Paris City Council moves to allow citizens who do business with city to serve on boards and commissions

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra.com

The Paris City Council on Monday night wrapped up the matter of membership of various boards and commissions, with different councilmen being named as liaison members of various city boards and commissions.

At the same time, the council directed city attorney Kent McIlyar to come back at a future meeting with changes in the city’s ethics policy to allow local residents who have business with the city to be appointed to any board, including the Paris Economic Development Corporation, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Notably, Josh Bray, owner of Sanitation Solutions, was passed over last month for a possible spot on the PEDC because his company recently won the landfill contract with the city.

Gene Anderson, the city’s finance director and acting city manager, said more good candidates for the city boards would be available if the ethics policy prohibition applied only to city council members, not regular citizens who do business with the city.

A reasonable way to handle the problem with conflicts of interest by non-councilmen would be for them to recuse themselves if a conflict of interest arose on the board on which they served.

The council voted to name mayor AJ Hashmi, mayor pro-tem Richard Grossnickle and John Wright to one-year terms on the Ark-Tex Council of Governments, with Hashmi designated to serve on the executive committee of the Ark-Tex board of directors.

Joe McCarthy, who represents District 1 on the council, was appointed as the council liaison to the Building and Standards Commission, the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and the Zoning Board of Adjustments.

Jason Rogers, representing District 2, was appointed liaison to Public Library Advisory Board and the Traffic Commission.

Wright, representing District 3, was appointed liaison to the PEDC. He was a member of the PEDC before his election to the city council in 2010.

Grossnickle, who represents District 4, was appointed liaison to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Matt Frierson, who represents District 5, was appointed liaison to the Historical Preservation Commission and named a member of the Visitors and Convention Council of the Chamber of Commerce.

Edwin Pickle, who represents District 6, was appointed liaison of the Airport Advisory Board, the Main Street Advisory Board, and the Municipal Band Commission.

Hashmi, as mayor, is an ex officio member of all the boards and commissions, as is the city manager.

All the liaison board positions are ex officio; the council members can participate in discussions, but have no vote.

—

send questions or comments about this article to

extra@eParisTexas.com

Hashmi seeks to steer Paris City Council to kinder, gentler demeanor

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra.com

Mayor AJ Hashmi opened Monday night’s meeting of the Paris City Council with a “let’s bury the hatchet” announcement.

As he walked the streets of Paris during his campaign that won him election to the District 7 seat on the council, residents told him they were tired of the bickering and divisiveness on the council

So, immediately after the invocation and pledge of allegiance that opened the meeting Monday, Hashmi said he had something to say.

Reading from prepared remarks, Hashmi said it’s time that the council put past conflicts aside and began working  together for the good of the city.

“If anyone thinks that there is no unity in this council, they are mistaken,” Hashmi said.

Hashmi reached out to District 1 councilman Joe McCarthy, who two weeks ago was on the losing end of a 4-3 council vote for mayor.

Hashmi said McCarthy”may not have the title of mayor, but he is our elder, and a senior and most respected member of our council, and his suggestions and guidance will always direct the council toward improvement of Paris.”

Hashmi continued:

“I also want to say that if anyone thinks that there is no unity in this council, they are mistaken. Mr. McCarthy and I are one. We may vote differently, but we are one.”

Hashmi added: “At this time, I would also like to reassure the residents of Paris that this council is united, and differences in opinion do not mean that we are not one. We will all work toward a better Paris for today and tomorrow.”

Edwin Pickle

At that time, he said District 6 councilman Edwin Pickle — who was involved in a highly publicized verbal clash several weeks ago with District 2 councilman Jason Rogers — had something to say.

Also reading from a prepared statement, Pickle said:

“I sincerely regret the direction and the scope of events that were a result of my private discussions with a fellow council member. Although I continue to have concerns, and some unanswered questions remain, I am ready to move forward with our new council members as well as new council leadership, and once again tackle the more important and pressing issues that lie before us.”

Pickle continued:

“My top priority continues to be helping make Paris a better place to live and work, and I regret that the events of the past month have been a distraction for me, other council members, as well as members of the community. That is not what I am about, and I wish to leave it behind us and move forward.”

Pickle added: “Paris is a great place to live, work and raise a family, and we have great people here with great ideas. Now, let’s get on with hearing those ideas and use them to help us progress – as a council and as a city. This is my sincere desire, and I plan to help make that happen in any way I can.”

When Pickle concluded, Hashmi called upon him and Rogers “to come forward and shake hands and show everyone in the community that we are one council, and we will proceed toward improvement of Paris in all times to come.”

Both did so, as the throng in the council chamber broke into applause.

Ironically, an hour and 45 minutes later, at the end of Monday night’s council meeting, Rogers announced he was resigning his council seat, effective immediately. He said he has accepted a job in New Mexico “and I will be moving very soon.” His job with the Navaho nation in Farmington, N.M., begins on July 25, he said.

—

send questions or comments about this article to

extra@eParisTexas.com

Jason Rogers quits Paris City Council; new job awaits him in New Mexico

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra.com

 Jason Rogers, the District 2 representative on the Paris City Council, made the suprise announcement Monday night that he is resigning from the council, effective immediately.

