On Monday, March 23, Mayor Johnny Moss, III highlighted several pillars of the city's progress during the State of the City Address held at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center. | The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information It’s been 100 days since Selma’s newest leader, Mayor Johnny Moss, III has been in office. On Monday, community members, city officials and employees of the City of Selma attended the state of the city address, awaiting remarks from Mayor Moss on the city’s progress. “This is not just a report,” Moss said. “This is a honest conversation about where we are, where we’ve been and where we are going as a city.” Moss said when he took office on Nov. 3 that him and team did not walk into a city that was not working but said it was a city that was working without structure. “Departments were working, but not always aligned,” Moss said. “Work was happening but not always tracked. Problems were being addressed, but not always resolved at the root and as we dug deeper, what became clear was this: good people were doing good work, but too often the work existed in silos. One department didn’t always know what the other was doing. Processes weren’t always documented and in many cases, success was depending on one person and not a system. “When knowledge lives in people instead of systems, you don’t have consistency. You have risk and we cannot build a future on risk.” Moss said the city operations had to be moved from “personality driven” to “system driven” and that it took a transition team that consisted of co-chairs and team members to make the city’s newest vision come to life. “These individuals gave their time, their expertise, and their honest perspective to help us understand where we are and because of their work, we are not guessing,” Moss said. “We are moving with clarity and that clarity led to action.” Moss said during his time so far in office that they have brought every department head together, not for any other meeting but to align their priorities. The four priorities Moss spoke about that he considers is crucial for the city are enhanced and accountable systems, visible improvements in the quality of life, the ability to strengthen public safety and trust and to continue the expansion of economic opportunity. Moss said with these four priorities in place, this is considered the first time that the city is moving in the same direction. The next pillar of Moss’s speech focused on the city’s systems and its finances. “Here’s the truth,” Moss said. “You cannot fix a city without fixing how it operates. When we took office, we knew that in order to move and settle forward, we had to build structure, build accountability and systems that work.” Moss said one of the most important steps that they are implementing right now is Open Gov. “This system will officially go live in October,” Moss said. “The work has already begun because implementing a system like Open Gov is not something you rush. It requires planning, training, data, organization and alignment across every department, and that’s exactly what we are doing now. We are preparing our departments, cleaning up our data, and building the internal structure needed so that when Open Gov goes live, it works.” Moss said when Open Gov is fully implemented, it will allow them to track revenue, expenditures in real time, monitor departmental budgets with greater accuracy and improve transparency for both leadership and the public while making more informed, data-driven decisions. “Because one of the biggest challenges cities face is not just revenue, its visibility and Open Gov changes that.” This system will work hand in hand with other changes we are making including strengthening internal financial processes, improving reporting standards and transitioning tax collections to the Alabama Department of Revenue. Because this is not just about one system. This is about building a complete financial infrastructure for the City of Selma. When Open Gov is fully implemented, we will have the ability to see what is coming into our city, what is being spent, and where adjustments need to be made and that means better decisions, better accountability and better results for our citizens.” Moss said that the new systems that they are implementing will allow the city to move from uncertainty to control. Moss also spoke about the city’s general fund and its budget. Currently, the city’s general fund is just under 21 million with approximately 10 million collected to date, according to Moss. “So that puts us at about 48 percent of our projected revenue, which means we are on pace,” Moss said. Our largest revenue drivers continue to be sales tax, business licenses and property taxes. But, here’s what we are focused on, not just maintaining revenue but growing it. Moss said one of the biggest structural changes that the city is making is transitioning to their department. “The state has stronger enforcement mechanisms, which means more accurate collections, more consistent reporting and less revenue falling through the cracks,” Moss said. “This is about making sure that Selma receives each dollar it is owed.” As the state of Address continued, Moss spoke to the public about several topics from the importance of businesses being licensed in the city of Selma to the focus of how the city plans to grow revenue in the right way. He also spoke about the importance of public safety. “Nothing matters more than the safety of our citizens,” Moss said. Since November, Moss said the fire department has seen real, measurable progress. He said the fire department has undergone a full operational restructure that has resulted in a 28 percent reduction in overtime, while still maintaining the coverage standards required to protect the city. “They have also hired six new personnel to strengthen their ability to respond and reduce the burden on existing staff and they have also taken the hard work of cleaning up the department’s finances, resolving over 40 outstanding purchase orders and debts, restoring accountability and credibility.” Moss said at the same time, the fire department has launched a new in service training program allowing firefighters to receive continued education while on duty, reducing costs and increasing readiness. Like the fire department, Moss also spoke on the Selma Police Department and his effort to work closely with the department to get them where they need to be. “This is an area where we all know there is still work to do and I’m not going to stand here and pretend otherwise, but I will say this, we have men and women in uniform who are showing up every day and doing a difficult job under difficult circumstances. They deserve to be supported. At the same time, we are focused on improving how we serve this community.” Moss said he is partnering with the Selma Police Department to strengthen staffing with new officers that are already added to the staff and will continue efforts to recruit and retain talent. “We are expanding community based strategies including neighborhood watch efforts and increasing engagement between police officers and residents. We are exploring new tools and technology like drone support for critical incidents to improve response and officer safety but more importantly, we are focused on building trust.” Moss said public safety is not just about enforcement but relationships, communication and ensuring that every citizen feels safe and heard. Moss also discussed the improvements of the city’s IT department and the various developments happening through the city’s parks and recreation department that he said would attract visitors and residents to fill up hotel rooms and restaurants around the city. He also spoke about the city’s public buildings and their functionality and how the public buildings department has made real progress by improving maintenance, responding faster to service requests and ensuring its facilities can support daily operations. He also highlighted the cemetery department, the Human Resources and Personnel department, the public works department and the planning and development department and its efforts in place to make Selma a better city. “Leadership is never a one person effort,”Moss said. "It takes a team and we are not where we want to be at but we are no longer where we are. We now have direction. We now have alignment and we are building the kind of system that will move this city forward.” For Mayor Moss's full state of the city address, visit the City of Selma’s Facebook page.

