By: Adam Dodson

After multiple talks with members of the city’s code enforcement department and other city officials, Poor Boy’s owner Willie Jemison maintains he is abiding by city code and cooperating with officials.

This comes after two or three weeks of complaints from Ward 3’s Old Town residents. According to residents, such as Greg Bjelke, Poor Boy’s has been breaking multiple code violations without any action taken to correct them.

Alleged violations include the lack of a business license, the lack of approval for the business by the historic commission and items on the lot that are supposed to be enclosed by a fence.

However, Jemison says that he has been abiding by the codes, saying that the location in question, on the corner of Tremont and J.L. Chestnut, is not being used as a business at the moment. According to Jemison, the plan was to use it to sell tires, but it has not taken off.

Representing many residents’ complaints has been Ward 3 Councilwoman Miah Jackson, who wants to resolve the issue peacefully.

Jackson said that Jemison has been compliant in the past days, moving items such as the pink trailer from the property.

The only items left on the property are the Poor Boy’s sign at the front and the black trailer.

“It seems that he has been making progress,” Jackson said. “We wanted to work with him to comply, and recently he has been.”

While this compliance may be a step in the right direction, Jackson said there are still violations that need to be taken care of. This includes the black trailer, which according to Jackson is required to be in an enclosed area or located in the back of a yard, rather than exposed in the middle of a concrete lot.

While Jemison has been compliant recently, he believes he was never breaking code in the first place. His disagreements led to him being scheduled on the agenda to speak in front of the Selma City Council on at least two different occasions.

He did now show up to speak either time. According to the agenda sheet, Jemison was planning on addressing the code violations and his belief that he has done nothing wrong.

According to Jackson, Jemison’s dissatisfaction has led to him considering hiring a lawyer to represent his alleged mistreatment.

This is something that the councilwoman does not believe is necessary, especially with Jemison complying to code.

“I don’t think one (an attorney) is necessary. The code is clear,” Jackson said. “He could save time and money by just complying with the codes.”

Despite the complaints from residents, according to code enforcement member Lola Sewell, Jemison has been in constant communication with them to work something out, and he has been cooperative throughout the process.