In the political world, words and phrases have a way of transcending their specific meaning to end up defining something bigger.

It happens all of the time in national politics. President Richard Nixon said, “I am not a crook.” President Clinton said, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinksy.” President George W. Bush now regrets saying, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job,” to former FEMA chief Michael Brown as the waters enveloped the entire city of New Orleans during Katrina.

By the end of President Obama’s presidency, he too will be defined by some word or phrase — deliberate or not.

Of course, sound bites do not make a presidency. Much more is accomplished — good and bad — that cannot be summed up in a few words. Still, such phrases stick with a public trying to make sense of it all.

Local politics is no different.

At the Nov. 23 Board of Aldermen meeting, Natchez alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis talked about the city’s recent struggles to get a casino built at the bottom of Roth Hill.

Arceneaux-Mathis expressed frustration that the Premier Gaming casino project seems stalled.

Her words directed to the casino may well describe the public’s current impression of the current board and mayor.

“We could go to the gaming commission and (admit) we don’t know what we are doing down here,” Arceneaux-Mathis said.

In the light of recent events, Arceneaux-Mathis’ words seem to sum up an administration that is floundering.

Almost two years ago, both the Natchez Board of Aldermen and the Adams County Board of Supervisors discovered that the legislative charter of the Economic Development Authority required the city and county to meet each August.

It appears none of the local leadership cared to read the legislation for years, until Alderman Dan Dillard suggested doing so in a joint meeting between the city and county.

This year, Mayor Jake Middleton staked his reputation on the Premier Gaming development. The original agreement with Premier predecessors was signed during Phillip West’s administration.

Despite Middleton’s assurance this summer that the project is moving forward, there have been few signs of progress and a critical appearance of the developers before the Mississippi Gaming Commission has not materialized.

Once again, Dillard started asking questions, this time about the option agreement and lease with Premier Gaming, which led to Arceneaux-Mathis’ “we don’t know what we are doing down here” comment.

If that weren’t enough, the mayor and board discovered this week that the city has not been evaluating its fire fighters and police officers as required by the Civil Service Commission.

This time, freshman Alderman Tony Fields was asking the smart questions, pointing out that such evaluations are critical when discussing individual job performance issues.

Why are these evaluations not being performed? Once again the aldermen had to admit they didn’t know.

Unfortunately, such responses are becoming a common refrain from this administration.

Thankfully, two of the newest members of the board are showing signs of frustration with the status quo. Instead of following their elder statesman and, perhaps, the example of too many previous administrations, they are forging a new direction, albeit slowly, with questions and possible solutions.

If the current administration doesn’t want to be known as the bunch of leaders who don’t what is going on, they should stop saying they don’t know and start saying they will figure out how.

Ben Hillyer is the web editor for The Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.