NATCHEZ &045; New city planner Andrew Smith was hired this month after closed-door sessions among the board of aldermen.

While a look at his professional background shows most clients more than satisfied with his work, some aldermen say his financial record raises red flags.

Smith’s hiring has yet to be ratified by the board of aldermen.

His track record

Former clients of Smith’s consulting firm said he did a professional job drawing up comprehensive plans, revamping outdated ordinances and dealing with the public’s planning-related concerns.

Before recently being hired by Mayor Phillip West July 6 as Natchez’s city planner &045; a hire aldermen are expected to ratify July 26 &045; Smith was self-employed as a planning consultant.

Alfred Rankins Sr., president of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, said Smith compiled the county’s comprehensive plan and helped lead public hearings on the plan.

Leading such hearings &045; which attracted more than 100 people, including some quite vocal about the possibility of change &045; can be tricky, Rankins said.

&uot;But he was well prepared and had lots of patience,&uot; said Rankins, whose board learned of STRC, Smith’s firm, through the city planner of Greenville. &uot;Andrew did a good job for us.&uot;

Okolona Mayor Sherman Carouthers said Smith helped plan zoning to accommodate future growth and revise the city’s outdated ordinances, including ones dealing with blighted properties and animal control.

Carouthers, who met Smith at a conference for government officials, said Smith fit the bill, especially &uot;with the expertise he had in other cities. Š He did a good job for us.&uot;

Carouthers said Smith led hearings in Okalona on the proposed changes well even though the changes were somewhat controversial at first.

&uot;You’ll always have some people who want to hold on to the way things were,&uot; Carouthers said.

In recent years, Smith worked for about six months as city planner of Pine Bluff, Ark., but former mayor Jerry Taylor said that wasn’t long enough to form an opinion of Smith’s planning abilities.

In a Pine Bluff Commercial article published in 2000, Smith said Taylor abruptly asked him to leave for no reason. Taylor said Smith gave notice he would resign and offered to stay for two weeks, but Taylor declined the offer.

Atlanta City Planner James Shelby, who was Natchez’s planner when Smith was code enforcement officer, could not be reached for comment.

The financial factor

Natchez aldermen differ on whether the incoming city planner’s past financial difficulties have anything to do with his ability to do the job.

According to records from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Smith filed for two personal bankruptcies in 1996 and 1998. Those resulted in four pay garnishments and two court judgments by businesses.

Adams County Court ruled that Smith pay Heilig-Myers Furniture $5,996 and Ball State University, at which Smith did some planning coursework, $3,180, according to records from the Circuit and Chancery clerks’ offices.

Smith would not comment.

According to a February 2005 Justice Court document, Pig Out Inn owner Archie Willett attempted to get Smith to pay $1,242.50 for catering for an event Smith’s consulting firm held late last year in Natchez.

Soon after Smith received that notice, he paid the amount, Willett said.

Upon hearing about such debts, some aldermen asked Mayor West to see that a credit report be generated on Smith and the other finalist for the planner’s position before a hiring decision was made.

City officials’ point of view

When contacted for comment, Aldermen and Mayor Pro Tem David Massey said couldn’t remember whether he, Alderman Jake Middleton or Alderman Bob Pollard asked for the financial check on Smith.

Mayor Phillip West and Board of Aldermen members Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, Rickey Gray and Theodore &uot;Bubber&uot; West all noted that no alderman in their memory has ever requested a credit check on a potential city hire before.

Besides, they said, those past financial difficulties &045; which they noted happened several years ago &045; don’t have anything to do with Smith’s ability to perform planning duties in an exemplary way.

Bringing up such financial difficulties &uot;is somebody making something out of nothing,&uot; Mayor West said.

&uot;He is already familiar with the this city. If you hire somebody without (that knowledge), by the time they get familiar with the city, they’re on their way out. Plus, he’s on a first-name basis with (federal and) state officials,&uot; Gray said. &uot;This (Smith’s hiring) is a positive move for the city.&uot;

He said Smith’s contacts could help the city get grants, including some to deal with the city’s most blighted areas.

&uot;Let’s look at the quality of his work,&uot; Gray said. &uot;To bring up these financial (difficulties) is just pitiful.

&uot;As long as (Smith) takes care of his business at City Hall, I don’t care about his personal business. When people are starving in this city because they don’t have jobs, why are we concentrating on this?&uot;

Smith &uot;knows the position, knows the city and knows the people. We’re blessed to have somebody come to Natchez who cares about Natchez&uot; and knows the city inside and out, Arceneaux-Mathis said.

&uot;I don’t think we’ve ever used credit or financial records to hire anybody, and I don’t know if it’s legal to use them,&uot; said Aldermen West, who had no further comment.

Massey said that after hearing from citizens concerned about Smith’s past financial difficulties, he informed other members of the board and told them that as a result, he couldn’t support hiring Smith.

&uot;We asked for the credit report to see if those allegations were true,&uot; Massey said.

Massey said he believes such difficulties are germane to Smith’s current position &uot;because if you’re working for the taxpayers, Š and some of them have had bad business dealings with him, that would be a bad situation.&uot;

Why have aldermen never asked for such financial reports to be run on other potential city hires? &uot;We didn’t have previous knowledge of any of them&uot; having such financial difficulties, Massey said.

Such difficulties &uot;are a major concern for me,&uot; Pollard said. &uot;You have to be financially responsible if you work for the city.&uot;

Now as city planner, Smith is responsible for a department whose 2004-2005 budget totals $127,565. That is just over 1 percent of the city’s total budget and the smallest budget of any city department.

Pollard said he didn’t see the results of the credit check on Smith and didn’t ask to do so, and added that the results of the report were simply discussed among board members.

Middleton could not be reached for comment.

Moving on

Aldermen interviewed Wednesday agreed they need to move past the issues to work as a team and with Smith to move Natchez forward.

&uot;I will work with him and hope (such difficulties) don’t recur,&uot; Massey said.

When it comes to working with other aldermen, &uot;one disagreement doesn’t derail&uot; our working relationship, Gray said. &uot;Once it’s over with, it’s over with. We need to work together to do the best we can for the city of Natchez.&uot;