Lots of people know when to leave things to the professionals &8212; plumbers, electricians, doctors, lawyers and the like

The fact is: people who specialize in tasks are often just better than those of us who do those tasks more infrequently.

That can be a difficult lesson.

We&8217;ve all been there, standing in the hardware store thinking, &8220;So how hard could it be to install a new bathtub, anyway?&8221;

Hours later, covered in caulk, you begin to realize why plumbers charge so much. Amazingly, a few pounds of plumber&8217;s putty and a few feet of badly bent copper pipe later, their fees don&8217;t seem so high.

The City of Natchez is effectively standing in the plumbing section right now, trying to decide if a professional is needed.

Developer Tom Bauer has suggested the city enter into a contract with his group to manage the city-owned convention center, in addition to Bauer&8217;s soon-to-be-built, adjacent hotel.

Theoretically, the city would essentially get itself out of the convention center management business through such a contract.

That may not be a bad thing to explore.

Before aldermen can make an informed decision on the matter, the details of the potential contracts need to be made public so citizens can provide feedback.

Generally, private business is better at capitalistic ventures than government is. It&8217;s too early to say definitively if that&8217;s the case here, but it&8217;s certainly something at which the city should take a good, hard, well-researched look.

Deciding to hire the plumber now might save us a bathroomful of grief tomorrow.