Much fervor has been made over the City of Natchez’s decision to enter into an agreement to lease the former train depot on Broadway Street.

Mostly, it seems, the public is upset over the process and the apparent lack of much public input on the matter.

Last month, the city — in a split vote — agreed to move forward with an agreement to lease the depot to a new entity led by Warren Reuther, whose company owns the Grand Hotel and happens to also manage the city’s convention center.

The deal stipulates that Reuther will fix up the interior of the depot — something the city says it cannot afford to do on its own — in exchange for low rent on the building.

Whether or not the city followed proper protocol in its decision to simultaneously — and without much, if any, public awareness — declare the depot building as surplus city property and negotiate a unique lease situation with a hand-picked entity has been questioned since the beginning.

Fortunately for Natchez residents, resident Gwen Ball has the guts to stand up and fight when something seems unjust. She’s suing the city of Natchez over the depot deal.

Presumably, she’s doing so with her own personal money and will no doubt take great heat in the process.

But we applaud Ball for her courage to question the authority the city’s leaders assume to have.

Even if the courts ultimately prove their actions were legal, the manner in which the city acted is worthy of further scrutiny.

The whole deal simply reeks of favoritism and deserves a bit more sunshine to potentially disinfect the matter.