Two people were removed from the Selma City Council meeting after a vocal outburst broke out in the midst of Mayor George Evans’ report Tuesday evening.

While Evans was discussing with the council claims he and other city officials “had the power turned off” at a city park to spite a family gathering, a resident yelled at the mayor, asking “is the power on now, Mayor? Is the mayor on now.”

Selma Chief of Police William T. Riley and Sgt. Natasha Rozelle were called to the council chambers by Selma Council President Cecil Williamson to calm the outburst and remove the resident.

The park Evans was referring, was the one located on Division Street where Evans’ re-election campaign held a meet and greet event Saturday morning.

Reportedly a flyer had been circulated through the community, claiming Evans and Ward 8 City Council member Corey Bowie, had intentionally had the power cut off before the reported family gathering that was scheduled the week before.

In a story that appeared in the Saturday, July 21 edition, Bowie said the park had been the victim of vandals, who had allegedly damaged the power at the park, leading to the power outage.

Evans said ahead of his event, which was scheduled for Saturday, June 21, he contacted Alabama Power for temporary power. The temporary power was then removed following the event.

At the close of the meeting, Williamson said as long as he remains council president — which will be for the next three months — he will continue to maintain order in the meeting. The council has policies preventing those who are not on the agenda to address the council or to make direct comments to the mayor or council members during the meeting.

“For the next three months, as long as I remain council president, it is my responsibility to maintain order and that is exactly what I am going to do,” Williamson said.

After the Aug. 28 election and the appointment of the next council, Williamson will return to the Ward 1 city council position. He was technically re-elected to the Ward 1 position — a post he held before moving to council president following the death of Geraldine Allen — after no one qualified to run against him in the upcoming election.

Bowie, Rufus Ford, Franklin Fortier Jr. and Tremayne “Toby” Gorden have all qualified in the race for council president.