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Interviews Monday for Paris City Manager

By Kevin Jefferies

Paris, Texas – The Paris City Council is set to interview at least two candidates for City Manager today. The Pace Group of Tupelo, Mississippi was hired as the search firm to find candidates for the position, with the city eventually paying up to $35,000 for the services.

But not everyone is happy.

According to the Paris News, Interim City Manager Ernie Clark was upset the paper reported details from inside a closed meeting on June 4th...upset almost to the point a resigning the position. A confidentiality statement had been signed to not discuss the details of the meeting. Government officials are allowed to discus what happens in closed meetings according to the Texas Open Meetings Act, but Clark said the confidentiality statement should have been followed by everyone.

Some council members are upset Tony Williams has been included among a list of five final candidates. Williams was fired by a 4-3 council vote last December. Two of the council members that voted to remove him lost their re-election bids. Williams does have strong support in the community, and may now have the votes to be re-hired.

Some council members were also disappointed the Pace Group did not check references of candidates and that none of the candidates are currently employed as city managers.