6 October—I’m devastated to have missed the annual Litchfield Republican Town Committee pasta supper Wednesday night. I missed stuffing myself with delectable carbs served by candidates for local elected offices and listening to them regurgitate the same old same old de rigueur partisan clichés that usually have little if any relevance in local politics. But—and not for the first time in the 51 years I’ve been a Litchfield Republican (or at least a Republican in Litchfield)—nobody told me about it until yesterday.

So I must thank Litchfield.bz and some of the lucky Republicans (and Democrats) who were actually at the annual pig-out for their coverage of the stellar and exciting GOP get-together.

It must have been exciting because in addition to gastronomic surfeit, I missed Litchfield Tax Collector Helen Bunnell—who’s not up for election this year and whose job will probably and properly become appointed rather than elected before the next municipal campaign season—mouth off about how difficult it is to work with appointed, indisputably dependable Litchfield Assessor Chris Kelsey, who has shown that he really knows his stuff.

“It has been very difficult to work under the current situation,” Litchfield.bz quoted Helen as kvetching to the GOP faithful. “I never had the problems before that I’m facing now. We need a full-time assessor, or at least one who works two or three days a week, to get us through revaluation, which I’m scared to death about.”

Duh! Chris Kelsey is not—repeat, IS NOT—the problem. Quite the contrary. And what about a full-time tax collector?

If Helen is finding it “difficult to work under the current situation,” as she calls it, the problem must be of her own making. Because, while Chris Kelsey also assesses the town of Middlebury and therefore can’t be in his Litchfield office every day (and was hired by the Board of Selectmen, who had no problem with that), he’s very easy to reach whenever he’s needed and has a capable assistant who’s always in the office. And Chris Kelsey is not paid as a full-time assessor. But Helen Bunnell is paid as a full-time tax collector.

Why, you may wonder, should a tax collector with the latest software and a diligent assistant to do all the dirty work be “scared to death” about revaluation—or anything else involving her job? Beats me. Revaluation is the assessor’s thing, after all. And the tax collector’s software takes it from there.

Ultra-long-time Litchfield property owners will remember the town’s tax collector a half-century ago, a one-time state rep who when I moved here must have been about as old as I am now. She was in her office all day, every day, diligently working with a typewriter and a mechanical adding machine with a big handle. And a pencil. Old-fashioned analog technology, no digital computers to simplify her task. All by herself except for part-time help in mailing out tax bills. And dear Isabel Rylander was always pleasant, cheerful, and cooperative with everyone—and never complained. But I digress.

Helen Bunnell must have been especially peeved Wednesday night because the Board of Selectmen had the night before initiated a serious discussion about changing the tax collector and clerk positions from elected to appointed. As Selectman Jon Torrant told the BOS, the move would be designed to retain tax collectors and clerks who are doing their jobs well. Could that have scared Helen? Assuming she does her job well, it shouldn’t have. Nor indeed, it’s safe to say, does Town Clerk Lisa Losee have anything at all to worry about when the change is made.

On the other hand, for Helen Bunnell to talk about “needing a full-time assessor, or at least one who works two or three days a week” is ironic and arrogant, to say the least. For her to complain about the assessor’s hours in his office is the pot calling the kettle black. Because, you’ll recall, Helen has been known to appear at her office strictly at her convenience, regardless of any inconvenience to Litchfield taxpayers and others, as well as to other town officials who are forced to put up with it and/or work around it. It’s clearly one of the factors that contribute to the patently toxic workplace.

Litchfield has not yet adopted the incredible 14-hour workweek predicted by a U.S. Senate subcommittee in 1965—even for salaried elected officials. But while appointed officials may be fired for cause, state and local elected officials can essentially do as they please, because they know they’re not in danger of being recalled for any reason in Connecticut. They also know that voters are gullible and tend to have short memories.

Incidentally, yesterday Helen arrived at Town Hall as I was leaving the assessor’s office in the early afternoon. But hope springs eternal . . .