Natchez aldermen have a chance Tuesday to show the city what kind of leaders they are — rubber-stamping followers or forthright, righteous public servants.

Aldermen are scheduled to revisit a much-scrutinized deal with a developer regarding the former railroad depot on the Natchez bluff.

Approximately a year ago, under a former administration, the city entered into a deal with a developer that at best skirted some steps in state law, at worst sought to deceive aldermen and the public.

The deal is rife with trouble. First, former Mayor Butch Brown apparently hand selected the developer rather than seeking any input from aldermen or the public.

Brown knew the city was already the recipient of a large grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation to help fund the renovation of the depot. So, presumably, he and his friend and former city attorney Walter Brown found a creative way to form a letter of intent and subsequent lease in a way that would not mess up the MDOT money train.

MDOT would not spend money on a project that would benefit a private business. That is why the city had to boot out two tenants from the building before the grant could be accepted.

Details of what happened next are unclear. Either the aldermen were hoodwinked into signing something they did not understand or someone did a switcheroo on the paperwork later.

In either case the result was the same, aldermen thinking they were signing a non-binding letter of intent, single handedly surplused the building and agreed to lease it to the handpicked developer without fully realizing it.

Now, a year later aldermen are trying to figure out the right thing to do.

We think the best approach at this point is to halt the developer temporarily. Spend 60 days seeking requests for proposals on the building — including the plans of the existing developer — and see if any of the potential development ideas seem better than the one begun. If they wind up choosing someone else, the city must pay back the costs of renovation done by the current developer.

Taking this high-road approach should right any potential wrongs from the past and put the city on a firm direction, one that is transparent and sought the involvement of all.