If you care about the future of Natchez and Adams County, you&8217;ll keep an open mind while the subject of consolidation is explored.

Natchez Mayor Phillip West announced last week his support for consolidating city and county government. His comments resurrected an issue that has excited and infuriated residents for generations.

The only real &8220;problem&8221; with consolidation is that few people truly understand it, mostly because it&8217;s fairly rare. Consolidation&8217;s rarity does not, however, indicate its complexity or faults. Often, it&8217;s more a matter of circumstance.

In many counties, consolidation is nearly impossible due to the number of government municipalities that must communicate and agree upon things.

In Adams County, only two groups need to agree: the city&8217;s residents and the county&8217;s residents.

Since our county only has one municipality, Natchez, that puts our community in a unique situation. We have a unique opportunity.

The minute the word &8220;consolidation&8221; arises, all of the naysayers leap to their feet and begin saying why consolidation is so difficult to accomplish and why doing so is an awful idea.

Our community must not, however, allow a few know-it-alls decide for everyone. Quite simply no one truly knows yet what consolidation would mean for us and how the transition might be handled. In short, the issue needs to be considered slowly, carefully and with open minds.

From what leaders who have consolidated the governments in their communities say the naysayers&8217; first assumption is correct: It&8217;s not easy.

But how many things in life are? Few of us have won large lottery jackpots. Most of us have had to work hard for each dollar we&8217;ve earned.

And that&8217;s part of the logic behind consolidation: Mostly likely it will save the entire county some money.

Another huge benefit is through what some folks refer to as the economy of scale.

Essentially, think Wal-Mart.

The big box giant can get better deals from vendors (and theoretically pass those savings on to you) because the company&8217;s buying power is larger than most countries in the world.

The same could happen through consolidation. If completed, consolidation could make the &8220;city&8221; of Natchez-Adams (I&8217;ll call it that just to denote the change) one of the largest cities in the state of Mississippi.

Using recent Census data, a combined Natchez-Adams would jump the city&8217;s rank from the No. 23 spot on the list of Mississippi&8217;s cities to at least No. 9. Now this isn&8217;t just a bragging fact for mayors and aldermen; it&8217;s useful for garnering attention &8212; read &8220;dollars&8221; &8212; to the area.

Natchez-Adams would become bigger in population than cities of Columbus and Pascagoula. In addition, the consolidated city would be darned close to surpassing economic powerhouse Tupelo in terms of population.

Bringing up all that is probably a bit premature at this point. We simply need to strongly consider our options and not let a few people tell us all what the right answer is.

Would lots of agreements and concessions have to be made initially to help handle the transition? Sure.

Are the residents of Natchez-Adams County smart enough to look at the facts and make a decision for themselves? Absolutely.

Look at the facts as they come forth, consider all the angles and then make your decision. Despite how it may seem, the decision is not, necessarily, one that city and county leaders have to vote on to make real. The decision will ultimately hinge on how much the community wants the change.

Deciding that you know the correct answers before knowing all the questions is a sure way to make a mistake. In the coming days, weeks and months, this newspaper will work hard to explain the process, lay out the facts before you and let you make up your own minds.

Despite what lots of people may tell you, the easy way is not necessarily the best way or the only way. Let&8217;s all keep an open mind and so we can make the right decision for the future.

Kevin Cooper

is associate publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or

kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com

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