At the request of the mayor, MTAS developed and facilitated an assessment process for the position of Fire Chief for the city. The assessment development process began with the construction of a set of competencies derived from an in-depth job analysis of the fire chief position including a review of the job description and internal stakeholder interviews. The information gathered provided invaluable insight into what represents some of the major attributes and expectations of the candidate selected to serve as fire chief.

This report outlines the results and findings of the assessment measures conducted for the position of District Chief. The assessment process was developed and facilitated by the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service (UT MTAS) Fire Management Consultant Donald Pannell and Technical Consulting Program Manager Steven Cross. The assessment process was held on April 2, 2025, at the Clarksville Fire & Rescue Headquarters building located at 821 Franklin Street in Clarksville, Tennessee.

This report outlines the specific results and findings of the assessment measures conducted for the position of Fire Chief for the city of Paris, Tennessee.

Cities are granted the right to impose taxes to raise public funds in Article II , § 29 of the Tennessee Constitution, which states: “The General Assembly shall have power to authorize the several counties and incorporated towns in this State, to impose taxes for County and Corporation purposes, respectively....” From this language has grown the public purpose doctrine, which dictates that public funds and public resources can be used only for public purposes. City credit may be extended and used for a public purpose, under which a private firm or corporation does receive benefit, but such lending of credit must be authorized by referendum vote or by specific statutory authority absent such a vote.

A team of MTAS staff conducted an evaluation of the digital assets made available to the community in each city across the state of Tennessee. The purpose of this study was to identify and document digital assets and resources being made publicly available in Tennessee municipalities, as well as to  identify any trends and municipalities who may require further assistance in this area. Cities were asked about assets and services such as free Wi-Fi in public buildings; public computer labs and kiosks; and computer training classes.

A total of 126 cities/towns responded to the survey. Respondents were evenly mixed across all three Grand Divisions of the state and included a range of populations from under 100 to over 150,000.