SRA welcomes new member, elects officers and approves budget

The Selma Redevelopment Authority (SRA) Board of Directors welcomed new board member Clay Carmichael at their Dec. 15 meeting.

Carmichael, who was appointed by the Selma City Council after the November SRA Board meeting, was born and raised in Selma, is the current City Councilman for Ward 3 and runs his family concrete business, Cosby-Carmichael Inc. He also co-founded the Blackbelt Benefit Group and recently served on the Main Street Alabama and Main Street Selma boards. He is married and has two children.

“I'm honored that my fellow councilmen and women elected me to serve alongside the other business-minded individuals on this board that work hard to improve downtown Selma and the community as a whole,” Carmichael said. “I hope we can foster good working relationships between the private sector and public sector to improve Selma's economy, primarily the revitalization of our historic downtown, where many of our largest private assets rest vacant.”

The board elected Martha Lockett as chairman, Jimmie Coleman as vice chairman and Sylvia Smith as treasurer to serve from January until December 2023. It assigned Community Advocate Susan Youngblood the responsibility of secretary to keep minutes.

The SRA Board also approved what Lockett called a “workable” and “barebones” balanced budget based on city of Selma funding of $25,000 and currently embargoed funds from the Education Foundation of America.

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The budget includes expenses for contract services of $20,000, rent of $3,000, operations of $1,500, insurance and liability of $2,000, meetings and travel of $2,000, membership in the chamber of commerce of $150 and entertainment of $1,500, for a total $30,150.

Danielle Wooten, director of planning and development for the city of Selma, attended the meeting as a guest. She asked the SRA to help facilitate quarterly meetings with downtown property owners to encourage them to repair buildings, to train property owners about code enforcement and to work with property owners on signs and displays.

Conflict of Interest forms were submitted to board members to be completed at home.

Upcoming meeting dates for 2023 include Jan. 19, Feb. 16, March 16, Apr. 20, May 18, June 15, July 20, Aug. 17, Sept. 21, Oct. 19, Nov. 16 and Dec. 21.

Attending the Dec. 15 meeting were SRA Board Members Carmichael, Coleman, Cicely Curtis, Mandy Henry, Lockett, Smith and Community Advocate Youngblood. Absent was Board Member Elizabeth Hollie.