Tuesday October 12, 7PM town office - joint Paris Planning Board and Selectboard meeting. Open to the public. There has been a citizen request to look at the matter of zoning for the town of Paris. The smaller town of Oxford has had zoning in place for a period of time, as do a number of other Maine towns.
If the consideration of a theoretical resort casino is to be put before the voters, certainly a practical nuts and bolts matter like zoning can be discussed, researched, and eventually put before the voters, as well.
Wednesday October 13, 7pm. Location? Call town office to see if public is welcome. Invested parties meet, once again, to work to a common understanding on use of public roadways by ATVs, all information gathered to be fed into consideration during the discussion by Paris selectboard 10-25-10 .
Wednesday October 20, executive session for Paris Selectboard. Not open to the public except for the 2 minutes of formal opening protocol. The meeting will be used to plan - again, more, for the eventual 6 month evaluation meeting (now in month 9) for the town manager. See transcript excerpt of 9-27 discussion below.
Monday October 25, 7pm, location uncertain - regular Paris Selectboard meeting. Public welcome. Includes discussion of ATV use of public roadways, hopefully using input from recent meetings with invested parties.
Wednesday November 17, location unknown, and most certainly not open to the public; the delivering of the actual evaluation to the town manager... month 10 and then some.
This 6 month evaluation that, back in August, seemed of serious import and necessary, despite such action for Paris town managers having little precedent.... and at least one selectman being in a very critical posture....
The following section of transcript is from the 9-27-10 selectboard meeting. [editor's note: the topic in the following transcript came under "selectmen concerns" about 9 pm in the meeting, item #17. Evidently the import of comments made at this point in the meeting are inversely proportional to the import of their value to the town's operating concerns.... Otherwise, comments of such import would... surely...be put on the agenda outright, along with ground water analysis and liquor licenses and warrant items.]
Selectman Kurtz: "Are we going to put this off until January? Make it a January review?"
Manager Tarr: "We're nearing a point there this makes sense, but I wouldn't stop at this point, because we're all learning some things about the process...either call this the annual...it may take 2 meetings before, you know, I do my own self assessment, and then my goals and objectives [editor's note: assigned several weeks ago...]as I see them; and then another meeting for you people to say this is what you agree with and what you don't agree with, or if...what you would like."
I think that type of process meritorious. It takes time, however...and...you know.... Anniversary date is January 4. So, if you did this, and made a decision in November, or early December, call it the 'Annual'."
Selectman Herrick: "Sure."
Sel. Kurtz: "With this crowd (chuckle, chuckle)...it does take time."
Manager T: "Well it certainly is different...but you people have gone through a huge transition this year, and you're working well as a group.... Yeah, it does take time."
WAIT A MINUTE: who is running this town? This new...town manager is the one to tell the selectboard they are doing a good job? To tell them he will "do... [his] goals and objectives" - for our future? As opposed to him fitting his goals and objectives into ways of meeting the needs of the town as set forth by the selectmen?
Of course a town manager hired into such a situation would want a mid-term evaluation - or any sort of evaluation - to be held later rather than sooner. Or not at all, if possible. Or, at the very least, on his terms.
Who should be leading whom?
