pSimmer down now.

That’s the best advice we have to give the three Island County commissioners and the prosecutor.

It’s time to bury the hatchet, and not in each other’s heads.

There’s been hard feelings between the county prosecutor and the board of commissioners for years, coming to a head when the two sides ended up before the state Supreme Court.The underlying issue, or at least the aggravating issue, has been money. Under the weird system of county government, the elected commissioners set the budget for the other county elected officials.

Bill Hawkins, the former prosecutor, elected not to run for reelection years ago because he felt commissioners at that time were underfunding his office.

Prosecutor Greg Banks has also been outspoken — some might say obnoxious — about his perception that the board of commissioners hasn’t provided his office with adequate resources. He was a bit apoplectic when he found out last year that the commissioners were hiring a private attorney to provide them with legal help on the comprehensive plan update.

He told the commissioners that it was unlawful for them to hire an outside attorney without his permission because it’s his job to provide legal advice to the county. He also argued that a private attorney is a waste of money that he could be spending.

Pejoratives were exchanged. The commissioners hired the attorney and Banks filed a lawsuit against the attorney for usurping his elected position. Eventually the case made its way to the state Supreme Court.

The justices ruled this week, siding unanimously with Banks in a strongly worded opinion.

The commissioners did not take the news well. Commissioner Helen Price Johnson all-but predicted the end of county government as we know it. She wants to ask the justices to reconsider. And Banks wasn’t entirely gracious in his win.

The entire mess, which could have been avoided so easily, has cost taxpayers more than $450,000.

Now that it’s over, both sides need to take a breath and bone up to the words to Kumbaya. It’s their jobs as elected officials to get past personality conflicts and work together for the good of the community. We don’t expect Banks to use his new powers to leverage more money from the commissioners. And we can’t imagine the commissioners will retaliate with tighter purse strings.

Because if they do, voters will publish their own strongly worded opinion at the ballot box.