Clay Carmichael has announced his candidacy for re-election to the Selma City Council, Ward 3.
“This campaign is grounded in his proven track record — built on his past service as a councilman and his longstanding commitment to our community,” his campaign announcement states. “He grew up and was educated in Ward 3 and moved back to the same neighborhood to raise his family.”
The announcement said Carmichael is choosing not to create campaign pages or take campaign money because “he believes that people will vote for him based on what he’s done.”
During his first term, Carmichael said he joined efforts to give city employees “living wages” and increased pay and positions for the Selma Police Department and Selma Fire Department. He said he worked to increase public safety budgets by more than 10%, and “worked with others to negotiate and implement the city-wide camera system and stayed true to public safety through increased funding and appointments for Municipal Court.”
His announcement states Carmichael has led the Public Works Committee and has worked on citywide litter control and has “been a party to more than 20 public works projects in Ward 3, continually advocates for existing sinkhole repairs and is working to map the storm sewer system.”
Carmichael said he is an advocate for safe streets and reclaiming storm gutters and alleys to the point of doing much of this work voluntarily. The city council has approved more than 300 houses to be demolished, and he said he is “a constant reminder to the administration about the legal way to proceed with nuisance abatement.”
“Without code enforcement, absent property owners rule, and existing property owners and businesses suffer, leaving a state of blight where Selma’s citizens ultimately lose,” Carmichael said.
Carmichael has served on the Economic Development Authority, Main Street Selma and Blackbelt Benefit Group. He currently serves on the Selma Redevelopment Authority and has served on committees that negotiated contracts for fiber optic internet throughout the city, the sale and redevelopment of historic structures, and a Revolving Loan Fund to renovate homes in Selma’s National Historic Districts, according to his announcement.
Carmichael said he has experience dealing with two natural disasters during this term, and he has received training in auditing, ethics and economic development from the Alabama League of Municipalities, as well as training on downtown development from Main Street.
“All of these accomplishments are a concerted effort,” the statement states. “Playing team sports teaches us that if we hold down our position, the team wins. This is what working together means. When everybody does their part, Selma wins.”