On Monday, The Selma Housing Authority Job Plus Program partnered with Complete 3 Tech Solutions and several neighboring businesses to kick off its 2nd annual community training bootcamp. | The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information On Monday, The Selma Housing Authority Jobs Plus Program partnered with a Birmingham-based computer support company called Complete 3 Tech Solutions to bring a free technology training to its residents, equipping them with the skills needed for today’s workforce. Through the C3TS program’s partnership, residents of the GWC community alongside the Felix Heights community could take advantage of the hands-on basic technology classes offered through a quick sign-up process held at the SHA’s Job Plus office at 414 Martin Luther King Street. The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information also attended the technology training to highlight and showcase the efforts of the SHA Job Plus Program and its partnership with C3TS. “Through our program, we offer three courses,” said C3TS Executive Director Chris White. “Technology 101: Computer Basics, Technology 102: Digital Skills for Work and Life and Technology 103: Workplace Technology and Career Readiness.” White said the classes can give residents who sign up an opportunity to learn more about technology and its benefits while ensuring that they have the foundational skills down pack. “[We want] to make residents feel good about working with a computer, laptop or a tablet,” White said. “Then from there, we build our customized tracks for you. So, if you want to learn how to utilize AI for certain things, we help you with that. If you want to go into computer programming, cyber security, graphic designing or whatever in the space within IT because it’s so broad, we can help you find out your interest level and we are able to customize a good service track for you so that you can get the certification that you need.” White said each course that the residents take will be set up for three weeks and that they will meet twice a week. “We will meet and have a morning class and afternoon class, and we will discuss materials for two hours in the morning or two hours in the afternoon,” White said. “Residents can choose either option and we will be in training for three weeks, then we will take a week off and come back for another three weeks and then we would have the week off again for the next one. These will be hands-on classes for the first area and after that we will set up the hybrid or remote classes that will be more specialized with what each individual resident is looking for.” White also said residents who are interested in the technology training program must be 18 years old or older. In addition to White’s technology program, businesses such as Wallace Community College Selma, CarePro Community Health and Education Services, and Rise and Recover: Substance Use Recovery Services including several others engaged with SHA residents, sharing information about their services and how they can benefit them in the long run. SHA intake coordinator Kewanda Vandiver also spoke to the residents as well. “I work along with the Jobs Plus Program, and we know that a part of their commitment to the community is to bring resources to the tenants of GWC and Felix heights and so one of the resources that I provide is being an intake coordinator with them,” Vandiver said. “When residents come to see the case manager, I also grab them, and I sit down with them and assess what’s going on in their life. I gather information from them and with that information, it gives me a snippet of if some things are going on in the background that we need to dig a little bit more deeper in.” Vandiver said if she senses areas of need when talking to the residents, she will provide them with self-care tips, ways to help them manage stages of grief including providing other ways of support any way she can through her business, Designed to Uplift. On Tuesday and Wednesday, The SHA Job Plus Program hosted presentation days for the participating businesses, allowing them to highlight their services to the SHA community. The sessions held also gave residents who attended the presentation days an opportunity to ask questions, receive in person guidance and have a possible brighter outlook on their future. Job Plus Director Sandra Russell said she is proud of how the partnership with Complete 3 Tech Solutions and the other participating businesses has turned out. “It has been awesome,” said Russell. “We have had a lot of residents come out to participate in the program and sign up. I think this partnership will help them down the road because our program helps break barriers that they may run into trying to gain employment.” Russell said if there are any residents who would like to still sign up for the technology program or learn more about the other businesses’ that were present at the presentation day to contact their Job Plus office at 334-874-6271, ext. 309.

