Dear Editor,
Kudos is extended to Aliceville Mayor Marva Gipson for her efforts to lead the city. Prior to being elected mayor, Marva Gipson served several terms on the city council. She is admirably suited to the position of mayor. Mayor Gipson and I share a common background. We both spent our childhood years in the Hood Hill, also known as the “Hill” and “Shack Town”, Community. She is a proud alumna of R. J. Kirksey High School, class of 1963, in Aliceville.
Aliceville has a mayor-council form of city government. Under this plan, the mayor takes the lead in carry on the city’s business. The mayor has the chief responsibility for the city’s government. The chief executive of city government is the mayor. I have observed from afar that Mayor Gipson is managing the city’s government efficiently and economically.
In addition, congratulations to Aliceville’s native Bob Ingram for being elected to the Pickens County Commission during the November 2018 election. I am confident that Commissioner Ingram will represent his constituents well.
A huge “thank you” is extended to Morris G. Hickman and Herbert L. Lavender for volunteering and being “public servants.” Morris Hickman, over the years, has provided excellent athletic photographs of Aliceville High School to the Pickens County Herald. Herbert Lavender serves as the Summerville-Kirksey Reunion Committee Chairman, and various capacities in the local community.
Although, Herbert L. Lavender and I attended football rivalry universities, Alabama A & M University and Alabama State University, respectively, I acknowledge and appreciate his outstanding community service. The message to him, “Alabama State will be victorious in the Magic City Classic on October 26, 2019, in Birmingham, Alabama.”
Morris Hickman and Herbert Lavender are my “Co-Citizen of the Year Award” recipients.
Gerald Shirley
(An Aliceville Native)
Retired School Administrator
Selma, Alabama