When government oversteps its bounds, even for what are defended as purely altruistic reasons, the public interest gets trampled.
It did in North Huntingdon Township, where commissioners by a 6-1 vote endorsed a $1,000 donation to the American Red Cross to aid victims of the Sept. 17 flooding. Proponents say it was the right thing to do.
Indeed it is -- for local citizens, not municipal governments. If North Huntingdon's leaders can't grasp the difference, then they shouldn't be in government.
Simply put, commissioners have absolutely no mandate to be philanthropists on the public's dime.
When pressed about the township's charitable giving, Commissioner John Thornton -- who proposed the measure -- responded, "Who cares. This is the right thing to do."
And the good folks of North Huntingdon are incapable of determining that for themselves?
If the aforementioned donation fully embodies "the public interest," then why was the idea originally raised behind closed doors during an executive session -- which by law are limited to specific topics⢠Making a charitable donation is not one of them.
Of course, a $1,000 donation out of a $12.2 million budget isn't going to break North Huntingdon. But that's not the point.
Charity begins, and ends, with each individual donor -- not with the whims of those elected to uphold the public trust.
