It reads "Peace and stability is the lasting theme of people's happiness". Maybe something happened that meant we needed to be reminded to not 'naoshi' - cause trouble. The woman who reads the electricity and water meters probably knows, but it probably doesn't do to ask more questions than is necessary.
Red banners such as this are a popular form of 'propaganda' in China. They originated from ancient Chinese scroll writing, and have been a favourite of the Government over the last 60 years. Over 95% of Chinese were illiterate in 1949, and so they were an extremely effective way of getting key messages across in simple language.
I went to a town near Xian last year and red banners formed guard of honour-like arches at every set of lamp posts all the way down the main street. The majority of them, like the banners in most places, exhort the need to be law-abiding, reminding us how good a stable and peaceful life is, and what the consequences will be if we we're not 'harmonious'. Universities like to use them as well, to remind us to study hard and become a useful member of society. Sometimes you'll see them on the sides of the street, telling us that "Xian is our home, tidiness relies on everyone" (it sounds better in the original). They're not nearly as ominous as a western journalist would make them out to be, and they seem to be accepted as part of the city decor as much as anything else.
It's not just the government that uses them. Companies use them when starting up or welcoming guests. Because of the way the Chinese is written, they usually get translated into something like "Welcome to Leaders from ABC Company Ltd for Visiting and Gyiding" [sic]. Our company has quite a few of these, and they're difficult to translate into something like natural English.
There are more examples of slightly less threatening "hengfu" at the often-interesting China Smack website: http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures/funny-rural-chinese-advertising-depressing-propaganda.html.
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