Something stinks in Ferriday and it’s not the garbage or the more than $200,000 in back garbage bills the town owes.

The town’s leadership stinks.

Just one month after introducing an ordinance to drastically increase garbage collection fees to quickly pay down the massive debt, aldermen reversed court early this week.

The debt looming over Ferriday’s head amounts to nearly a full year’s worth of garbage fees that apparently went unpaid.

Ferriday’s current administration seems happy to point the finger at the previous administration.

No one appears to know for sure where the blame ultimately lies, and in some ways, it doesn’t matter who is to blame, unless a criminal act has occurred.

What matters most is that Ferriday’s leadership stands up, takes responsibility for the debt and begins working to get it paid down.

Blaming others, then backpedaling on a plan to aggressively work down the debt is not going to take care of the problem.

But at Tuesday’s meeting, one alderman implied that the state of Louisiana wouldn’t help Ferriday with the investigation because the town’s citizens were mostly black.

Residents of Ferriday are within their rights to be upset over the matter, and residents should press for an independent investigation.

However, throwing out the race card when it’s clearly not the problem is the foulest stench imaginable.