Paris' Kim Foster named TCMA City Manager of the Year

Known for her ability to strengthen teamwork, encourage others, and develop community, Paris City Manager Kim Foster has been instrumental in creating a positive, connected municipal workforce that easily accomplishes major goals and projects for the city.

It is for this reason that the Tennessee City Management Association (TCMA) has recognized Kim Foster as its City Manager of the Year for 2025. Foster was presented with the award Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, at the 85th Annual Conference of the Tennessee Municipal League (TML) held at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga. 

Joining the city of Paris as its city recorder and finance director in 2011, Foster was selected as Paris’ city manager in May 2015. Recognizing that employees who work supportively and cohesively can get more done for the city, Foster has worked to develop personnel both individually and as teams working together for the same goals. Initiatives like a wellness program for municipal employees and annual employee appreciation events have helped promote a positive culture and encouraged staff growth. 

Foster brought together employees in a citywide training session with MTAS to determine a mission and vision statement for the city as well as a slogan, “Committed to Excellence Community Service,” now printed on all city materials and vehicles. Foster also actively listens to and engages with her department heads when making important decisions for the city and has created several positions aimed at ensuring the best people are in place to determine what Paris needs, including hiring a new human resources director, community engagement coordinator, risk and compliance coordinator, stormwater director, and sanitation foreman.

To ensure she and employees remain tuned in to what the citizens of Paris want and need, Foster has worked to strengthen communication between government and the public. The city’s Community Outreach Program helps engage citizens through social media, a city newsletter, and a Citizen’s Government Academy which premiered in 2018 to better inform citizens   about government work. In addition, Foster holds annual events such as Breakfast with the City Manager and the Positively Paris and Heny County Community Forum. She also launched a Young Professionals organization in the city to elevate the voices and perspectives of younger residents.

Under Foster’s tenure, the city has seen various revitalization projects including:

• a traffic signalization study that resulted in nearly $50,000 yearly savings for the city,
• ongoing long-range planning for the downtown,
• launching the historical preservation Preserve Paris effort,
• an effort to revitalize downtown alleys through the arts,
• the demolition of 35 blighted properties for redevelopment,
• repairs to aging properties through the HOME grant program,
• secured TNECD facade grants for downtown buildings multiple times, and
• acquired grants for ADA compliance and sidewalk projects, bridge replacement projects, and multimodal transportation projects.

Several city facilities have also undergone renovations under Foster, including overseeing a remodel of downtown hall, a new police department safety facility, a new fire hall, and the acquisition and development of property around the city’s public works building. 
Tourism development has also been a major focus. Foster helped secure Tourism Enhancement grants to build public bathrooms in the downtown as well as the addition of a sidewalk, stage, improved parking, and signage at Eiffel Tower Park; a new splash pad at Eiffel Tower Park;  the creation of new “welcome” signs for the city; a new BlueCross BlueShield Healthy Place playground for the city in 2020; and expansion of music, theater, and recreational programming in the city.

Numerous developers who have worked with the city have remarked on how the positive work culture has made Paris an easy community to do business with. Foster has also leveraged tax-increment financing to secure the city a new shopping center and Hampton Inn for the community. Foster is also a founding member of the Tennessee Retail Alliance.

A past president of TCMA, Foster also works regionally through organizations like the West Tennessee City Managers group she helped organize, as well as statewide through TCMA to share knowledge, expertise, and encouragement between city leaders.