This is the first of a series of endorsements on contested races and ballot questions in the May 17 primary in Allegheny County. These positions will appear in a recap of Post-Gazette endorsements on Sunday, May 15.

Reform is a rare commodity in slow-moving, tradition-bound southwestern Pennsylvania. But a unique opportunity awaits Allegheny County voters in three weeks -- voting Yes to cut the number of elected row offices.

If you could collect a dollar from every person who is clueless about the role of the prothonotary, you would become the county's next millionaire. Yet voters are expected to elect the prothonotary -- plus the clerk of courts, register of wills, recorder of deeds, coroner and jury commissioner -- every four years.

Although these offices deliver essential county services, many of them record-keeping, they are not typically headed by a veteran office manager, but rather an active official in the Democratic Party. History shows, as a result, that some of the offices have become dens of patronage, where jobs can be found for the party faithful. But don't blame the Democrats -- we have no doubt that the same would happen if Republicans were in charge.

Voters can end all that, regardless of which party has control, if they agree to the proposal on the May 17 ballot. Put before the public by County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and County Council, the plan would reduce the 10 elected row offices to four: district attorney, controller, treasurer and sheriff.

Although the Post-Gazette advocated a previous option that would have eliminated the latter two offices as well, the reform that reached the ballot is better than nothing and deserves the taxpayers' support. In that regard, a recent study by the county controller concluded that Allegheny County would save at least $770,000 a year by having the court and the county executive take over the six functions.

That's a good dollars-and-sense reason to vote Yes on row-office consolidation. But a better reason is to professionalize, rather than politicize, them. The voters have a rare chance to reform their government next month, and they should make the most of it.