Jason Rogers

“I am resigning my seat with the City Council. I have accepted a position out of state, so I’ll be moving there very soon. I’ve enjoyed my time on the council,” Rogers said just before the council adjourned about 7:15 p.m. Monday.

“We wish you the best of luck,” mayor AJ Hashmi said.

Speaking with the media afterward, Rogers said other council members learned of his resignation “about five minutes before you did.” He told them as an executive session was breaking up on how the council would proceed with selecting a new city manager.

“The new job is going in to run a new division for a new company called Resource Associates,” Rogers said.

“I’ll be doing a lot of grant writing, and I’ll be working primarily with the Navajo Nation in Farmington, N.M. I just found out about it recently, and things are moving very quickly. One of the projects we’re working on is grant funding, and you know, when you get grant funding you have to move quickly. My official first day at work is July 25. I’ll have all new staff to hire and people to bring in.”

Rogers added: “It’s an exciting opportunity for the family. We’ve enjoyed our stay here in Paris.”

It will be up to the council to name someone to serve out the 10 months remaining on Rogers’ two-year term.

The Paris City Charter specifies that a vacancy on the council shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the council. Rogers’ successor must be at least 18, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of  District 2 for at least 12 months; shall not have been convicted of a felony; and must not have been judged incompetent by a court.

Following is an alphabetized list of the 1,065 registered voters of District 2 from whom the new council member of District 2 must come:

—

send questions or comments about this article to

extra@eParisTexas.com

Short video presentation at 5:15 p.m. will precede Monday's meeting of the Paris City Council

A new feature of Paris City Council meetings this summer will be a video presentation of various technological advancements that could affect the City of Paris.

They will begin at 5:15 p.m. on second and fourth Mondays of each month, serving as a warm-up for the council meeting, which will start at 5:30 p.m., as always.

Like the council meeting itself, the video presentation will be at the City Council chambers at 107 E. Kaufman St. in Paris.

Paris City Council will decide Monday night how to proceed on city manager search

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra.com

The Paris City Council on Monday night will decide how to proceed with the selection of a city manager.

City finance director Gene Anderson has been the acting city manager since Kevin Carruth resigned under fire last Jan. 1 after accepting a $140,000 buyout of his contract.

Anderson, who has said he is not interested in the job on a permanent basis, posted the job with the Texas Municipal League and with a national city manager’s organization as well.

Anderson has given to council members the several dozen applications he received.

The council will go into executive session at the end of Monday’s meeting to discuss how to proceed from here.

“We are not going to discuss individual candidates on Monday night,” Mayor AJ Hashmi said Friday. “We will discuss how to go about hiring a new manager, and we will talk about that when we come back in open session.”

In other business, the council will:

• Discuss amending the city’s ethics code so citizens who do business with the city may serve on city boards and commissions.
• Receive statistical data on residents’ complaints concerning the noise levels at night from establishments on the loop.
• Discuss whether drivers without liability insurance should be issued a citation only, or whether their vehicle may also be impounded.
• Deliberate and act upon the appointment of city council members to serve as liaison to city boards and commissions.
• Deliberate and act upon appointing Hashmi, mayor pro-tem Richard Grossnickle and one other councilman to the Ark-Tex Council of Governments and recommending Hashmi for the board’s executive committee.

The noise ordinance has been discussed at previous meetings. District 3 councilman John Wright asked on June 27 if police chief Bob Hundley could come back with statistical information on the complaints about noise at clubs on the loop.

From May 5 through June 30, police went to one establishment on noise complaints 39 complaints before 10 p.m. and 22 times after 10 p.m., Hundley will report.

“And we’re going to try to see if we can imitate some noise levels for the council to hear. We’ll try a couple of experiments to see if we can do it. If we can, we will, and if we can’t, we won’t,” Anderson said Friday.

“I think 85 decibels is kind of like a person would be shouting. It’s about that level, or close to it. Of course some people are louder when they shout than others,” he said.

Decibel (Loudness) Comparison Chart

Here are some numbers, collected from a variety of sources, concerning the volume levels of various sources and how they can affect a person’s hearing.

NOTES:

• One-third of the total power of a 75-piece orchestra comes from the bass drum.
• High frequency sounds of 2-4,000 Hz are the most damaging. The uppermost octave of the piccolo is 2,048-4,096 Hz.
• Aging causes gradual hearing loss, mostly in the high frequencies.
• Speech reception is not seriously impaired until there is about 30 dB loss; by that time severe damage may have occurred.
• Hypertension and various psychological difficulties can be related to noise exposure.
• The incidence of hearing loss in classical musicians has been estimated at 4-43%, in rock musicians 13-30%.

(Statistics for the Decibel (Loudness) Comparison Chart were taken from a study by Marshall Chasin , M.Sc., Aud(C), FAAA, Centre for Human Performance & Health, Ontario, Canada. There were some conflicting readings and, in many cases, authors did not specify at what distance the readings were taken or what the musician was actually playing. In general, when there were several readings, the higher one was chosen.)

—

send questions or comments about this article to

extra@eParisTexas.com