7PM Thursday; 25 degrees, windy and dark. People filled up the gymnasium - and part of the cafeteria - of Paris Elementary School; lined up in the lobby; got stuck in traffic in the parking lot; even lined up on High Street waiting to get into the parking lot. 2 Paris Firemen kept count at the door to monitor the occupancy load; 2 Paris Policemen facilitated crowd and traffic control. 2 ballot clerks, two Paris Town office clerks - one of them the interim Town Clerk - managed the crowd's registration and voting, and more.
487 Paris Voters, a record in the history of the Town of Paris for a town meeting, turned out for this hastily-called town meeting that was meant to win some sizeable financial items and turn around a recall ordinance enacted in Nov. 2009, 1556-537, that a certain few felt was unfavorable to their private agendas.
The actual warrant is listed on the previous posting on this site. For purposes of space, the following will be a brief summary:
Article 1: Electing a moderator, essentially a formality requiring 3-5 written ballots, saw 161 written ballots cast.
Article 2: Authorizing the borrowing of money to conduct a town wide tax revaluation: voted by standing, defeated.
Article 3: Approving transfer of money for a water tank replacement Paris Fire Dept: voted by show of hands, approved.
Article 4: Approving transfer of money from Subdivision Recreation Special Revenue Fund for use repairing a snowmobile bridge: voted first by show of hands, then by standing, defeated 186 to 140.
Article 5: Replacement recall ordinance: voted by standing, defeated (unofficial count) 437 to 50.
More business was transacted tonight for the Town of Paris in 2 hours than in 6 months of selectmen's meetings. There's a message here...
