On Thursday, residents of the Selmont community, along with Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr., state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, and House District 67 Democratic nominee Yusuf Salaam met to discuss the possibility of incorporating Selmont.

Although there were many who felt that the community should not be incorporated, Minor, who has been pushing for the possibility of incorporation, presented several reasons he felt the community should become its own city.

Minor pointed out that Selmont can boast a number of assets, which he felt would make the area attractive to industry.

Among them are nearby Craig Field, a railway, the Alabama River and U.S. Highway 80.

Asked whether he thought Selmont has the tax base to support itself, Minor said the population of Selmont is approximately 8,000, which makes it larger than many other existing cities.

He pointed out that Mosses, a small city in Alabama, has only a population of 800.

Minor also denied that incorporating would mean increased taxes, unless citizens agreed to higher taxes.

He encouraged both white and black residents living or working in the area to participate in the discussions about incorporation.

Minor said the main reason for proposing incorporation is to bring more tax dollars from Dallas County into Selmont, something which he said is not presently happening.

Minor, who is also a member of the Dallas County Board of Education, said he hoped to create a separate school system with its own curriculum in Selmont.

The curriculum, he said, would give students skills they needed &uot;in order to enter the work force.&uot;

Asked about the possibility of Selma annexing Selmont, Minor said he would only agree to the proposal if the community was in favor of the idea.

Minor said the next Selmont Community Meeting to discuss incorporation and annexation would be held Tuesday at Tipton Middle School at 6 p.m.