Dear Editor:

I read your editorial on Zaxby’s. The lot and yard there look pretty bad. But let me tell you a story. My dad and I have a business here in Selma, Forte Dental Lab at 700 Lauderdale St. For several months I have been emailing the city council person for this ward, Dr. Monica Newton, complaining to her that the building next to me needed the grass cut and the trash picked up. The building is the old state employment building and has been empty for about 10 years and I think the grass hasn’t been cut in about 2 years. Apparently she just passes the buck to someone else.

We pick the trash up about once a week and then it is right back there just like it was. I have asked Monica to do something about that building and the one behind me, which is empty and homeless people live there, and nothing gets done. The last I heard it belongs to Rose Sanders.

I have pleaded to Monica, called the public works and we get no place. These two problem areas are next to us and Dr. David Henderson’s dental office and it make us look like “trash” when we have people from out of town come to our offices. It just doesn’t look good for us or the town of Selma. If I was thinking of coming to this town and I drove around and saw all of the trash and the weeds and uncut grass, I wouldn’t be in the mood to move here.

I can just about bet you that if all this were next door to Monica’s house or office, or her husband’s, she would be on the phone every day fussing until it was cleaned up.

Sincerely,

Gary Forte

Selma