Southwestern Pennsylvania may be short of some things -- young people, sunny days -- but in one category it's in a class of its own: Local government. Allegheny County alone has 130 municipalities, and this abundance of officialdom has led to calls for a more rational consolidation of government units.

But parochialism has always ruled in these parts and the banner of metropolitanism won't be raised easily, if at all. That fact of life isn't a complete counsel of despair. Municipalities do band together in Councils of Government in the hope of sharing services. In addition, another organization exists for the enlightened purpose of training local officials to perform their duties knowledgeably.

It is called the Local Government Academy -- www.localgovernmentacademy.org -- and this year marks the 20th year of its existence. Formed in 1983 with the support of the late Tom Foerster and the Allegheny County Board of Commissioners, as well as the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the academy has done sterling work educating newcomers in the nuts and bolts of public service so that they don't have to learn it all on the fly. The real beneficiaries, of course, are the taxpayers in the local communities served by the graduates.

The academy represents an unusual if not unique blend of business, government and civic leadership. Its $300,000 annual budget taps a number of these sources -- including county and state money, corporate donations and foundation support. Although it started here, its reach now extends to a 10-county area. The need is obvious: There are some 4,610 elected officials in this region.

In Allegheny County, about a third of municipal leaders have attended the course for newly elected officials, which remains the premier course among all the classes offered by the academy. With the latest election over, a new class has just begun for 53 new officials (with another 18 being trained in Westmoreland County).

We wish the Local Government Academy another successful 20 years as it seeks to become better-known and thus attract more students. Advocates of less local government, such as this newspaper, have a strong interest in supporting the Local Government Academy -- but not on the theory that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Rather, it's a matter of until they are beaten, train 'em.