Selma: The Crossroads of Tradition and Innovation

Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] On this week’s episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast, I sit down with the Selma North Carolina mayor, Byron McAllister. We talk a little bit about. How he grew up in New York, how he moved to Johnston County for the perfect house in 2017, his first run for office for the Selma Town Council in 2019, and when he became mayor after being elected in 2021.

We talk a little bit about Eastfield development and the North State Food Hall and all the new retail shopping out there with the Hobby Lobby and the Marshalls. We also talk about all the different new and great Restaurants and shops in downtown Selma, and it’s not just antiques anymore, as well as his plan to continue polishing the town of Selma.

Listen in, I think you will find it fascinating.

Welcome to another episode of Best of Johnston County, brought to you by Breeden Law Office. Our host, Jonathan Breeden, an experienced family lawyer with a deep connection to the community, is ready to take you on a journey through the area that he has [00:01:00] called home for over 20 years. Whether it’s a deep dive into the love locals have for the county or unraveling the complexities of family law, Best of Johnston County presents an authentic slice of this unique community.

Jonathan Breeden: Hello and welcome to another edition of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden, and on today’s episode, we are honored to have the mayor of Selma, Byron McAllister here to talk to us about all things Selma.

You’ve heard me talk about Selma and the North state food hall. Adventure development, the downtown, all the good things that I believe are happening in Selma. And I thought it would be great to reach out to the mayor so he could come tell us more firsthand what is happening in Selma. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

But before we do that, I would like to invite you to like, follow, or subscribe to this podcast, wherever you see it, whether it be on Spotify, Apple. Apple iTunes or any of our social media channels, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok Twitter, that [00:02:00] kind of stuff, wherever you see The Best of Johnston County Podcast.

So you’ll be aware of future episodes of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. The Best of Johnston County Podcast comes out every single Monday. So be checking back. We’ve been doing it well over a year now. We’ve had a lot of great guests go back and listen to some of our previous guests. And we’ve got a lot of great guests coming up in the future.

Including the one you’re listening to now with the mayor of Selma. We have other elected officials coming and other business leaders. It’s going to be a lot of fun. And we’ve really enjoyed bringing this to you. If you do us a favor of giving us a five star review down at the bottom, that will help us change our visibility out there.

So more people be aware of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. And if you’ll share it in your Instagram stories and tag The Best of Johnston County Podcast, it’d be much appreciated. Welcome mayor. Hey, how are you? Good. Good. We’ve met a couple of times before. The first time I met you was at the, I guess the economic development passing or sort of ribbon cutting of the new be good foods coming to the adventure development, maybe two or three years ago,

Byron Mc Allister: do good foods, right.

Jonathan Breeden: So anyway, that was really neat at that time. I was on the economic [00:03:00] development. Committee of the county with Chris Johnson.

And so we’ve worked on all of those projects where people would get incentives. And that was a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed the two years I spent on that committee. And so we came to Selma and that was the first big building that went under contract in venture development. So anyway, so I’m glad you were willing to come out here and talk to us.

So if we’re getting all that, just tell the audience. Who you are, where you from, what you do. Yeah,

Byron Mc Allister: yeah, Byron McAllister, mayor of Selma, North Carolina. I am originally from New York City. Found my way down to North Carolina with my family when I was young. Spent some time in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Spent some time in Raleigh, ended up in Cary, North Carolina with my wife for 15 years, and then she found a house in Selma, North Carolina that she had to have. We moved with my then two children to Selma, North Carolina and then added two more after we got the house that she dreamed of. So after that got involved in the community.

We got to Selma [00:04:00] Elementary School. And realized they didn’t have any type of fully functioning parent organization. And we decided to form one with our oldest going to elementary school there. And ended up meeting a lot of people in the community. And the more people I met, I started getting this weird question about, Have you ever thought about running for town council?

No, not at all. But after about the 18th person asked me, And then the then police chief at the time, at a council meeting because I started attending these meetings to understand what was happening. Billy Thomas, then police chief, asked, Hey man, I think you’d be good for this community. Have you ever thought about running for county?

