NATCHEZ &045; It may not be school, but Phillip West’s first full day on the job as mayor of Natchez was a crash course in projects currently at the forefront of the city’s agenda.

And judging from the stack of papers on his desk, he has plenty of notes to review.

&uot;One thing about it &045; it’s not been a boring day,&uot; West said.

Arriving early at 6:30 a.m. &045; he’s usually up, but not at work, by that time &045; he started by reading a few newspapers and briefing himself on information he’s already received from city departments.

West has said he wants to meet with department heads and aldermen on a one-on-one basis to get an idea of what direction they would like the city to go in and what projects are on each person’s plate.

And on Tuesday, West started off by meeting with City Engineer David Gardner to be briefed on two of the largest engineering projects now facing the city: the North Natchez drainage project and road work related to the Trace extension.

West also met with City Attorney Walter Brown Tuesday.

As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, however, appointments had died down and West had a stack of telephone messages to return.

&uot;I’ll probably be here until at least 6 o’clock tonight,&uot; West said.

Not that all of West’s first week is taken up with meetings and studying up, however.

His first day after the holiday also saw several people taking time to wish him well and even sending potted plants &045; one from a grade-school teacher and mentor &045; and other mementos.

The rest of week holds one-on-one meetings for West with several economic development and community leaders, as well as meeting Thursday in Jackson to help plan for next year’s ceremony dedicating the Trace extension.