The renovation of City Hall became a commitment of love for Paris Finance Director Gene Anderson a decade ago when he took on the responsibility of planning and overseeing the preservation of the historical building where he has worked for the past 35 years.
His passion became evident as Anderson guided tours during the recent 100th birthday celebration of the 1920 building, then used jointly as the cityâs fire station, police headquarters, jail, municipal court, city hall and water and sewer department.
Now, the three-story building houses offices for the city manager, mayor, city attorney, both finance and engineering departments as well as spacious downstairs Paris City Council chambers and a large upstairs community meeting room.
To do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.â Micah 6:8
Humble, kind and soft spoken, Paula Portugal, the first female to serve as Paris mayor, sees both challenges and a bright future for her hometown as she embarks on the first year of a final two-year term on Paris City Council.
First elected to the District 7 post in 2017, Portugal garnered a unanimous vote as mayor by her colleagues at a May 10 meeting after serving two years as mayor pro tem. A Paris native, Portugal returned to Paris in 2012 after a 32-year career in education.
âI donât remember ever reading Micah 6:8 in my life until this morning when it appeared as my morning devotional message,â Portugal said from the mayorâs office at city hall. âThatâs what a leader needs â to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with God. I pray every day for our staff and our council that we make good decisions.â
“We had a lot of meetings and found many mistakes,” Paris City Clerk Janice Ellis said about the recodification of the city’s Code of Ordinances, approved Monday by Paris City
Paris City Council is expected to extend the mayor’s Declaration of Disaster issued Feb. 16, adopt a revised code of ordinances, appoint members to a Charter Review Committee, adopt a