Residents, board call foul on AD story

PARIS — "Better suited to the National Enquirer than a regular newspaper," was how Paris resident Barbara Payne described material published in the Advertiser Democrat two weeks ago.

Another resident said he was "appalled" by what he read.

The comments were made during the board of selectmen meeting on May 30.

On May 24 the newspaper reported that Paris town manager Phil Tarr believed that the board of selectmen was attempting to make him resign. It also reported Tarr's dissatisfaction with the way that his annual evaluation was conducted.

Tarr, who was ill, was not present at the meeting.

"I was very disappointed," said Board Chairman Bob Kirchherr, referring to the newspaper's coverage. "The board has at this point taken no action, there was no factual information reported in the paper, I have no idea where they got their information from."

He said the paper's reporting looked like it was made from "whole-cloth."

"It was a very unusual and unprecedented piece of journalism that made me very uncomfortable because of the nature of the facts that were presented," he said.

Members of the board took particular issue with the paper's editorial and a letter to the editor published in the Advertiser Democrat.

Selectman Ted Kurtz, who was quoted widely in the article, said that he did not have a problem with the Advertiser Democrat's reporting, but firmly disagreed with the editorial.

"Whoever wrote that editorial does not understand that situation," said Kurtz.

"I was very unpleasantly surprised at the disregard for the truth in the editorial."

Selectwoman Jean Smart agreed with the other board members and took particular exception to a letter to the editor that claimed board members "accosted" Tarr during his wife's funeral a week prior to the article's publication.

"That never happened folks," said Smart.

Anne Stanley, a Paris resident said she attended the funeral along with three of the selectmen and confirmed Smart's version of events.

"Who knows where that misinformation came from, but it didn't happen," Stanley said.