esponsibility is one of those loaded words that can take on many meanings. Who is responsible for what is a concept argued in courtrooms across our country, and often with a nuance that is clearly above my pay grade. On a more granular level, as I was growing up my parents drummed into us the concept of civic responsibility. My dad was a town councilperson and a volunteer with the local ambulance service, and my mom started the first preschool in town. This concept of giving back is well understood by all of you. I for one, am thankful that folks want to offer their time and wisdom to making our town better in a variety of ways.

Many of the volunteers who interact with our local government come from one of our various “academies,” such as the Resident’s Academy, the Citizen’s Fire and the Citizen’s Police academies. It seems once a person gains a smattering of knowledge about how our town runs, they want to jump in and learn more through participation. Understanding how the sauce is made has proven to be a great starting point. Local governments like ours thrive because of our volunteers’ generosity of time and spirit and their commitment to being informed.

Not everyone has the time or even desire to be involved in the government on any level. I understand. Not only do we have different interests but life is busy. When my kids were young, I could generally only focus on what needed to be done at that moment. Nevertheless, my kids were subjected to NPR when they were in the car, replete with my running commentary on how I agreed or disagreed with what was being said. Also, I always took them with me to vote.

As you read this, your Commissioners will be wrapping up our annual budget process for Mt. Lebanon. In accordance with our Home Rule Charter, our Municipal Manager Keith McGill presented us with his recommended balanced budget for 2025 in early November. We will have four budget workshops where different department heads will report on the needs of their departments and explain how they reached their estimates of dollars needed. Per usual, there will be more requests than resources to cover them. It will be our responsibility with the input of all this good information to choose the most important requests to fund. This month, we will vote on the budget December 10 after a budget hearing at 8 p.m. You are invited to all these sessions.

Invariably in 2025, I will get the oft-repeated question of how we spend your tax dollars. We publish an annual report in this publication each May to answer that question in detail and of course, I am always happy to answer your questions. We use numerous channels from the magazine to podcasts to meetings to text blasts to a website to provide any information you may need. I get it. There is an awful lot of information. But … successful towns are a team sport. We don’t all have to pull in the same direction but we do need your thoughts and ideas based on the information as to how things are done to become the best we can be.