20 - Key to the City of Paris Policy

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Item No. 20 Memorandum TO: Mayor Pro Tem, City Council FROM: Reginald B. Hughes, Mayor SUBJECT: KEY TO THE CITY OF PARIS DATE: April 22, 2024 BACKGROUND: The granting of the Key to the City is a symbolic presentation which represents the highest honor that the City of Paris can confer on to any individual or organization for outstanding civic contributions resulting in an improved quality of life of our citizens, making our community a better place to live. It does not bestow any special privilege to any recipient, but instead is a ceremonial procedure and honor. While in office, Mayor Hashmi purchased several ceremonial "Keys to the City" to distribute to eligible individuals. The last key to the city would have been issued over five years ago. The City still has 17 keys remaining in storage. STATUS OF ISSUE: Working alongside Mayor Pro Tem Pankaj, I would respectfully request permission to approve the attached policy, providing a committee that consists of MPT Pankaj, myself, and a third council member to identify and award a key to the city. There are of course other methods of selecting individuals. Some cities have the City Council authorize the final selection in a public meeting. Other cities give discretion to the Mayor. The attached proposed option blends the two routes by making it a non -quorum committee of three councilmembers with discretionary authority, thus allowing the matter to reasonably remain confidential until the public surprise announcement at the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce annual banquet. This does not prevent verbal conversation to happen involving staff and other councilmembers if necessary. The City Council could always call this item to the agenda for discussion if ever a concern were to arise. My request is that we discuss the attached policy including any edits anyone would like to see, but otherwise if it looks good to everyone, we approve and consider selecting a third council member