Ladies and gentlemen, consolidation would be a radical change to our area. Despite the almost certain road bumps along the way, the results could be amazingly good for our area. The combination of savings through reducing overlapping services to suddenly being part of a larger entity might make fundamental changes to Natchez, economically and socially. If suggesting reworking the entire way the city and county does business wasn&8217;t enough, the mayor had to handle another large, ongoing problem this week, too. Mayor West handled a lingering personnel problem that was much needed.

West announced Friday that controversial City Planner Andrew L. Smith had been terminated. Firing someone is never fun or easy, regardless of the circumstances.

The City of Natchez needs a strong city planner with excellent communication and cooperation skills. We haven&8217;t had that for some time, and the city has suffered a bit. Much of the mistakes can be repaired going forward. Natchez and Adams County has all the potential in the world. We just need to get organized, put our minds together get the right people on our leadership team. Last week was a good start on making our future a bright one.