality and background, seem to have some happy sauce that keeps them from hammering one another.

In the first meeting of the new year, the agenda was quite brief, and the commissioners zipped through it in half an hour. Commissioner President Scott Metzger recognized his two colleagues, who now had a full year under their belt, and then asked if anyone had any public comments. No one came forward, and I suddenly had a thought and decided to go to the podium.

I asked the three commissioners a somewhat personal question. Given that in a world where Democrats and Republicans cannot seem to agree on anything but the time of day, the three of them seem very congenial with one another. In fact, in the entire year, I could not remember a single debate between any of them.

Since Mark Mussina is the only Democrat of the three, he decided to respond first. His first words were, “I’m glad you asked this because, just as Scott said, we are a team.” The irony of this is that in just one sentence, he summarized exactly what I was getting after. Here was a Democrat who was the minority, yet highlighted the majority leader who was a Republican. Proof positive, they really are a team.

Mussina continued with examples that emphasized that they work as a team.

Mark’s background in sports helps him greatly in this area, and I noted several times how he used the term “team” to describe their commissioner board. He noted that they honestly listen to one another. In fact, he stated, “This is one of the most open-minded, collegial groups that I have ever been a part of.”

Scott Metzger jumped in after Mark finished, emphasizing that “we are not here to fight.”

Though he is the board president, he noted that they do not think or worry about titles. Instead, they seek to find common goals and put themselves in others’ shoes, keeping in mind they could not always get what they wanted. “We are here to get things done,” Metzger emphasized, “not to fight.”

As president, Metzger opens each meeting with a well-thought-out prayer and uses religious references often. He emphasized that his commissioners ‘team’ works because none of them have an ego, which he noted can mean “edging God out.” With this, Scott emphasized, “We need to listen to one another.”

Metzger also noted that they do not take this for granted.

In his tenure, he has had “tons of training” through the Commonwealth and has heard many horror stories from other counties that are extremely separated by the political parties. When one is in the “wrong party,” they might lose their jobs simply because those in charge want someone in their sphere. Scott noted that he has seen many such cases of this throughout the Commonwealth but noted, “This doesn’t happen here.”

Commissioner Marc Sortman finished the discussion by affirming what his colleagues had said, emphasizing that they listen to one another and focus on what they can control and not what they cannot control.

This reminded me of Stephen Covey’s extremely popular book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” Covey noted that everything that happens to us falls under two conditions: we are concerned about it or not concerned about it. And if we are concerned, there are two more conditions: we have the influence to do something about it, or we do not.

This is what Marc Sortman noted — the commissioners demarcate the areas of concern relating to Lycoming County and within their sphere of government. This is where they park themselves. They focus on areas of concern where they have influence, which then motivates them to find the best pathway possible.

Yes, they have concerns and opinions on taxes, abortion, inflation, the border and immigration, etc., but these fall in the realm of state or federal jurisdiction. It is out of their circle of influence, and thus, the best they can do to those who “want something done” needs to be directed to the elected officials who do have influence in those areas.

Our county commissioners are a team that knows what they can do and do not waste their time trying to get an “attaboy” from the fans in the stands. Sortman summed it up nicely when he stated that his objective by the end of his tenure would be “to leave the county better than where I found it.”

I know I speak for the 112,724 people who live in Lycoming County; we all would appreciate a county better than it is now.