Government the way people want it to work

EDITORIAL: Joint effort by school board and township to clear snowy sidewalks makes sense

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   It’s a dark time to be in government. Despite all of the things that do go right — and, by and large, things do actually go right — the American public is obsessed with the failings of all levels of government.
   So we’d like to take a moment to note an exceptional bit of governance that may happen in Hillsborough — a plan to seek a state grant to clear sidewalks around Hillsborough High School and Hillsborough Middle School.
   It may seem a small matter — the grant in question is only $40,000 — and it may seem trivial, affecting only students within a mile of those two schools.
   But we see a much larger and more positive side to this, an example of public officials thinking creatively to solve a problem.
   An example of government done right.
   Readers may remember when the Township Committee cut $1,234,567 from the defeated school budget in 2002, and the school board initially tried to meet that cut by dropping courtesy busing for high school and middle school students.
   The outcry that came in response to that suggestion was focused on two safety concerns — the lack of sidewalks in some areas and the lack of sidewalk maintenance following snow storms.
   Hundreds of parents pointed out to the board that should the courtesy busing be dropped, their children would be forced to walk on dangerous roads either where there’s no sidewalk or when there’s snow covering the sidewalks.
   The board spends more than $120,000 to provide courtesy busing to high school and middle school students — that is, transportation to students living within two miles of the schools. Several board members noted at the time that the expenditure wouldn’t be necessary if the township made sure sidewalks were in place and maintained.
   But building the sidewalks and maintaining them is expensive.
   So what to do?
   In the few years since, the township has finished the sidewalks along Amwell and Triangle roads that complete the route for student pedestrians, but Hillsborough does not have ordinances requiring homeowners to keep the sidewalks in front of their homes clear.
   The township also doesn’t have a way to keep sidewalks in undeveloped areas clear after a snowstorm.
   It looked as if we were stuck until a plan to hire crews to clear the sidewalks came forward — as a joint effort by the Board of Education and Township of Hillsborough.
   The estimate that such a plan could save Hillsborough residents — whether through their school taxes or municipal taxes — more than $100,000 (assuming the grant is received — they probably won’t launch the program without it) makes it a significant step toward eliminating truly unnecessary funding.
   And that is government working for residents in an efficient manner — as we want it to do.
   We don’t know at which end of the municipal building hallway linking the board offices to the municipal administration offices this plan started, so we’ll salute both.
   Thanks for finding a practical solution to a very real problem.