Despite a push from one member of the board of aldermen to evaluate the work of the EDA, we’re glad to see most of the board is standing up for the economic development authority &045; and the need to fund it.

We don’t have a problem with the city’s evaluating the EDA’s performance so far; after all, this is an agency the city helps fund, and aldermen should be careful with the way they spend taxpayers’ money.

But the city also needs to be careful about removing its support from the main economic development agency for our city and county.

The EDA &045; which was set up by state legislation &045; is a joint city-county agency made up of volunteer board members and a professional staff.

If aldermen have a problem with the EDA, their first step should be looking at the people they appoint and at the staff those appointees have hired.

The EDA has finally regained a better reputation in the state after years of developers seeing our community as divided. If the city pulls its funding from the EDA, we will again look like a divided community &045; one potential industries are not interested in exploring.

Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis has said she might consider voting to use some of the EDA funding for a community development coordinator. But we agree with Alderman David Massey that the tasks that position would undertake would be better assigned to a city planner once he or she is hired.

We hope the aldermen who have backed funding the EDA continue their support of this joint city-county economic development authority.