A resolution passed by the Selma City Council earlier this year to require council approval of the mayor's spending over $1 has caused a problem with the City paying bills.
Only one council member, Atkin Jemison, attended a special-called meeting Monday to discuss the issue. However, since the meeting was only announced by an invitation from Mayor James Perkins Jr., some council members said it was an unlawful meeting due to a lack of public notice.
Perkins said the City cannot function if department heads are unable to get items approved.
Still, City officials showed up to present their cases, including “critical city services.” Public Works had unpaid bills totaling over $18,000; Selma Police Department has bills totaling over $9,000 for vehicle repairs and other requisitions, plus the known total for needed HVAC repair; Selma Fire Department had to breach the order for tire replacement on a truck, the refilling of oxygen tanks and is facing other needs totaling over $10,000; The Selma Animal Shelter’s deep freezer is out, so they are unable to pick up deceased animals; Other buildings experiencing HVAC issues and needing parts for repairs are City Hall, the Selma Amphitheater, the Welcome Center, the Convention Center, code enforcement and another city building.
The total amount of requested funding is $52,769.34.
The resolution to approve purchases and payments over $1 has been referred to as the council “micromanaging the mayor,” Councilman Clay Carmichael said on social media.
“This narrative has been used over and over when accountability is the real issue at hand,” he added. “Checks and balances are part of every level of government, including municipal. If the City of Selma has a law that states the executive branch cannot spend over $5k without council approval and state statute requires ALL contracts to be approved by council, what are we supposed to do when we see these laws not being followed, being abused, or not getting the information we need?”
Carmichael suggested there should be stricter financial guidelines.
Perkins said he would defy the $1 order if he identifies a life-threatening situation. Further, he said he would request a meeting every day until the council hears the cases.
"Since they don’t like us accumulating like we did and try to get this done in some kind of reasonable fashion, we’ll just start requesting meetings every day until we can get somebody to pay attention," Perkins said. "This is ridiculous. We cannot work this way.”
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