City and town officials gathered last week to discuss a countywide problem, but the topic wasn’t the financial trouble facing county government.

Instead, they took a rueful look at this region’s lack of influence in Augusta. The problem has been apparent for years, and seemed particularly pertinent when the Maine Department of Transportation doled out $162 million in federal stimulus money, finding just $1.6 million for road projects in York County.

Although the area is state’s economic engine, it has little clout at the capital.

City and town officials, meeting last Thursday in Sanford, took a first step toward addressing the problem. They compiled a list of regional priorities, and hope to get the united support of area legislators. It’s an approach that other Maine regions pursue as a matter of course.

We endorse the idea, but wish the organizers good luck in maintaining a common focus among communities from the northern and southern ends of the county. Without a common center, York County commerce gravitates either toward Portland or Portsmouth, N.H. But the region shares an interest in a number of matters, including good schools and good roads.

Among the priorities listed by the group was to build state support for a regional technical high school proposed in Sanford. The Great Works Technical and Career School outscored a competing Rockland proposal, but the Education Department set aside the results and asked for new submissions.

Although it’s a Sanford School Department initiative, students from many area towns would attend. Legislators should support York County’s interest in a fair competition for construction funds.

Other priorities include correcting much criticized federal floodplain maps; legislation supporting a particular treatment therapy for Lyme disease, and legislation to ease York County government’s financial problems.

The county crisis is the latest example of how a state law ”“ in this case, consolidation of jails and corrections facilities ”“ can create unexpected local problems. Other state matters of regional interest include the state sales tax and the tolls charged on the Maine Turnpike.

We hope municipal leaders and legislators can collaborate effectively. Political influence is not always the best tool for accomplishing a goal, but it’s something the region should have in its toolbox.

— Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen Schulze Muszynski or Nick Cowenhoven at 282-1535 or kristenm@journaltribune.com or nickc@journaltribune.com.