First off retaining CFs are going to be a waste of space unless you are going all the way with it. As a resoucer, most of the round you'll be generating more/building even by selling iron than you would with a CF so maintenance should not be an issue.
Partaxians are great in a resource position because it gives relieves the stress from attackers to persue higher research bonuses. No bonus detracts from your ability to effectively use research even more than Camaars -30 because your not going to be relied upon for fast portal jumps through enemy territory and it doesn't give you the same advantages in construction to more than compensate for the buildings it would take to acquire that bonus.
To answer your question about starting, partax is probably the only resourcer that can get away with a CF starting strat. The market starts out pretty unstable and your CF starting home planet can many times pay for a resource build on later waves of planets better than a resource starting. You are usually not paired up with anybody so you will end up paying for your buildings SS. CF starting untill you can SS pay for continues exploration and building up of 6 planets/day then transition towards a resource dominant empire from then on.
CF starting >> FB CF/RF >> MF OB 50% >> exp 2 planets CF half build >> MF FB >> expo 3
CF FB >> MF OB 50% >> exp 6 >> CF FB >> MF OB... >> exp 6 resource FB/OB from then on..