And you know, somebody like that, that has given their life to a community to that extent, I thought about it. I ran and was elected in 2019. Two years later, everybody said, you need to go ahead and run for mayor. Ran and was elected in 2021 and now we’re rolling. Yeah, I mean,

Jonathan Breeden: it’s crazy. I mean, you moved to Selma in [00:05:00] 2017, 2017, and then you’re elected to the council in 2019, most people don’t in two years because so involved in the community that the citizens elect them to the town council.

So, I mean, that’s, about the only person I’ve ever known that could show up in a community and get elected in two years. That’s kind of amazing.

Byron Mc Allister: It was well, from my perspective as a, Parent of a young family is foolish, but it’s been fantastic. Really again, I didn’t even realize that carry North Carolina had a town council when I was there.

Didn’t pay attention to that political spectrum whatsoever. But it has been an eye opening experience. It has been a rewarding experience. I’m never going to be a huge fan of politics itself, but I am a fan of the results, right?

Jonathan Breeden: Well, I mean, that’s cool. And I think you Do some financial planning as, as a part time and being the mayor of Selma is a lot.

Byron Mc Allister: I do have to make money outside of being the mayor of Selma, North Carolina. The mayor of Selma, North Carolina I think right now my salary is 6, 500 a year. So, you [00:06:00] know, that’s something that everybody has to understand about all of the mayors in Johnston County is right now, the amount of growth that’s coming in Johnston County.

It’s a full time job for every mayor, but they have other jobs or they’ve had other jobs that have sustained their living. Right. It’s a very different thing. So it really is when you see a mayor that is civil service.

Jonathan Breeden: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. So do you work for yourself or do you work for a company?

I do work for myself. Okay. What’s the name of that company?

Byron Mc Allister: It’s well, the actual LLC. Is it was listed under James McFallon, LLC, but it’s okay, LLC. Okay. But again, you know, I tell everybody it’s never about the individual when it comes to being a mayor. As a mayor, I am also taking on an office that has been around since the inception of the town of Selma. Right. So, you know, previously Mayor Cheryl Oliver she’s the mayor of Selma. It’s not about Cheryl Oliver. Right. It’s about the mayor of Selma, and I’m just taking on that mantle now.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. So when you ran for the [00:07:00] town council in 2019, what did you believe you needed to do?

What were you going to add? What were some of the issues you wanted to address? When I ran? Yes. I had no idea. You had no idea?

Byron Mc Allister: Yeah, no idea. What I saw as a person running for council was that there was a beautiful community that had the perfect geography. that something wasn’t going right. So I had no idea at the time on what I could have because I didn’t know enough about the actual nuts and bolts of the government to have an idea.

I knew that people said they wanted to see activity in downtown. They wanted to be able to go shopping in their community without having to drive to Goldsboro or Garner. And they wanted to get back to a place where people knew their neighbor and their neighbor cared about taking care of their community.

And that’s what I knew as far as council was concerned. Nuts and bolts of government. No idea.

Jonathan Breeden: No idea. So when you get on to the council, I know just from being living here [00:08:00] and following local government and government, you come into a town that is sort of hemorrhaging money. It’s spending more money than it’s bringing in.

It’s dipping into its fund balance to pay its bills. How quickly did you figure that out? I mean, probably in the first budget meeting you went to, or you could have read the newspaper. In fact, before that, in fact,

Byron Mc Allister: when I was councilman elect is when I was really deep into the historical books. And I figured that out immediately that we had a significant financial problem.

And there was almost a misunderstanding of the role of government in the community. Absolutely. So immediately we’re, we figure out we’re hemorrhaging money and that we’re on a path at that point in time to continue hemorrhaging money. Not unless we change direction.

Jonathan Breeden: So what did y’all do? I mean, you were on the council for two years, then you become mayor.

What did you and the council do to change that direction? Because now you’re saving money every year. and just four or five, six years ago, you were. You’re losing a million, two million a year going into your savings just to [00:09:00] pay the bills, which is not sustainable.

Byron Mc Allister: So y’all clearly made some big changes.

