Selma City Councilwoman Miah Jackson hosted a Ward 3 Quarterly Meeting at the Selma Performing Arts Center Monday night.

During the meeting, Jackson discussed the current issues at city hall, including finances, public safety and code enforcements, all through her perspective as Ward 3’s city councilwoman.

After thanking everyone in attendance for their involvement, Jackson began the meeting with a report on the city’s finances.

“Over a year ago I said that I felt like the city’s finances were in shambles,” said Jackson. “I still believe that. And the reason I believe it more today than I did at that time is that because at that time we could get answers from anyone in the finance office and they’d be the same. Now they’re not. It depends on which employee you’re talking to the answers you may get.”

Jackson reported that preparations are being made for the budget process, and expressed hope that council will be able to meet with department heads in to order receive their input for the budget.

Jackson then moved on to public safety, referring to the “turmoil” within the Selma Police Department.

Jackson revealed that the School Resource Officer (SRO) program enacted by former Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier will not come to fruition.

Jackson stated that there were not officers in place to fill the proposed positions and that Collier never signed the contract enacting the program.

Jackson then discussed the problems with the Selma Fire Department, saying that many of the issues within the department went unreported due to the hostile work environment which former Selma Fire Chief Toney Stephens cited as his reason for resigning.

“They felt like they couldn’t share this information with anyone because they wanted to keep their jobs,” said Jackson. “They felt intimidated.”

Jackson stated that Selma City Council President Corey Bowie, who also serves as head of the Public Safety Committee, is searching for both a police and fire chief.

Finally, Jackson discussed the city’s lack of code enforcement, citing that many city problems, including garbage, dilapidated homes and unkempt grass is a result of the 68 workers the city laid off toward the end of last year.

Following Jackson’s planned points of discussion, she once again thanked everyone for coming and took several questions from the audience.