The Civil Service Commission made the right decision last week when it voted to pursue legal options against the city for rehiring a police officer &045; an action that is against state law.

We hope the commissioners will stick to their rights and see this through. The Natchez Board of Aldermen had no right to rehire a police officer &045; that authority rests with the civil service commission.

The reason? So that politics stays out of those hiring and firing decisions, which is exactly what has happened in this case.

The board of aldermen &045; who were split on their decision, with Mayor Phillip West breaking the tie &045; began the process of rehiring former officer Willie B. Jones a few weeks ago, when they changed the city’s personnel policy to state that an employee who is fired or resigns pending disciplinary action will not be eligible for employment by the city for five years. Previous policy held that such employees could never be rehired under any circumstances.

Essentially, aldermen voted to change the rules for one person &045; a person who resigned while awaiting disciplinary action on charges he tried to bribe a fellow police officer. Jones later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor.

Then, without even waiting to see if the Civil Service Commission would rehire Jones after the rule change, aldermen voted to put him back on the force &045; a blatant violation of state law.

Now, the city has forced the Civil Service Commission to take action &045; legal action that could waste plenty of time, not to mention taxpayers’ money, when it should never have been an issue in the first place.

Despite the inconvenience, though, we want the commission to take this as far as it will go. Aldermen need to learn they can’t overstep their bounds just because it’s politically expedient.