Three days after the Selma City Council passed a resolution to name the building that houses the Selma Interpretive Center after former Mayor James Perkins Jr., the council rescinded its vote Friday afternoon at a special called meeting.

The meeting was called because there was concern on whether the council actually voted to name the building or the center, and if naming the building would jeopardize federal funding that Congresswoman Terri Sewell is seeking for the center.

The resolution that was passed by the council Tuesday night said, “the interpretive center will from this day forward be know(n) at the James Perkins Voting Rights Interpretive Center.”

According to the National Park Service, the city has the right to rename the building, but it does not have the right to rename the center.

After the vote was made public, the NPS requested the city clarify that the center’s name was not being changed, and when Sewell found out about the vote, she had concern about potential funding because of the controversy surrounding naming the building after Perkins, who was the first African American mayor in Selma and is planning to run for the position again.

Mayor George Evans said Sewell called him Wednesday morning to verify if the center was being renamed.

“Congresswoman Sewell has been trying to find ways to put money into that particular building there under the name Selma Interpretive Center,” Evans said. “She didn’t make any commitments or promises automatic because as you know on that high level of bureaucracy anything can change.”

Evans said Sewell spoke with multiple council members asking them to rethink their decision because of the impact it could have on the funding that Selma is competing for against cities like Atlanta and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Councilwoman Bennie Ruth Crenshaw, who was not a part of that conference call, seemed angered because she found out about the call later and had to contact Sewell herself.

“It seemed as if it was not an informational setting that you had created. It was a situation where you needed some individuals to rescind their vote,” Crenshaw said to Evans.

“I would have loved to hear [Congresswoman] Sewell explain it.”

Crenshaw also questioned why changing the name of the building, which was deemed OK by the National Park Service, would impact any funding Sewell was trying to get for Selma.

Sewell’s Chief of Staff, Shashrina Thomas, defended Sewell’s concerns and told citizens in attendance that Sewell would never deny funding for Selma or show a lack of effort in getting money for her hometown.

Crenshaw stated that if there was nothing in writing that said the naming of the building would impact funding, then the council should go forth with honoring Perkins.

“What I suggest is that we do it right,” Crenshaw said. “Let’s put together a resolution that says name the building.”

Council member Cecil Williamson, who agreed Perkins should be honored, said this predicament is embarrassing.

“In our haste to promote the Perkins Mayoral Candidacy and to embarrass Mayor Evans, we have made a mistake,” Williamson said. “We have left an egg on our collective faces, making it appear that we don’t know what we are doing renaming a federal interpretive center and not the building that houses it.”

After much discussion, the council rescinded its vote from Tuesday night. The council unanimously agreed to rescind it with the exception of Samuel Randolph, who did not attend the meeting.

Crenshaw, who felt there was no risk of losing funding by naming the building, then made a motion to vote on naming the building with a new resolution.

An effort was made to table the vote until after the election was made, but it failed after a stalemate.

A new resolution to name the building the James Perkins Jr. Building then failed to pass after it garnered only three votes from Crenshaw, Angela Benjamin and Michael Johnson.

Congresswoman Terri Sewell is expected to go before Congress next week to fight for funding for Selma.