Give Butch Brown some credit; he doesn’t give up easily. Approximately 20 years after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a project to restore some city land along the banks of the Mississippi River, Brown is pushing for the Corps to complete the job.

The Corps says the project is complete and working as planned.

The difference it seems was the purpose behind the project. The city viewed it as reparations of sorts.

Natchez lost approximately 22 acres of land because of a Corps-made change in the river’s path in 1933. Effectively, the change scoured out the riverbank, taking acres of Natchez floating downstream.

The Corps viewed the project as a stabilization project, it seems, and in the process of the work, the plans changed.

Had the Corps completed the original work as planned, both sides would be satisfied. Since the plan changed, from the city’s perspective, only half of the land to be reclaimed actually was.

For Brown’s part, he’s pushing the Corps on behalf of the best interests of the city. We agree that if the job was half-done, the Corps needs to step up and make a plan to complete it.

In typical Brown fashion, he believes the word “no” simply means he hasn’t explained his position enough.

In this case, we agree.