By Leesha Faulkner

The Selma Times-Journal

CAMDEN — The mayor of Camden has resigned, saying she has too many jobs and needs to let go of one to do well in the others.

Mayor Henrietta Blackmon resigned during a Camden City Council meeting Monday night. Immediately, the mayor pro-tem, councilman Max Baggett, was appointed acting mayor. Baggett has served as a councilman for nearly 25 years.

Blackmon said she has enjoyed her tenure as mayor. She was elected in October 2000 and was Camden’s first woman mayor.

“I love it,” she said. “It was hard for me to resign.”

In addition to serving as mayor, Blackmon also helps her husband, Dr. Sumter Blackmon, a Camden physician, in his office.

Blackmon said her son is moving to Camden to open a business. He is in the contracting and demolition business and she said she wants to help him.

She said she has enjoyed working with the people of Camden and those at City Hall. “We have some great employees,” Blackmon said, adding she has worked well with this city council — her third.

City Clerk Oletha Miller has worked with Blackmon for several years at city hall.

“We are sad to see her go,” Miller said.