Natchez residents, tonight is your chance to help the city’s leadership team try to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear on, of all things, garbage collection.

Clearly, the city messed up when it chose not to extend the city’s garbage contract, and then failed to actually go through the legally required steps to seek out bids for a new garbage collection service until it was too late.

An emergency compromise was made which killed curbside recycling to preserve current garbage collection rates.

Tonight the city will have a public forum on what city residents seek in a new collection contract.

We urge residents to attend the forum, but ask them to go with a positive, constructive attitude to move the city’s needs forward.

Simply rehashing how the city’s leadership failed to accomplish the basic task of handling the matter of securing a new garbage contract will be a waste of everyone’s time. We know how we got here. What we need to do is talk specifics.

How important is curbside recycling pick up to residents?

Is once-a-week garbage pickup enough or do we need to continue with twice-weekly pickup?

What are residents willing to pay for the services they seek?

Answering those and other such questions should be the goal of tonight’s meeting so the city can map out its course and make a plan to get the best garbage collection contract secured.