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On Friday, April 25, the City of Selma held its State of the City Address dedicated to the progression of Selma while highlighting its latest efforts that have been implemented recently to make the city great.

During his opening, Mayor James Perkins Jr., Selma’s first African American mayor, spoke about the importance of relationships and how many partners within the Black Belt have embraced Selma in several ways.

“First, relationships are strong,” Perkins said. “They are strong from Washington to Montgomery, across the region, throughout the county and in the city.”

Perkins said the partners who have poured into Selma have led to over $152.6 million being spent in the city of Selma over the past four years.

“And these projects just keep coming,” Perkins said. “Without this amazing team of city workers and our partners, we would not have been able to accomplish what has been accomplished as fast as we have accomplished them.”

Perkins said with the help of Ward 8 Councilman Michael Johnson, Live Health Smart Alabama and its host of significant partners, the city renovated the East Selma Pond and Park “the right way.” He also mentioned to the public that the long-awaited pool reopening is happening this summer; 40 new roofs were placed on homes and over a mile of new sidewalks were constructed and laid. 

“We have taken our time to reinvest and to redevelop one of the most impoverished communities in our city and we are doing it the right way. We did not patch Memorial Stadium Track and Field. We didn’t patch those facilities but with the help of our partners like Houston Young, we dug it up, put it back down and we did it the right way. We are not just patching potholes, but with the help of our partners we are digging up old asphalt on 70 blocks within our city. We are replacing the whole surface and we are doing it the right way,” Perkins said.

During the continuation of Perkins’ speech, he said the city saw a $54.4 million financial impact over the course of five years with the city government alone. He also spoke about other significant and impactful projects that the city has done as well.

Perkins also recognized each department within the city, starting with department heads to each employee and he spoke about the impact each department has made in the progressive phase of the city. 

Perkins said Selma is a city that’s experiencing growing pains, healing and the phase of rebuilding and said that they are moving through it with purpose, promise and Christ. He said that the city has a long way to go and a lot of work to do. 

The next critical issue that Perkins said the city needs to address is the department of public safety.

“For the mayor of any city to not have direct influence over who will lead public safety in the departments of Police and Fire, that simply cannot work. This has to be fixed and we must address the tension between the city and the office of mayor.  We must rethink how we see ourselves. Do you want to plan to stay small and underdeveloped or do we plan to continue growing and reaching our full potential? If these past four years have shown us anything at all, it is that when we focus on results, relationships and doing things the right way, Selma, we can and will rise,” Perkins said.