This week the issue of how much water board members are paid raised its head again.

What we found out is that very little has changed since the last time this issue was raised. Board members are still getting paid a salary that some think is wrong. Selma City Councilwoman Rita Sims Franklin introduced a resolution to &uot;clarify&uot; the amount board members are paid.

This space is not being used to judge whether or not board members are being paid too much. That is for the state ethics commission to decide.

What we are urging is for this matter to be resolved. It’s been reported that the ethics commission will make a ruling on board member salaries in October.

That ruling should bring closure to an issue that is embarrassing and divisive for our town.

What we want to avoid is board member salaries being discussed six months from now or even a year from now.

Selma doesn’t need the distraction and the heated discussion that flows whenever the water board and its members are involved.

George Evans was wise to simply table the motion during Monday’s council meeting. Evans said the &uot;legality&uot; of the matter needed to be looked into before council attempted to vote on a resolution concerning water board salaries.

Any further discussion in council chambers on this issue was probably pointless. Let the ethics commission decide if Selma’s board members are being paid too much. They can follow state law and make the appropriate ruling.

The salaries of board members has very little to do with whether or not you get water when you turn on the faucet. Instead, the board member salaries are an issue of politics.

The last thing we need are more politics and bickering. Let’s let the ethics commission make its ruling. Then we can move out on obeying it and putting this issue to rest.