Hallelujah! The Feb. 16 article, “LaBonte: Sharing would save Lewiston, Auburn millions,” finally addresses the need for local governments to aggressively pursue cost reductions to lessen the impact of inevitable state budget cuts.

LaBonte’s ideas are on the mark. A very decisive approach to lowering the cost of local government is required.

At the risk of being labeled a heretic to tradition, officials should look into restructuring local government into counties and several larger cities. The waste of energy and money over squabbles about combining resources and services needs to stop. Doing away with many of the 493 municipalities accomplishes that.

Maryland, including Montgomery County where I lived for 10 years, proves it can be done effectively. Maryland local government consists of 23 counties and Baltimore City. Per the 2010 U.S. census, county sizes ranged from approximately 971,000 (urban Montgomery) to 20,000 (rural Kent). Counties run all local government services using multiple administrative centers.

For example, Montgomery County Public Schools operates 197 schools. It received one of seven Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Awards from the U.S. Commerce Department in 2010. MCPS had seven of America’s top 100 high schools, and all 25 high schools were in the top 3 percent in the nation, according to Newsweek. It had the highest graduation rate among the nation’s largest school districts, according to Education Week.

Cultural traditions and egos must give way to address the poor economy and poverty issues. May we have the courage and selflessness to do so.

Peter Cipolloso, Oxford