Selma Mayor Darrio Melton and Selma City Treasurer Ronita Wade are one step closer to  bringing to an end an internal back and forth that has gone on for more than two years following a hearing in Dallas County Circuit Court Monday before Judge Don McMillan.

In the courtroom, Melton sat alongside his attorney, Rick Howard, while Montgomery attorneys Julian McPhillips and Bobby Segall were on hand to represent Wade and the Selma City Council, respectively.

Looking on were Selma City Councilwomen Jannie Thomas and Angela Benjamin, as well as Acting Personnel Director Saprina Simmons, who also serves as Melton’s personal secretary.

McPhillips spoke first during the hearing, stating that it was “hard to believe” that only two months had passed since the ruling that brought Wade back to her position at city hall and an emergency order was filed in an effort to stop Melton from thwarting Wade’s work as the city’s treasurer.

McPhillips asserted that the position of treasurer is not subject to the city’s merit system, which means that the mayor did not have the authority to remove her from her position thrice over.

McPhillips reviewed the chronology which led to Monday’s hearing, which included Wade’s multiple dismissals and the council’s repeated votes to reinstate her, and called Melton’s decision to place her on administrative leave, which ultimately led to her firing, a “de facto termination.”

McPhillips additionally asserted that Melton’s claim that Wade was being dismissed due to her being at the center of an ongoing investigation a “pretext” and “wholly unsupported,” as she has never been formally charged or indicted.

“Any effort by him…to remove her is null and void,” McPhillips said, citing a law that states that the mayor must get approval from the council before firing an employee appointed by the council.

McPhillips asserted that Wade was repeatedly removed from “doing her watchdog job,” at least once around the time of city budget talks, so that the mayor could “slip money” to his friends whose positions were defunded via a vote from the council.

“He can’t remove the treasurer any more than he can remove the sheriff,” McPhilips said.

David Sawyer, who has worked alongside McPhillips throughout Wade’s case, stated that, according to a statute approved by the Alabama Legislature, city treasurer is a position “elected” by the council and can only be eliminated with the council’s approval.

Sawyer noted that placing the treasurer on administrative leave means that no one with the proper authority is on hand to write checks and fill the basic roles and responsibilities reserved for the treasurer.

Howard spoke next on behalf of Melton and took issue with the assertion that Wade is an “elected” official – Howard asserted that she was “appointed” by the council and is therefore not privy to the same rights as an “elected” official.

“Miss Wade would like to be treated differently from other appointed officials,” Howard said before again asserting that Wade is under investigation by the Alabama Attorney General’s office.

On behalf of the council, Segall stated that the evidence being presented to McMillan would show that, despite the specter of investigation, the council voted multiple times to reinstate Wade, an effort that was repeatedly impeded by Melton until the court stepped in.

Segall asserted that the statute that allows for the council to “elect” a treasurer also gives it final say over whether or not the person serving in that capacity can be dismissed, restating what McPhillips had earlier stated.

“It is the city council, not the mayor, that decides who performs those duties,” Segall said, moving back and forth across the courtroom floor and waving his arms as he spoke.

Segall said that it was irrelevant whether or not Wade was under investigation or if the mayor had just cause to want her removed from her position, placing her on administrative leave meant that she was removed from fulfilling her duties by the mayor, who had no authority to take such action without the council’s approval.

“Any contrary interpretation…would allow the mayor…to put a public officer, in this case the treasurer, on administrative leave the day she’s in office,” Segall said. “The mayor in this case has chosen this path…to escape and avoid the city council. The city council has the final say. He’s trying to do something that he knows he can’t do.”

Howard referenced a part of the same statute that states that the treasurer is “under supervision and control” of the mayor, but Segall asserted that that portion of the statute only states that the mayor oversees the treasurer’s day-to-day work, meaning that the mayor can recommend the treasurer’s termination if the job is not being done properly.

Wade then took the stand and reiterated the chronology of her employment debacle, adding that she believed the root of the conflict between her and Melton centered around advice she provided regarding payment to defunded positions, what actions require council approval, the process for creating or eliminating positions and more.

Wade also noted that she has heard rumors of an alleged investigation for nearly two years but has never been contacted by investigators regarding charges or an indictment – McPhillips noted that he and Wade attempted to set up a meeting with outgoing Selma Police Department (SPD) Chief Spencer Collier, but Collier never showed up; McPhillips also stated that the Alabama Ethics Commission could not provide any information regarding an investigation into Wade.

After a question from McPhillips, Wade intimated that she believes the council’s authority has been violated and again took issue with Simmons and Sean VanDiver, who she called the mayor’s “jack of all trades,” referencing the variety of positions he’s taken on for the city, and SPD Lt. Natasha Fowlkes over the scene that unfolded in city hall last week when Wade ceased payment to the defunded positions held by Simmons and VanDiver and cut Fowlkes’ pay from that of captain to lieutenant.

Wade stated that someone else in the City Finance Department ended up paying the three despite the council’s instruction to enforce the budget, which required the action taken last week.

Howard questioned Wade briefly about the budget process, the alleged investigation and any loss of salary – Wade’s responses were short and the questions were frequently objected to by McPhillips or Segall.

Melton then took the stand and Howard asked if he was allowed to fire employees, to which Melton responded in the affirmative.

Again, Segall objected to multiple questions from Howard, stating that they were of no relevance to the case – McMillan agreed on multiple occasions, but allowed questions centering around the alleged investigation to stand as they had for McPhillips earlier in the hearing.

Melton stated that he was notified of Wade’s investigation and had been interviewed by an investigator in the Alabama Attorney General’s office, who he later identified as Jim Murray, and an investigator from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), though he could not remember the investigator’s name.

McPhillips attempted to take Melton to task about working with the treasurer to craft a budget, but the mayor asserted that it is his job to prepare the budget.

“The treasurer answers to the mayor’s office, not the mayor to the treasurer,” Melton said.

McPhillips later noted that in the Selma City Treasurer job description it lists preparing the budget as part of the job – Melton claimed that state law says something different, but could not cite a statute to back up the assertion.

For his part, Segall declined to question Melton.

“Nothing the mayor testified to was of any relevance to the issue at hand,” Segall said.

As the hearing drew to a close, McMillan asked if the council was aware of the supposed investigation into Wade when it voted to restore her position and was told that the council was aware, as Melton had referenced it during earlier appeals to the council regarding Wade’s dismissal.

McMillan asked that each side submit an order within 10 days – from those orders, and shortly thereafter, McMillan will make a final ruling in the case.