Dear editor,

Regarding a letter to the editor published in the May 4 edition, apparently this writer is uninformed.

There is growing concern regarding the impact of drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace all over this country, not just in Selma. These tests are performed on employees and, increasingly, on job applicants.

Blaming Mayor Evans for stating the truth is ludicrous. The mayor did not make these rules, and frankly, I would not work for a company that did not make employees submit to a drug test. It’s certainly not the mayor’s fault if someone fails a drug test. If someone gets hurt on the job, it opens up liability on the employer. One of the first questions insurance companies ask the employer in workers’ compensation is if the company has a drug policy.

Mayor Evans stated the truth, and the truth sometimes hurts. And yes, the Mayor did bring jobs to Selma. It is not his charge to help drug addicts pass a drug test. By doing drugs or having an alcohol problem, you eliminate yourself.

You stated that Selma is a God-fearing community. Where are the God-fearing preachers of Selma? Why aren’t they helping to rehabilitate these God-fearing people?

Why aren’t you beating down your state senator’s doors asking them to bring a trade school to Selma so that the people who can pass a drug test but lack basic skills to get a job, can get the skills?

Selma is a historic town… and that means what? Why don’t you stand on the Edmund Pettus Bridge next and tell those fake Civil Rights leaders, John Lewis and Jessie Jackson, the truth about historic Selma?

Gerald Chestnut Riberio

Selma