To the Editor:

The St. James hotel, the Phoenix Building, and the school on the corner of Tremont and Furniss are examples of how city government in Selma manages property ownership.

No example exists to recommend further acquisitions.

Instead of real estate speculation with tax dollars, transparent, service-oriented government would most benefit Selma’s development.

Prattville is an example of what good city government attracts.

By turning away from the local governing ideas “we inherited the problem so we’re powerless to do anything about it,” “we can’t account for what we spent last month,” and “city hall is my turf,” and beginning to operate with an attitude that says, “we can solve the problems we inherited and make this better than we found it,” “every cent is accounted for online for every citizen’s perusal – because it is their money that we’re responsible for,” and “city hall works for each of us equally,” the groundwork would start being laid for healthy growth and development.

But we’re not there yet.

The Phoenix Building remains a rubble pile and the historic school board building is being turned into another store-all for city junk like the historic ceramics building.

Let city government demonstrate responsibility with what they already have ownership of.

With what is already in hand,

a staggering amount of opportunity for growth and development already exists.

J.A. Helms