19 September—The dam hasn’t exactly burst, but The Monitor’s coverage of the Litchfield Tax Collector issue—it’s not a scandal, mind you, despite what some people say—begat a much bigger response from Litchfield taxpayers and town employees than I had expected. On the very day Hearsay, Rumor, Innuendo was posted, I was approached by a shopper at Ocean State Job Lot in the afternoon and an observer at the Borough Consolidation Committee meeting in the evening.

Back at the editorial office that night, I found numerous emails and phone messages waiting for me. The following days, more messages as well as people stopping me at the usual venues in Litchfield and Torrington. In all, over 30 Litchfield taxpayers and town employees have thus far contacted to me about what one taxpayer called the Axis of Evil.

Not a one defended the Tax Collector or the publicly unnamed Town Hall toxic vector, of whose identity the town employees were only too well aware—and a surprising number of (mere) taxpayers knew. Litchfield is a fairly small town, after all.

The taxpayers told of how they’d gone to Town Hall to pay their property taxes during normal business hours only to find the Tax Collector’s office closed up tight.

The employees gave me details of Litchfield’s uncomfortable—one said hostile—work environment and the person they consider primarily responsible for it, as well as their inability to do anything to detox it and their hope to see the back of the toxic vector before the town goes to shit, as one reluctant whistleblower put it.

Some taxpayers, including non-resident property owners, claimed they had to make more than two trips to pay their taxes in person (because they can’t depend on the USPS to deliver or even postmark the payments.)

One certainly expects the Tax Collector’s office to be open throughout normal business hours, especially during what we lovingly refer to as tax season. And I shouldn’t be surprised if henceforth it will be. By the same token, it’s up to the aggrieved taxpayers to complain to the delinquent official or someone else at Town Hall. But, from what I gathered, for whatever reasons, no inconvenienced taxpayers made timely complaint.

Not that it would matter anyway, for two reasons: First, elected positions don’t specify hours. More to the point, unfortunately, in Connecticut once people are elected to any state or local office they can essentially do as they damn well please and have no fear of being thrown out of office until the next election. That’s because the state constitution doesn’t allow for recall of elected officials.

It’s axiomatic that the pols in Hartford (as everywhere) don’t really give a damn about anything but staying in office; and not providing for recall allows them to stay in office come what may—because it’s also axiomatic that voters tend to have short memories.

As in many other towns, there are two elected positions in Litchfield that are not and should not be political and therefore should be appointed: Clerk and Tax Collector. The state allows the town to decide, elected or appointed. Making the change to appointed in Litchfield would require action by the Board of Selectmen and a Town Meeting, likely adjourned to referendum.

And the change would be to the town’s and officials’ overall advantage—as long as they did their jobs, of course. Nothing at all to do with personalities.

Should the Board of Selectmen—in the circumstance, the Axis of Denial and Inaction—fail to do the right thing, all it takes is 20 taxpayers’ signatures to force a town meeting and 200 for a referendum . . .