Secrets breed suspicion.

It’s as true for good ideas as it is for bad ones. And Ed Desgrosseilliers, who spoke Tuesday night at a joint meeting of the Lewiston and Auburn city councils, raised a valid point when he questioned why the cities’ two mayors were keeping mum about who will sit on the Lewiston-Auburn Commission on Joint Efforts.

Frankly, we’d prefer a more open process, too.

But the commission, which will explore ways for Lewiston and Auburn to save money by working together and combining some activities, is worthwhile. It should be given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to start with a clean slate.

Auburn Mayor Normand Guay, and his brother, Lewiston Mayor Lionel Guay, presented their plan for the commission to a joint meeting of the cities’ elected leaders and won approval to move forward. The two mayors said they would name the members of the commission in a few days.

As Auburn Councilor Marcel Bilodeau said, it’s important for the commission to develop recommendations heavy on details. To overcome the built-in hurdles that face any significant consolidation, residents will need to be confident that savings will occur and services won’t suffer.

There will be opposition to any plan that results in lost jobs or a sense of lost prestige on the part of city residents and employees. Specific, well-developed plans might be able to overcome such barriers and lead to fundamental restructuring that will be more efficient and cost effective.

For now, we’re satisfied to let the mayors put together the commission’s membership. But they shouldn’t make any more moves before naming names.