We are confident that Lycoming County will continue to be well-served by its government after speaking with Lycoming County Sheriff-elect Eric Spiegel and Controller Nicki Gottschall.

“What we do as our core mission – the sheriff’s office and public safety – is not going to change,” Spiegel told the Sun-Gazette in Wednesday’s edition. “I think it’s important that the public knows that the Sheriff’s Office will continue our longstanding relationship with the United States Marshals Service and hunting wanted fugitives in Lycoming County and surrounding areas.”

We’re looking at expanding our audits to coincide with some of the accounting here in the office,” Gottschall said. “What our auditors are looking to do is dive deeper into the general fund and the financials from an internal audit perspective. Our external auditors do it now, but they would like to step into that and get a better understanding with that, and now that we have accounting within our office, they’ll be able to work closely with them.”

The responsibilities Gottschall and Spiegel are shouldering are some of the most important in our region: Our county’s finances and public safety.

Our federalist system placed the most immediate functions of government at the local level for good reason. Your municipal and county officials are your neighbors — they are closest to hearing your viewpoint and concerns and the closest to sharing those concerns.

We believe Spiegel and Gottschall recognize the obligations to transparency and public service every American should expected from local elected government.