State of the City Address: Selma Mayor highlights the city’s progression in his first 100 days

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.