A few excerpts of dialogue here from the first 12 minutes or so of the special meeting of Paris selectboard, Wednesday evening, 9-08-10.
Actually, from a few minutes before the meeting started, because a citizen in the audience asked if she could ask a question right then, knowing there were no citizen comments after the meeting started. Permission was granted.
[editor's note: The following are excerpts, taken, in order, from an audio tape recording of the public session of the meeting. The entire transcript of that recording is not included here in the defense of public sanity.]
Citizen: "What is this meeting tonight about?" [editor's note: as published in the agenda last TPR posting, the agenda item read; "Enter into Executive Session - ...to discuss the process on how to do an evaluation of the Town Manager." ]
Chairman Glover: "...discuss the process, or how to do an evaluation, or discuss the evaluation, or...do an evaluation...."
Selectwoman Smart: "I thought we were, tonight, going to talk about the process we were going to use -because, remember, that's why we... "
Chair. G.: "Well, that's what...the agenda item says..."
Chair G.: ..."But I agree if we're just talking about a process, it does not require an executive session."
Citizen: "...and how does that... "
Chair G.:"But, I don't believe that this group is going to not say something on a personal basis to... hmm...the person that we're evaluating. And if we're discussing the person to be evaluated, then that needs to be in executive session."
Sel. S.: "Well, I thought we were not discussing the person; we were only setting up a process designing, with..."
Chair G: "..I had a process set up the first meeting this was brought up. But, then, we kept getting questions, after questions, after questions, and I finally said, well, let's have a special meeting to decide how we're going to do it."
Selectman Kurtz: "I made the offhand comment a few meetings ago that maybe...if we had a meeting among ourselves before we met with the town manager...instead of walking into the room for the very first time with the other select people, not having said anything to them, not having any idea how [names each board member] feels; I just come and just talk and everybody says what he or she feels and we get a hodgepodge."
Chair G.: [talking over Sel. Kurtz's comments above, who then talked over Ch. Glover, both then talking simultaneously] " That's why the forms were provided to everybody - because it's a formal process of just sending out a questionnaire. It's not as unstructured as you intimate."
Citizen: "But you don't seem to be on the same page as to what's going to happen this evening."
Discussion continued. Meeting still not started. Confusion was mounting ....
Citizen: "Ted...are you looking to change the evaluation form as it sits?"
Sel. K.: "No."
Citizen: "Then it isn't about the process - it's about discussing."
Sel K: "My reason is to have a discussion in executive session about the town manager. I could care less about the form."
The meeting did officially open, with pledge of allegiance and all, and then the discussion continued, because, after all there was... an agenda...
Process? No process? evaluation? comments that need to NOT be shared with the public? Well, an executive session had been warranted, as two board members pointed out, and somehow there had to be a way to get this thing off the ground.
Sel. K.:"I move we enter executive session pursuant to Title 1 MRSA § 405 (6)(A) to discuss to - all ramifications of the evaluation of the town manager."
Motion was seconded; discussion; Selectman Herrick and Selectwoman Smart tried to get information straight and Chairman Glover tried to make it clear he just didn't know what was going to happen.
Chair. G.: "I honestly can't tell you what the agenda really is going to turn out to be - that's half the problem."
Time was passing. Chairman Glover finally referenced the motion - twice:
"...we do have a motion and a second on the floor to enter executive session."
Then,
"I will call for the vote: All those in favor of going into executive session pursuant to Title 1 MRSA § 405(6)(A), raise your right hand."
No restating Selectman Kurtz's actual motion; no restatement of the original agenda item that started this whole business. Just plain old "executive session."
The vote to go into executive session passed 4-1, selectwoman Smart voting against.
So they met. And they discussed the proverbial "Whatever.. "
Three questions:
*What happened here?
*Why didn't the agenda simply state that the topic to justify going into an executive session was to prepare for the evaluation of the town manager?
and.....
*What's up with the town manager anyway?