We did. And you know, I think on average it was probably around 400, 000 or so a year that we were really dipping in that we had a couple of years where it was a huge number, but on average around 400, 000 or so the first thing was stop spending money on things we can’t sustain. So a pool was something that was a big hot button topic at the time we had decided to renovate an old pool in the community.

And it would cost us about 65, 000 for a summer to run that pool. We had memberships come in for the first year of revenue for 10, 000. So that’s a 55, 000 loss on a pool. With that we were having conversations about renovating the old believe is the old BB and T building, very old BB and T building, old bank building at the corner of Rayford street and Anderson street in Selma, North Carolina.

And my personal view is there’s no way we can do that. We don’t have the money to [00:10:00] renovate a building like that. We need to find a private entity who’s interested in doing something fantastic with that building. And that’s what we did. Little things like that, understanding that government should not necessarily be a developer, but government should be a foundation for the developer was an important cultural change that was needed in Selma.

Jonathan Breeden: With no doubt about that. And then, I mean, I guess it didn’t help. It didn’t hurt that adventure development and all of the development with the old Old North State Food Hall and that part of Selma on that exit 97 over on the other side of 95 started to build up, which probably added to your tax base a little bit as well.

Byron Mc Allister: Well, initially, no, because again that whole buildup of that development just happened a few months ago. So initially the whole adventure development Eastfield project had been spinning its wheels. Partly because government did not understand that we need to put the foundational things in place first so that a developer can come and build [00:11:00] on top of it.

So our biggest conversations were getting our infrastructure in line to support an Eastfield and adventure development. They couldn’t do anything unless the infrastructure is in place. To get going to build. So what did y’all, what did the town do to help with that infrastructure? So first of all, it wasn’t what the town did.

It was what the state of North Carolina did. Representative Strickland, Senator Saray, Representative White, Representative Penny. They all came together and said or we asked them to help us get our infrastructure in line to support that project. Because one of the biggest issues on getting that project going was, where’s your water and sewer right?

Jonathan Breeden: It’s always water and sewer always, always water and sewer.

Byron Mc Allister: And, and we did not have the money quite frankly, and we didn’t have the wherewithal. Also, to figure out what needed to be done to support the start and growth of that development. So, you know, a mayor has to go with his hat in his hand and go to the legislature and say, Hey, we got a problem.[00:12:00]

Can you help us?

Jonathan Breeden: Right. And the legislature did. And I think you ended up moving one of the sewage pumps as well that was going to help.

Byron Mc Allister: We will be moving or will be moving that. A sewage pump that’s on the other side of the community, which will help all of Selma. Right. But we ended up getting money to build a significant water loop to go around Eastfield, significant sewer infrastructure to go into Eastfield to connect to Selma’s existing infrastructure and increase our water capacity.

Significantly to support the new development and make sure the old development didn’t lose water pressure while the new came.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, well, that’s, that’s great. That’s great. And so currently the old North state food hall is now open. It is in what was J R’s and it’s really good. And, Mr. Outrageous, I just can’t. Not eat enough, Mr. Outrageous. So if you get a chance with that food truck or go to Ordinary Foods, those are the best burgers I’ve ever eaten in my life. I mean, it’s just unbelievable. There’s a lot of great, and they’re [00:13:00] always changing there at the food hall. Some vendors come, some people go, but that’s there.

And then I guess now they finally opened up some of the retail on the other side. Hobby Lobby is open now. There’s

Byron Mc Allister: a sports store. So let’s see. Hobby Lobby, Academy Sports, Ulta, Five Below, Old Navy, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls. Ooh, am I missing one? If I am missing one, folks, please don’t shoot me. I’ll, I’ll make sure we get the list out proper later, but yes, a full shopping center with more coming over this next year and beyond.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah. I mean, and that, that’s awesome. And all of those stores have opened in the last six months, I believe.

