Oh Paul, We Miss You!

Ken O'Brien

As we all know the town manager has forced through his "reorganization" of the public access channels.

At the core of this was the dismissal of Paul Zotos as the Director of that operation and the decision to hire three part-timers to replace him. Never mind the fact that, after years of service, and numerous awards, Paul was dismissed months before he would have been eligible for retirement and a pension.

One of the primary reasons cited in Paul's dismissal was a video that he recorded following the June tornado. In it, then town council chairman Steve Lazo was shown helping clear trees that had been devastated in the event.


This was not a staged "photo-op". It was coincident to the fact that Paul was out filming damage that resulted from the storm. Compare that to the recent puff piece run on the public access channel about the downtown Christmas decorations featuring several councilors and citizens who have been outspoken acolytes of the town manager.

Then at December 19th's town council meeting we had the chance to hear from Barry Davis, the newly hired manager of the public access service. We had the privilege of watching him recount his resume in front of three unmanned cameras that only gave us panoramic shots of the meeting. Where, pray tell, were the volunteers who previously manned these cameras?

We also witnessed our venerable town manager remarking in the local paper that he was disappointed in the response to advertisements for the newly created cable TV positions. As a result he was going to advertise in a broader forum. This is the same guy who moaned about the expense of having to advertise for a consultant to help enforce the town's draconian recycling rules after he was found in violation of state procurement laws by the Inspector General. But he was more than happy with the fact that the only respondent for that position was the same person he wanted to get the contract, and to whom he awarded it before the violation was announced.

Then there are some of the recent notices that we have seen on the public access channels since Paul's departure.





(This last notice was removed from the town
website after it appeared in this post.
As a result, the original disappeared.
This is a reproduction from memory.
I apologize in advance for any inaccuracy,
and I will be happy to replace it with the original
if made available)



As I said in the title, Oh Paul, we miss you!