This week, The City of Selma partnered with the Selma AmeriCorps Neighborhood Development Initiative Program to host its annual AmeriCorps Week. | The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information This week, The City of Selma partnered with the Selma AmeriCorps Neighborhood Development Initiative Program to host its annual AmeriCorps Week. The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information also participated in their week to showcase the members of AmeriCorps and their efforts to beautify the city of Selma. AmeriCorps Week is a nationwide celebration of national service that highlights the measurable impact of AmeriCorps members while they focus on strengthening communities through workforce development, hands on service and civic engagement, according to the Selma AmeriCorps Director Jasmine Robinson. On Monday, March 9, the Selma AmeriCorps Program started their week off with the theme “Member Monday” that focused on the fundamentals of community capacity building through its initial revitalization training held at city hall. The training consisted of members learning their role in neighborhood restoration and economic development while simultaneously learning how to utilize the proper tools to get the beautification experience started in the city of Selma. On Tuesday, March 10, the program held its second day of service through its theme called “Testimony Tuesday” where there was a resident- led revitalization day. The day consisted of the Selma AmeriCorps team partnering together with residents to beautify Broad Street, Washington Street including Riverfront Park by adding new and improved street gardens in Downtown Selma. On Wednesday, March 11, the members of the program specifically continued beautifying those streets and they added one more street to the beautification experience, which was the city’s historic Water Avenue. As the team gathered the mulch for each street and the flower baskets to improve the street gardens, the team honored their Wednesday theme called “Working Together Wednesday” by putting forth a collaborative effort to stay on task and work together. AmeriCorps member Tammi Holley said during the city beautification efforts Wednesday that she has been a part of the Selma AmeriCorps Program before, back in 2001, and has decided to come to back to assist the program through her job, mStreet Fiber Alabama, LLC. “We’re building a fiber network here that’s going to stretch across 13 counties and Dallas County is our first flagship area,” Holley said. “With us being a part of the community, this is one of the things that we are trying to do, and we will continue to do.” Holley said with mStreet Fiber Alabama, LLC, she is the digital equity manager, who would tell anyone interested in the Selma AmeriCorps Program that it is truly a service opportunity. “If you are looking for something to do or don’t know how to get involved into the community and want to volunteer and just do not know where to start,” Holley said. “AmeriCorps is a good opportunity for you to start. Then that way, you can get yourself acclimated with the area that you are in and be a servant for your people.” About 28 members from the Selma AmeriCorps team helped with the beautification project for the city of Selma. The City of Selma’s Planning and Development Community Engagement Coordinator Tasha Dangerfield said the efforts of the beautification projects should not just rely on the members alone. “We would love to have more community participation too,” Dangerfield said. “What I notice is that we always have a bunch of people saying what Selma needs and what can be done and like what we should do but just like today, the weather is decent. Yesterday, the weather was decent too and we had 28 members out here working hard to beautify Selma. So, I feel like the community too, should have enough pride and say, “you know, let me get out and help, even if it’s just two plants.” Dangerfield said it takes a team to make some differences happen in the city of Selma. AmeriCorps member Jayden Robinson said that the three core values the organization stands upon is to revitalize, recharge and restore. “That’s our theme for this week,” Dangerfield said. “What I have noticed with the members is that they work well in teams. So, teamwork is another component. They also can do critical thinking to figure out the task and what do we need to do to make sure we execute the job and get it finished. Overall, they have worked well together.” Dangerfield also said another skillset that was developed by the team was conflict resolution. “It’s like when one team member has an idea about something and another team member feels like their idea can work too, but at the end of the day, they finally come to one idea and a mutual agreement,” Dangerfield said. “So, that’s been good.” Dangerfield also said when the members can come together and critically work things out, she feels it gives them a sense of pride too. “When they get done and they ride down the street, they will be able to see and say, “That this is my work. This is my hand and that I took my personal time, got in and put my hands in the soil of Selma to make it look better,” Dangerfield said. “So, in a sense, too, it’s planting seeds of love while putting a little bit of themselves into this space. So with these projects that’s the same thing that I do. It’s planting seeds of hope, showing that this city is worthy and deserving of a better name. It stood for so much. But even with the civil rights and all of that, there’s so much more to Selma. It’s arts, its people, great culinary skills, history, all kinds of amazing people that come from this space and people that come into this space. I’m one of the implants and I’ve come here and it’s like I found my way. So, it’s a wonderful place and a unique gem.” Dangerfield and AmeriCorps member Jayden Robinson agreed that the city overall just needs a little tender loving care. To wrap up the Selma AmeriCorps week, members of the city, Mayor Johnny Moss, III and the members of the Selma AmeriCorps team attended a wellness and recharge day at the George P. Evans Reception Center and Safety Building on Thursday, March 12. The wellness day included several grounding and mindfulness sessions with Cheryl Pettaway Colvin to commemorate their Thursday theme catered to tension release. The day ended with recognition and acknowledgement of the Selma AmeriCorps members and their efforts contributed to the beautification of the city of Selma. The event also reminded every individual of the Selma AmeriCorps team that they can do all things in the world if they put their mind to it. For more information about the Selma AmeriCorps Program, contact Jasmine Robinson at 334-327-7074.