That Brookhaven aldermen are joining other communities and thestate in considering implementation of a four-day work week isanother sign of the tough economic times in which we all findourselves.

City officials this past week only briefly mentioned the shorterwork week as an idea for consideration at budget time, meaningissues such as which workers would be included and other detailshave not be determined. Other communities are a little furtheralong in the process.

It would seem one benefit of such a move would be savingemployees one day’s worth of the costs of commuting to work. Also,a longer work day could conceivably allow more work to be done byreducing time lost during daily equipment start-up or whenemployees “knock off” a bit early.

However, the potential disruption of services to taxpayers needsto be a consideration. Would city offices remain open five days aweek, or only four day?

On a side note about fuel, it seems headlines about risingprices of oil are accompanied by almost-immediate spikes in theprice of gasoline at the pump. It’s interesting, though, that newsof declining oil prices – as we have seen in recent days – does nothave the same effect in reverse.

Regardless, higher prices for fuel, food and many other itemsare having a tremendous impact on the lives of many citizens.Citizens are having to cut back spending and reduce costs whereverpossible.

Local and state governments, which operate on tax dollarssupplied by those economically impacted citizens, are nodifferent.

Conscientious government officials are doing what’s necessary tocuts costs while still providing the services that citizensdemand.