Good news is always welcomed seeing as how there seems to be so little of it lately.  The announcement of a forest products industry locating in the once occupied Louisiana Pacific facility at Craig Industrial Park fits the category of good news. Of course, the devil is in the details and hopefully this company will be successful and take up permanent residency. Others have come taking advantage of the excellent facilities, stayed for a while, and moved on without a look back.

Mr. Vardaman — Economic Development Authority — must be a super salesman to continue to attract businesses to the park. Either that or the deals are just too good to turn down by the businesses. At any rate, it is a masterful job of recruiting. It leads you to wonder just how many more companies are out there willing to chance an operation in Selma.

The community has a stake in how Selma is perceived during the process of attracting and retaining new businesses. Thankfully, prospects aren’t brought in on Summerfield Road and some of the other corridors that resemble a trash dump. It would behoove Selma to be grateful enough to be on its best behavior, put on its best face and make it an attractive area for business as well as living. To that end, it is going to take a lot of work and cooperation of all its citizens.

While I was engaged in real estate during the early 70’s, I had a client tell me the first thing he noticed on a house was the front door.

Of course, this was after the curb appeal aspect of the neighborhood. He said you could tell a lot about the people who had lived there by the front door. It needed to be clean, attractive, inviting and friendly.

I applaud Mayor Evans for calling on a citywide clean up day, but this doesn’t get to the root of the problem.

Apparently the root of the problem stems from a lack of civic pride in how our city looks. I was taught from a child up to pick up after myself.

Therefore, I’m not much for picking up after others. If you reared children, you must know that the more you pick up after them, the more you have to pick up.

There are laws on the books against littering, however, they are worthless unless enforced.

Selma needs to work on its curb appeal and front door in addition to its drug and crime problems. Selma’s worst enemy is itself. How about a “Cleanup Selma 365?”