What a load of junk. That phrase came to mind early last week as I surveyed the remains of the former Natchez Pecan Shelling Co. building.

That same phrase came to mind a day or two later when I read Natchez Mayor Phillip West’s comments as he attempted to defend his executive order to tear the structure down.

What a load of junk.

West apparently attempted to get the Board of Aldermen to provide a post-destruction approval. That’s a bit like asking if you can borrow your neighbor’s car after you’ve taken it on a trip to Florida. It’s a bit late at that point; the damage has been done.

West was quoted as saying, “I respect Archives and History for the important role they serve, but as mayor of the city, it is my duty to protect the citizens’ welfare.”

West claims that he had received several complaints about sketchy goings on at the site, but hasn’t provided details. The immediate demolition was necessary, West said, because the situation was an emergency and the safety of the citizenry was at stake.

“I felt it was too much of a danger to remain for two years,” he said.

Interestingly, though, West’s story begins to fall apart here.

If, as he alleges, bad things were happening at the site, the first logical course of action would be to report the situation to the Natchez Police. Perhaps request that officers patrol the area more frequently and keep their eyes peeled for wrongdoing.

Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said no such reports had been made.

That seems to torpedo the belief that the situation was of critical importance to the safety and welfare of the city.

Emergency situation?

What a load of junk.

Yours truly is not in love with the pecan factory. It held no special place in my heart or in my mind, and it was going to be torn down anyway.

So the building’s demolition isn’t a question of waxing poetically over preserving the past or a question of disliking progress.

It’s a question of whether or not public officials should be able to bend and break rules whenever they see fit.

In a bizarre twist, the good mayor took on an almost unbelievable stance about what happened.

He attempted to turn the tables on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the group whose directives West ignored in tearing down the site.

It was MDAH, not the guy yelling “charge” behind the bulldozers, who broke the law, West said.

“If any laws were broken, they were not broken by me,” West said, adding that MDAH’s actions were “beyond the spirit of the law.”

What a load of junk.

Who knew the mayor also had proclaimed himself the judicial interpreter for the state? That must be an empowering, if self-ascribed, position. Imagine being able to determine which laws are worth following and which are not. Impressive stuff.

Like the star of the Danish fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, our mayor continues to walk around intellectually naked, but few people seem ready to tell him.

His arrogance toward the law continues to amaze and aggravate people who always follow the laws and do as they should.

When you look at the example the mayor has set and path of destruction — both the physical wake of bricks and the ethical use of executive power — he’s leaving in his wake, only one phrase comes to mind.

What a load of junk.

Kevin Cooper is associate publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.