The upcoming handling of the Broadway Street Depot will test whether the aldermen are finally going to put the old Natchez way of doing business behind them and do what is right for the people of Natchez. Many fundamental misunderstandings surround this publicly owned property, and they should be clarified before any further vote.

First, the recent exterior improvements to the building were not paid for by Warren Reuther. They were paid for by 875,000 state tax dollars. In other words, by us. Former Mayor Butch Brown knew about this when he bypassed the public bidding process and steered the property to Mr. Reuther.

The tool used to bypass public bidding was Airport Disposal Statute MCA 57-7-1, praised by Reuther attorney Walter Brown as a way to do “creative projects.” While the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed attorney Brown’s use of this statue in the pecan factory case, 57-7-1 circumvents basic laws put on the books to protect us from dirty deals. For example, by folding the construction contract aspect of the depot deal into the overall agreement, the City does an end run around Title 31, which requires the City to bid public construction contracts. This means the depot contractor would not have to post a performance bond that would protect the City from construction liens if the contractor were to have solvency issues.

Attorney Brown insists that this whole mess involves form, not substance. Yet reputable citizens report strong evidence exists that someone falsified the public record of the Sept. 8, 2015, BOA meeting by inserting a resolution declaring the depot surplus into the minute book after the fact. This is a crime punishable by prison under Mississippi law. At the Nov. 12, 2015, meeting, Hyde Carby stated that the board had declared the depot surplus at the Sept. 8, 2015, meeting by passing a nonbinding letter of intent. Alderwoman Sarah Smith stated she had never seen this resolution. The words “resolution” and “surplus” do not appear in the minutes from that day, nor are they mentioned in the Bruce TV video of the proceedings.

Walter Brown also claims this is all a matter of personal animus, that “personalities” who may not like Butch Brown or Reuther are nitpicking a perfectly good deal to death. I don’t fault Mr. Reuther. Smart businessmen exploit every advantage offered to them. The burden of protecting the people of Natchez falls squarely upon the aldermen, who may forget that former city attorney Walter Brown is paid to represent his client and not to protect the public interest. Sunday’s published comments by the aldermen who voted for this deal prove they had little idea what they were voting for, or any clear knowledge of the laws that govern proper disposal of city property.

One former alderman complained that it’s too late to raise objections, but he received a written complaint from me back in November. He read my letter into the record, then stated that God had told him he’d done nothing wrong by voting for the depot deal. This same official recently stated in the newspaper that God had given him a promotion and a pay raise. We should all thank Tony Fields, who voted in favor of the deal on Nov. 12, 2015, but who now honestly admits that he had no idea he was being asked to surplus an acre of bluff-front land.

I am sad to relate that when I expressed interest in the depot during the contentious April 12 meeting, I was afterward called forward and quietly urged by Mayor Brown and Mr. Carby to partner with Mr. Reuther. But Mr. Reuther is not the gatekeeper of the depot property. The city is. Mr. Reuther argues that no other bidder has come forward. But no other bidder can come forward until the board issues an RFP.

After a proper RFP is issued, Mr. Reuther may well end up with the depot. If so, I will congratulate him. But under no circumstances should the board include the land surrounding the depot in their final agreement. That would be unconscionable, because that acre contains the trailhead pavilion of the Natchez Trails.

The depot and the bluff belong to the people. Process matters. Transparency matters. Do the right thing.
Greg Iles is an Adams County resident and Natchez property owner.