Byron Mc Allister: Yeah. They all opened around October, November.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah. and I’ve been over there and it’s, really neat. And one of the things you and I were talking about off camera is now it is a lot closer and easier to access for a lot of Johnstonians than going to White Oak, which is I 40 at exit 306, Benson, it’s quicker to get to Selma now than it is to get to White Oak. So in our [00:14:00] conversations with developers who were interested in Selma and saying, Hey, are we going to bring this shopping center to Selma was, We’re not a town of 7, 000 anymore. We’re a region of 40, 000 plus. So when you have your Benson, your four oaks.

Your micro, your Kenley, Princeton, Pine Level, Wilson’s Mills, and a large portion of Clayton that now can come this way instead of going the other way toward Garner. You have changed the conversation completely. You are keeping tax dollars in Johnston County because those Pretty essential shops now are available in Johnston County.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, and the other important part is a portion of your sales tax. The County gets in North Carolina. I don’t know if everybody realizes that, but usually it’s about two cents on the sales tax the County gets. So if you can buy, and I’ve, I’ve promoted this as part of the reason I started this podcast was sort of buy local.

You don’t have to go to Wake County for hardly anything. And now you have these sort of [00:15:00] core top. 50 retail stores, right? These are national chains. I mean, you know, I mean, that are everywhere and that are providing good prices and, stuff people need and you’re right. And, when I need those, I often would go to whiteout, but, you know, now you know, we can go to them at Selma, same store, same stuff.

You know, just now going to be in Selma right next to I 95, which is great. The other part of a vision of other than this, these shopping centers is. The industrial part they built one building or two. Now they’ve built one building. One building is built and it is. I mean, that was the building I worked on when I was on the economic development committee.

We were there for the ribbon cutting when I met you. And is it a hundred thousand square feet? I think it’s a hundred thousand square feet. Might be larger, but right. Yeah. Right. and at the time the county offered incentives to adventure development to allow them to get that building.

Bill in the county said, okay, if we don’t have a buyer or a leaser by the time it’s built, the county will help make that lease payment for a couple of [00:16:00] years. That allowed them to get the funding to build the building. I was convinced when I I thought this was a good idea that somebody would take that building before it got finished.

That’s exactly what happened in that. It was be good, do good, do good foods. Right. But now, and they process leftover grocery foods. And I’m not sure if they still do that. Cause they filed for bank. Right. And now they have sort of. Not right. They’re not gonna take it, but somebody else

Byron Mc Allister: is so VT foods is now leased to that building And I believe they’re gonna start bringing in equipment probably this month.

They hope to be operational by July So VT foods is a a rice company that is based in the UK And they have several products in several Walmarts in the United States right now to supply the demand for the United States. They need now a local production hub, which will be in Selma, North Carolina. And they’re gonna make rice, rice, rice [00:17:00] products, little portable rice products, things like that.

So you throw it in the microwave. You open it up rice.

Byron Mc Allister: Oh, I love that. Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: that’s how I eat rice. Cause I don’t really know how to cook it in the pot.

Byron Mc Allister: The Walmart the Walmart here in Clayton, North Carolina has a VT food products in rice. Okay.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, that’s awesome. And then there’s a plan to build several more industrial buildings beside that one is another one under construction now.

Byron Mc Allister: So crystal windows is going to build their own manufacturing facility doors and windows. Their company, I believe out of New York, they’re going to build an apartment. Approximate, when it’s fully built out, 500, 000 square foot. Industrial building.

Jonathan Breeden: That’s a big building.

Byron Mc Allister: That is a big building. And I believe adventure development is working on what they call building 200, which will be approximately 150, 000 square feet as well.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, and that’s awesome. And for people that don’t realize the railroad goes through there. And part of one of the things that the legislature work with the railroad is that they’re going to build a spur.

Byron Mc Allister: Yeah. Senator Benton Sawrey was huge on getting money to build the [00:18:00] spur 800, 000. To build a spur into that industrial park so that industrial offerings can put their stuff right on the rail and send it wherever

Jonathan Breeden: and that is so huge to be able to put it right on the rail and then that railroad goes all the way to New York and Maine and to Florida and everywhere else

Byron Mc Allister: California

Jonathan Breeden: and so that’s right I mean so that’s another huge get for I mean, you already had the railroad there, but to get the spur so that these companies could just put it right on the train is massive.

for Selma and for Johnston County. I mean, cause what’s good for Selma is good for Johnston County, which is good for everybody. And, that’s what we want to do.

