At the end of Monday’s Selma City Council meeting, President George Evans received a hearty ovation from the crowd and fellow council members.

Evans had gaveled the meeting closed at 6:30 p.m., just and hour and a half after it started.

Because of several council members traveling to Washington next week for a national convention, the meeting schedule was altered so that the council met on consecutive Mondays.

The change left relatively little business to work through.

What the council did work through, they handled in quick fashion.

A pair of items that could have derailed the quick work were dispensed with relatively easily.

First City Attorney Jimmy Nunn recommended the council delay voting on Resolution #R146-04/05, the law that would require city council members to submit questions and their reasons for asking them in writing to the council before they could be given to the mayor to be passed on to department heads.

“We did have an opportunity to talk with the League of Municipalities lawyer,” Nunn said. “He said the way the resolution is typed up is unclear, he felt we needed some clarity.”

Nunn said league lawyers suggested the resolution does not differentiate clearly between public records and special reports or special requests.

The resolution first appeared after Councilman Cecil Williamson introduced a list of

several questions to various department heads in an apparent violation of city policy.

Nunn went over the difference between public records and special requests.

“Public Records are documents that have already been prepared that should be made accessible,” he said. “Special requests are if employees have to compile information or they ask them to produce answers to questions, asking a service to be provided.”

Nunn added the council member individually have no more right to information than an average citizen.

If a council member wants information that is not available, it would have to be a request of the entire council.

Nunn also talked about the city’s ability to protect its employees from having to respond to a series of questions in addition to having to perform their daily duties.

In the end, he said the resolution is not ready to be voted on.

“We’re going to make some clarifications to this resolution,” he said.

Evans encouraged the members of the council to limit debate until they had seen the changes.

“I think we don’t need to work any more on this tonight,” he said. “I think we debated it enough last week.”

The council decided to accept his recommendation and hold discussion until the next meeting on March 28.

Williamson did ask the proper procedure for getting public records.

“You just go to (the clerk’s) office and fill out the form and pay the fee,” he said.

Williamson asked if paperwork providing the name of city employees and their salaries would be public record.

“If you were to make that request right now, it would require them to prepare a special report,” Mayor James Perkins Jr. told him. ” The flaw in your situation right now is have never asked me for anything to this day. ”

Williamson replied by saying he is appalled that no single report exists with the information he wanted.

Perkins replied by telling Williamson that all he had to do was go through the agreed upon channels and ask him for the information and Perkins would get it.

“I’m convinced tat the councilman simply doesn’t want to ask me for it,” he said.

Evans mediated the situation.

“I would say if I find anything wrong with (something) my first duty is to sit down with it and go back to the mayor,” he said. “If you get it and it’s supposed to be the truth, do give the courtesy to me and everyone else to try and fix it at that point. Let’s just be sincere and honest with each other.”

The other big issue on the agenda was the council members travel budget.

Earlier in the fiscal year eight of the members traveled to Indianapolis for a League of Municipalities meeting.

Next week many of the members will travel to the National League of Cities meeting in Washington D.C.

The

two trips have apparently drained the council’s $40,000 travel budget with a state convention in Huntsville.

“I’m going to ask the Administrative Committee (chaired by Dr. Geraldine Allen) to come back with a recommendation on how we need to address this,” Evans said.

“Can we find out how the $40,000 was spent,” asked Williamson who earlier this year made a motion to divide the travel budget equally among the members.

“You know how it was spent,” Evans answered.

Evans said there wasn’t any urgency to dealing with the issue Monday night.

“We’ve never had this to occur before so we’ve never had to deal with it before,” he said.

In other news the council:

Recognized Mayor Perkins for meeting with the Faith and Politics delegation Saturday night in Montgomery.

Councilman Johnnie Leashore went with the mayor and reported back that Perkins made some valuable connections for Selma.

“I would venture to say the mayor’s presentation was spell-binding,” Leashore said. “I want you citizens to know you have a smart mayor.

We want you all to join hands with us and move Selma forward.”

Perkins- who missed the Freedom Flame Awards for the event- said it was a worthwhile meeting.

“There was somewhat of a sacrifice in going to Montgomery Saturday night,” he said. “In doing so I missed Harry Belafonte and Vivica Fox but it was the right decision.”

Perkins said he discussed issues facing the Black Belt, Selma and the nation including health disparity and education disparity.

“There was pretty much a consensus they would do anything and everything they could to help the Black Belt,” he said.

Made plans to move forward with the Beautification Committee nominations at the next meeting.

Approved a liquor license for the Blue Note Club.

Announced there will be a meeting concerning the garbage ordinance on March 22 at 5 p.m. in the Convention Center.

It will familiarize citizens with the requirements of the ordinance. In addition Williamson thanked General Services Director Henry Hicks for the work being done in Ward 2 filling pot holes and responding quickly to citizens requests.

Debated several line items that were voted down collectively last week.

The budget amendments would have given various amounts to several different agencies to help offset budget shortfalls from the cuts they received in the budget this year.

The items included monies for the Chamber of Commerce, EDA, Crossroads, the Old Depot Museum and the Arts Council. As curator of the Old Depot Museum, councilwoman Jean Martin recused herself from any debate involving the museum.

The budget amendment was presented by Perkins at last week’s meeting but Reid Cain’s motion to pass the amendments died for lack of a second. The items were placed individually on the agenda this week.

However the council voted 5-3 to never consider them again. Martin recused herself from the vote.