Dear Mayor Melton:

As a citizen of the beloved Selma, I am writing you not to demand anything. I don’t feel that you are a bad person, as I understand that you did not create all of the problems that you are facing. Decisions had to be made and not everyone will like the decisions that you make. Everybody does not understand the way city government is operated. I don’t claim to know it all either, but I have learned more here lately. 

Dr. King said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable, every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” I use this quote to say that I am concerned. I have seen four mayors in office and I believed that your youth and fundamental love for your hometown led you to become mayor. The persons who were laid off deserve to hear from you, not your designee. If you were in their situation, wouldn’t you want an explanation from the person in charge? After all, they are the very citizens that you work for, that pay your salary, and may have even voted for you. Let’s not forget that they are the reason that you have been afforded the opportunity to be where you are.

I remember when you were a senior playing baseball at Selma High School, I said to myself that you would be a leader someday. A great leader is a person that always goes beyond the well-trodden paths and leads in an unsurpassed way. A great leader is also limitlessly courageous yet politically wise; a great leader is a great organizer and she or he is responsive in the highest degree to the legitimate needs and expectations of other people, a great leader is greatly and truly passionate about what they do; a great leader always acts legally and ethically in the highest degree and unbendingly requires the same standards of behavior from other persons. Finally, a great leader is authentically and greatly altruistic. Leaders are also certainly highly dynamic and highly energetic.  A great leader has great leadership DNA and constantly learns in elite ways.

It is my belief that you can make this work out for all parties involved. It is my hope that you will sit down with your fellow leaders and lead the City of Selma because a house divided cannot stand. Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you must inspire your co-workers and constituents. Please take the time to reflect on the God in you for you are your brother’s keeper. I end with a quote from Dr. ML King Jr.: “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

Curtis Wimberley

Selma