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Jonathan Breeden: Let’s talk a little bit about. downtown. It is being [00:19:00] revitalized. I talk about it on all kinds of episodes of this. It’s tell the business, tell the listeners, some of those businesses that are there.

I know there’s a guy that does popcorn and it’s phenomenal. What are some of the businesses that are now down there? Cause you, Selma’s known for antiques, but it’s got more than antiques now.

Byron Mc Allister: Yeah, absolutely. And in fact, as a town, we are kind of veering away from that antique piece and saying, Hey, we’ve got unique shops that.

You can find anything you might want in downtown Selma. So let’s see the list of shops there. You’ve got the Southern Bostonian, which has the Hahvahd Yahd Cafe inside of it. You’ve got coffee on Raiford You’ve got the general store is there. You’ve got old fashioned ice cream. Ooh, you’ve got a new tattoo shop down there now.

You’ve got, I believe it’s called Waggerz Dog Grooming. We’ve got Hank E Panky Soap and Farm Company. The Quantum Toad, which is a fantastic swanky bar in downtown Selma. The Alley Bar, which is kind of more of your awesome dive bar in downtown Selma. You’ve got The Vault by Hatchet Brewing, which is a [00:20:00] brewery that is in downtown Selma.

Of course, HTR has its home office in downtown Selma, or one of its home offices in downtown Selma as well. DejaVu thrift is in downtown Selma on beat drum ministry in downtown. Some of course, the staple and anchor that has been there forever. Selma jewelry in downtown Selma. The list goes on and on.

In fact, now that I think about it, I was like, what am I missing? Pixie dust Lunch Box bakery is in downtown Selma. Just. Infinite numbers of things in downtown somewhere right now and more coming as we speak.

Jonathan Breeden: it’s awesome. It’s awesome. I mean, to see all those businesses and, and there’s still a couple of antiques places there too.

So yeah, they’re not gone.

Byron Mc Allister: Trackside Antiques is still there. Treasury Antiques is still there. You’ve got barn shelter antiques is there as well. And I think there’s an antique shop that wasn’t Benson that will be moving into Selma over the next few months. From what I’ve heard that antique piece is there as well.

And again, to have all of that in one space means that you can find something for everybody. [00:21:00] Hidden temple toys is in downtown Selma. So while you’re being able to go into our social district, have a drink, do some antique and thrift shopping, your kids can run by the. Toy store and into your pocket as well.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, and if you walk about a block off of main street You can go to the revamped train station They just spent I don’t know how much money and I don’t know if the town did it But somebody spent a bunch of money and that train station Looks like something straight out of the 1900s. It is authentic.

You would think you have gone back in time and I’m a huge trainee kind of guy, if that’s a word. and they really done a great job. Yeah. I mean, you know, they really have.

Byron Mc Allister: Representative Strickland has been huge on making sure that we could maintain that train station. We just redid a copper roof on that train station with help from the state as well.

That has been help that came, that started probably about four or five years ago. And we’re just now getting. To completing that project, the town has thrown in a significant amount of investment into cleaning up that front [00:22:00] lot, cleaning up the area around it to give it that old school. This is a beautiful old classic train station feel.

And then with that, we’ve had just the community come together, you know, the civic engagement related to helping clean up some of these areas. You’ve got groups like your Activate Selma, who’s coming to Selma. You’ve got the Lions Club in Selma. You’ve got the American Legion in Selma. You’ve got the local schools now all coming together to make something fantastic happen in Selma, North Carolina.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah, well, and if you, in case you don’t know. The train does stop in Selma and you can get on that train and go wherever you want to go. The Amtrak, I don’t know how many days, days a week it stops there, but it does stop there and you can get on it.

Byron Mc Allister: I believe every day it stops there and you can get on it and you can take a quick trip down to Raleigh for not too much dollars at all.

