Even though Selma Mayor James Perkins and the Selma City Council failed to agree on everything, they did agree on one thing. There are just too many people employed by the City of Selma at the present time.

Perkins, who spoke at the Selma City Council meeting Monday night, said that compared to other cities in Alabama, cities, which have approximately the same population as Selma, Selma has too many employees.

Perkins said currently the city employs 450 people. He compared Selma to cities like Enterprise, Athens and Northport, cities, which have a comparable population but a smaller number of city employees.

Perkins said the city has had a hiring freeze for the past eight to nine months. However, he noted that certain departments are exempt from the freeze, including the Selma Police Department and the Selma Fire Department.

After Perkins addressed the council, Councilwoman Nancy Sewell recommended that the city place a moratorium on all hiring, while Councilman Glenn Sexton recommended that the city stop taking job applications, altogether.

Perkins objected to both councilperson’s recommendations.

Perkins added that the council also did not have the power to authorize a hiring freeze.

Councilwoman Rita Franklin, who spoke briefly during the exchange, speculated that one possible reason why other cities have fewer employees is because Selma provides different services from those other cities.

Council members and the mayor agreed that further discussion was needed to resolve the matter.

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