Members of the Ferriday Board of Aldermen need to pause and consider the meaning of a simple, but important word — responsibility.

On Tuesday, aldermen voted to take out a bond to pave city streets while in the very same meeting, were confronted by a sizable debt that the town seems incapable or unwilling to pay.

The debt, approximately $125,000, is owed to Crescent Chemical, a company that provided emergency water treatment chemicals and services during one of Ferriday’s many water crises, approximately two years ago.

The company’s owner has pleaded with the town to pay what is owed, even offering to work out the debt in a payment plan.

But the town has said it’s incapable of paying it. Instead, the town’s leadership (and we use that term loosely, given their obvious lack of common sense) has chosen to borrow money to perform politically popular paving instead of simply paying its own bills.

That the town is attempting to further indebt itself is bad enough. To do so while most of those making the decision are running for reelection and thus seeking to profit politically from the roadwork is simply unconscionable.

The town’s leadership needs to swallow their pride and hold off on repaving roads or even taking a salary until the debt owed to the private company is paid in full.

Then, any further indebtedness needs to wait until well after the current election season is over.