Column for May 20, 2010

I see that Selma had yet another working fire over this past weekend. At one point, with as many buildings that caught fire in our town (and in my neighborhood in particular), I began to wonder if that was someone's method of "urban renewal". Seriously though, my heart goes out to the folks at Free Spirit Church.

If there is a program for town renewal that comprises fiery destruction, I jokingly suggest that the list include the house next to my own. It has been abandoned for about six years now, is in a state of disrepair, the grass is almost waist high, and looks like Herman Munster lives there. It is a charming place to dwell.

Speaking of renewal, my amazement is renewed every time I hear from people in town. We have seen buildings condemned and torn down. Some have been fixed to habitable status. The idea is to make Selma more attractive to residents to keep them here and to attract new ones to our town. I am fine with the idea of condemning some properties that have deteriorated into unsanitary slums, unfit for human inhabitation. There is a responsibility that goes along with property ownership. When one's abridgment of responsibility affects the community, then it is time for a community to act.

We are not going to attract or keep residents in our "Charming Place to Be", however, if we tell them that they are not valuable to our community. When residents are told at a Town Council Meeting that the town would rather lose 25 residents over inappropriate utility disconnection and keep a company on the outskirts of town that employs mostly people from out of town like Sysco, then we have a problem.

I was not personally at the recent Town Council Meeting, but I have been told by reputable sources that this is exactly what people were told when they spoke about their electricity being cut off over a misunderstanding of the grace period recently extended to pay extremely high utility bills. I was no different in that I had the highest bill I ever had while living in Selma, and I wrote so right here in this column. Fortunately I was able to handle that extra burden. Not everyone in town could, and I fully understand why.

Right across the street from the unfortunate fire at Free Spirit Church is what some in town (and I chuckled when I heard it referred to) as "The Mayor's Sandbox". I am in full support of the idea of development of the plot of land that has been "raped and scraped". However, for about two years now it has sat barren and undeveloped. I am told that the abandoned site is in violation of state land quality regulations and has been for a long time. This is why a local citizen has filed a formal complaint with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Land Quality.

People who can not afford to fix up their homes have them torn down. Citizens who can not afford to pay electricity bills in full have their utility services cut off. Properties deemed as eyesores or public nuisances are being threatened with being torn or shut down. Is it right that a development that can not be finished for similar reasons be allowed to be raped, scraped, and out of state regulatory compliance for a couple of years be allowed to remain? I guess it is all in who is doing the finger pointing.

If the goal is to truly make Selma "A Charming Place to Be", then perhaps leadership should be by example. I will be the first to be congratulatory if and when the development project intended for the Mayor's Sandbox is finally built. If it helps with the local economy and with an eyesore being alleviated, then I am all for it. I am fully in support of local business and in development of our fair town.

Selma is not so charming, however, when citizens are told that they are not as valued as a business on the outskirts of town that employs few Selma citizens. If we are talking solely about revenue to the town and disregard all other facets, then perhaps that perspective is accurate. However, a town is comprised of a group of individual citizens, not businesses and revenue streams. They deserve dignity and equal treatment.