Get right back on the train and head back to Selma. And it is. Something that again, geographically, people don’t realize how amazing that train line is [00:23:00] coming, not only east to west, but north to south at Selma, North Carolina. That is a rare happening for a train station. And that happens here in Johnston County in Selma, North Carolina.

Jonathan Breeden: well, I have not done that. My wife and kids have taken the train from Selma to Raleigh. As it was part of a school trip thing, or my wife and One of my kids did that a few years ago and had the best time. And I ended up having to be in Raleigh and court that day anyway. So I met him at what was the fairly new train station then there in Raleigh union station.

And, they had so much fun riding that train. And you know, that’s an experience. I remember riding a train as a kid and stuff like that. And I think it’s just right. I think people realize that you can literally get on the train and sell it stops there. And It goes all over the place.

So that’s, that’s also good. So one of the other things I know you’ve worked on is you’ve increased the policing and you’ve tried to be big on customer service. I mean, that seems to be your thing, just [00:24:00] making the town more customer friendly. Talk a little bit about that.

Byron Mc Allister: So first of all, the police piece There was a point in time when we first moved into Selma where I came across four police officers in one vehicle because all the other vehicles were broken down.

That is a crime in itself to have happen in a community. So the very first thing we ventured into was making sure that they were equipped. Take home cars So that means every patrol officer has a car that they can take to their house and then come straight into town and go to work instead of having to stop by the station and figure out what car they’re driving.

Make sure that they have every single piece of weaponry for safety that they might possibly need. And then beyond that, more police officers. So I believe my first understanding of the police department, we had 16 officers. on duty, which is not enough for the amount of things going on in the town of Selma.

I believe we’re around 22 right now on staff and we are going to make a significant push in this coming [00:25:00] fiscal year to get that closer to 30 officers on staff with the town of Selma. Customer service piece, tears for me. Safety is always number one. Safety is first. I tell everybody if bullets are flying over your head, nothing else matters.

After that, if your house is on fire, nothing else matters. And then after that, if you can’t flush your toilet, nothing else matters. But that’s how the tiers of what you need in service from your community go. And so I want to make sure that those pieces of, quite frankly, what are customer service pieces are in place.

And then beyond that, you go into town hall and you’ve got a friendly face who will help you through paying your bill. You’ve got a friendly face that will help you understand garbage collection. You’ve got a friendly face that is there to actually collect your garbage on time, when you expect it, every single week.

Those very basic things, if we can’t handle that as government, we certainly can’t handle the big things like [00:26:00] providing infrastructure for our crystal windows. Absolutely.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. Well, and I mean, I know that has been one of the things you’ve been working on. I’ve heard people talk about how much better it has gotten under your administration.

And how much more effective just going to town hall is and how nice they are. Where are y’all at right now for town manager? I know you had one. He was there for eight weeks. Wasn’t the right fit.

Byron Mc Allister: Have you gotten a new one? No, we have not gotten one yet. Philip McDaniel, our fire chief, has been our interim town manager probably for, we might be going on a year and a half now.

Okay. And he has been absolutely amazing. I tell everybody something has been unlocked in Philip McDaniel to where he is just handling that business like it’s nobody’s business. And he’s one of those guys where he’s not actually interested in being town manager, but he wants to make sure that the best is happening for Selma, North Carolina.

We have gone through an interview process over the last. Probably two months or so for town manager. We might have some announcements over the next month or so about filling [00:27:00] that position. But quite frankly, we have been in no rush because again, we found if you are in a rush, you don’t get what you need.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, he is, Phillip Daniels is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. And he’s, he’s won about every award there is to win. And Yeah, you’re right. I did not know he was the interim town manager. So he’s been doing it for a

Byron Mc Allister: while, and that’s why the ship has been so smooth is that you’ve got somebody that understands the system has been there for a long time.

Practically built our current fire department and people don’t fully seem to grasp that concept that this man came in With a volunteer fire department and turned into a municipal fire department. He has just been running Quite frankly staffed seamlessly in the background and that has made it easier So the government can turn its attention to being government.

