MAYOR PERKINS SNUBS GOVERNOR RILEY
According to the August 8, 2006 edition of the STJ, Alabama Governor Bob Riley was in Selma on Tuesday, but not one person from the Selma City Government, including Mayor Perkins, was on hand to welcome the Governor of Alabama to the city. And we wonder why the Governor and officials in Montgomery appear to not come to the Black Belt very often! It is probably because we have people like Perkins in leadership positions as the Black Belt continues to decline in population and become even more economically depressed.
Or could politics have been the reason the mayor snubbed the Governor. After publicly backing three losing candidates in the recent Democratic Primary, Mayor Perkins was rewarded for his ineptness by being elected Chairman of the Dallas County Democratic Party. Thus, when a Republican Governor comes to Selma, Perkins is no where to be seen. With officials like Perkins not showing civility toward the Governor of Alabama, it is no wonder so little comes to Selma and Dallas County in the way of new industry.
Of course the Mayor could still be reeling from the bad publicity of federal and state law enforcement officials coming into Selma last week to clean up a drug mess that Perkins and his police chief, Jimmy Martin, have let openly exist for years. Rumors are rift that this scandal could reach to high levels of city government and the police department. Maybe we have not heard the last from the Federal Grand Jury in Mobile.
Nevertheless, common courtesy and protocol would suggest that any time a Governor comes to a city that the Mayor of that city would be on hand to welcome the Governor to the city. Obviously Mayor Perkins is short on both common courtesy and protocol, or perhaps he was talking to his lawyers about the recent drug raid!
