Paris board behaving badly ... again

Once again, the Paris Board of Selectmen has struck. This time it has outdone itself.

Twenty-four hours after Paris Town Manager Phil Tarr returned to work having just buried his wife, two selectmen visited him and attempted to force his resignation. Threatening him with a "letter" that would, in essence, fire him, they gave him an ultimatum: Make a decision. Originally they gave him until May 29 to respond.

However Tarr, who has been through the wringer this year as he cared for a wife dying of cancer, had been planning for seven months to take a vacation over the next week. He would be away and was unwilling to cancel those plans. So he told the selectmen he would speak with them on June 7.

What sort of person would treat another like that? Jean Smart and Bob Kirchherr that's who. It would appear that they are so determined to get rid of Tarr, that common human decency doesn't enter into their equation.

Tarr's contract calls for clear goals and objectives worked out with the board. Does he have those? No. Not according to Tarr and not according to Selectman Ryan Lorrain.

In fact, Lorrain says it best: "If I was town manager, I'd want to be presented with a list of things ... to be able to look at for the next evaluation process, down the road. Those are measurable things you're looking at and saying 'well, did this get done? did this get done?'"

Anyone who has ever held a job would agree. It is impossible to please a boss who doesn't tell you what he wants you to do.

Because the board's six month notice must be given to Tarr by the end of June, its members are rushing around attempting to force his resignation so they won't have to pay him the contracted severance.

Further, it has left itself little time as it must take a vote, at a public meeting with proper notice, before it can "send him a letter" notifying him that it will not automatically extend his contract.

(Smart will have to get over her "shock" that Tarr "spoke with us about this." It can't be done in secret Jean ... .)

There have been some whispers that the current board wants to get this done before the June 12 election which will fill the seats left vacant by the resignation of Smart and Ken West. Why? Are they afraid a fair and level-headed individual might come on the board?

Let's hope so because, so far, the board has shown itself to be anything but fair and level-headed.

In fact, the board has proven time and again to be, at best, dysfunctional. It has, historically, treated its town managers as disposable.

Tarr is speaking with an attorney. Good. We hope he fights this and wins – if for no other reason, than this has been handled in a shoddy, underhanded way.

Is Tarr a good town manager? He appears to be. (In fact, we might go so far as to say he deserves combat pay having to deal with the select board on a regular basis.)

But no one really knows because he has not been given goals and objectives and he has not been fairly evaluated.

If the good citizens of Paris disagree with the way the board is handling this, we urge them to to make their feelings known – to come out to the next board meeting, write letters to this newspaper – to exercise their rights.

The board serves at their pleasure not its own.