Jonathan Breeden: So we’re recording this in early january 2025 probably come out February, March of 2025. By the time we get it edited and get it out there. what do [00:28:00] you want to see Selma do in the next 12 to 18 months? what are some of the things people can say? They’re going to say, yeah, adventure development is going to continue with what they’re doing.

What other things are people going to be able to see in the next 12 to 18 months in Selma?

Byron Mc Allister: We are on our polish phase right now. And by polish, I mean that every corner gets pristine. So quite frankly, with our sanitation operations, we have been going at that now for a little over a year and a half coming on two years.

And I want that operation to become a clockwork machine. that People know that my garbage truck is going to come past my house in the next 15 minutes, and that my curb is going to be cleaned up when they’re done. With that, the polish of a police department that response time is faster and faster. We do have, I’ll tell you, the best fire department in Johnston County.

I’ll put our fire department up against it. any department in this country. Their response time is absurd. [00:29:00] I want to see our finance piece become more pristine so that every single question that a customer has can be answered immediately at the window. It doesn’t even have to be a, Hey, I don’t know right now, but I’ll get back to you.

Polish in every piece of customer service operation that we have. That’s what you’re going to see in the next 12 to 18 months in the town. Some of beyond that, you’re going to see a cleanup of some of these dilapidated houses, some of the things where code enforcement hasn’t been done in decades. Code enforcement is going to be wide open over the next 12 to 18 months for that polish piece in Selma, North Carolina.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s awesome. That’s awesome. What are y’all gonna do about the on street parking? I know there’s some debate whether you’re going to ban it. We allow it.

Byron Mc Allister: We haven’t given it much thought to be honest with you. Okay. It’s not a problem right now. Now, do we have a plan in place if it becomes a problem?

Absolutely. Okay. I mean, two hour parking is a standard thing in every single town, but until we actually have a problem that needs to be addressed, we don’t need to cause a problem if there’s no problem there. So the idea is [00:30:00] to be proactive in thinking is have a plan in place. If this happens, if it’s not happening, don’t force anything because there’s no need to work on a problem that doesn’t exist.

Jonathan Breeden: All right. The last question we ask everybody on this podcast, what do you love most about Johnston County?

Byron Mc Allister: Selma, North Carolina, the crossroads of tradition and innovation, the best town on earth. I love Selma. I love the fact that in Johnston County as a mayor, I have great communication with our County commissioners.

Great communication with our legislative representatives, not only on the state level, but the federal level. We have something in Johnston County that I believe not many areas have in this country. We have a tight knit group who wants to see success for the county, not just their little corner, but then Tire County as a whole.

I might love Selma, North Carolina the most, but I’m not going to do anything that’s going to destroy Smithfield, North Carolina either because Smithfield’s my buddy. Right. We might [00:31:00] go up against each other in a little fight here and there every once in a while. And I tell Andy all the time, I said, all those people are going to be coming to Eastfield and then they might get bored after they get everything they need and stop by Smithfield as well.

But we want that rising tide to go for all the ships.

Jonathan Breeden: No doubt about it. No doubt about it. Well, we’d like to thank the mayor of Irving Calister of Selma for coming on to today’s podcast. If you like what he had to say, give us some comments down below. We’ll make sure he gets some about it. If people want to get in touch with you, how do they reach out to you?

Shoot, you can have my cell phone number as well.

Byron Mc Allister: Hey, watch this, 919 622 5100. You can shoot me a text, you can give me a call. If you say something silly, I’ll just block you. No big deal. B. McAllister, B M C A L L I S T E R at Selma NC. com. You can call Town Hall and get in touch with one of our administrative assistants, customer service, and they’ll reach out to me just the same.

I am an easy guy to get in touch with. I’ve had a moment where you can’t get in touch with me. [00:32:00] You weren’t trying.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s great. That’s great. So yeah. So if you have any questions about what’s going on with Selma or want to know any more about investing in Selma or anything like that, reach out to the mayor.

Also give us a five star review down below like and follow this podcast wherever you see it. So that more people will be aware of The Best of Johnston County Podcast until next week. I’m your host, Jonathan.

That’s the end of today’s episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.

If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.