Small group tonight on this December 13th. 5 sturdy selectboard members; 1 town manager; 1 faithful cameraman; 1 diligent reporter, 5 concerned citizens.
Questions got asked; warrants paid; new procedures were needed and tried; there was advocating and critiquing and explaining and .... All the things that should be in the public viewing of our municipal machine's functioning.
But, just as in the functioning of a car engine there are wrenches and oil filters and nuts and bolts, etc., critical to the functioning of that engine but not necessarily in the spotlight as separate items, so, too, there are things in the process of the municipal machine that are not right out in front - pieces that make the things in front go, but aren't all lined up for inspection right that minute. Pieces that can be over-looked if one doesn't look closer.
There are outward signs that can indicate areas that may be of real concern behind the scenes.
Whose interest is being served? A relevant question, for starters....
Consider the following:
The structure of our town, any municipality, is defined by its bylaws, excerpts of Paris' here. Generally speaking, the rules are set up to establish rules of conduct and procedures to make the town work. Legislative body elects Board who hires Manager who appoints Department Heads w/ board approval.
Meetings, even how the agendas are to be prepared are set out. Bylaws...Paris, Section 4 - Meetings: ...."Any Selectman or other citizen may request an item for inclusion in the agenda for a regular meeting by notifying the Town Manager by noon on the Thursday before the scheduled meeting. An agenda for each meeting shall be prepared by the Town Manager."
Tonight Selectman Kurtz faced Manager Tarr with refusing to put his requested item on the agenda; Manager Tarr responded that he didn't refuse, he wanted the item worded differently; Selectman Kurtz maintained it was his right to have the item worded as he asked; the item, however, did not appear on the agenda. [editor's note: the item, it appears, was to have an executive session to discuss the manager's duties, evidently in the context of how information is to be presented to the board.]
The discussion continued, and the items ended up being discussed anyway -in public; it did not to appear to be any information that had not been discussed before in public. In fact Mgr. Tarr said "we" had dealt with the information before....
It was not clear what his refusal to place the item on the agenda was actually intended to accomplish - he said he felt his rights were being violated. He said he told "Chairman Ray" that he was not going to put it on the agenda.
Was this a discussion on even ground? Or, was someone not doing what he was supposed to do?Was someone using Chairman Ray as the fall guy for not following procedure? (Chairman Ray did not take any part in the discussion.)
Selectboard member Smart pointed out that 3 board members on the previous board, no longer on the board, made a very bad habit of changing rules to suit their own purpose; and that Mgr. Tarr's choice to just decide to leave the item off the agenda caused her serious concern.
TPR, too.
The next critically serious concern:
We have lost the Treasurer for the Town of Paris, Sharon Gendreau. Manager Tarr said that she resigned for personal reasons.
This is unfortunate for Paris for so many reasons - not the least of them her level of understanding of what goes on in the financial operation of our town. The multiple aspects of the position are staggering.
A citizen asked Mgr. Tarr what steps were being taken to fill her position? Mgr. Tarr said they would advertise. To the question of who would handle the interim position before permanent hiring? "Me," he answered.
Are there selectboard members prepared to give the right kind of oversight for this kind of situation?
In past postings TPR has referred to Manager Tarr's wearing of more than one hat [Dec.5 Continuing to track]; in this two hat business, extra work has to get sloughed off somewhere....who picks up the slack?
Who is asking questions about how things are managed in our town office? Our whole community is routed through there; who is making sure things are going on in the best way possible? Is anyone paying attention?
Ms. Gendreau is a dedicated, responsible, competent professional. She goes the extra mile and does that one extra thing. She has played a major role in keeping us stable in this transition between awful and maybe. Now here we are...just one more thing... in an already heavily loaded work place.
Caution....
