Letter to the editor from John Blankley, former member of the BET
You need a really, really good reason to remove an incumbent elected official. And that is especially so for a job that is more technical and managerial than overtly political.
So it is with the position of tax collector. There is quite simply no reason at all to remove the incumbent, Howard Richman, because he has gone above and beyond, achieving outstanding results: recovering over $4 Million of delinquent taxes and ensuring that taxes are collected and deposited timely. Wait, shouldn’t that be a given? – well, amazingly, Howard had to correct previous failings in that area! On top of that, for impatient Greenwichites, he has significantly reduced delays at the payment counter by improving and streamlining the online payment process.
There isn’t a Democratic or Republican way to collect taxes, just the right way, and Howard has demonstrated how it should be done. There is no reason to do anything other than ensure that tax collection remains in the hands of this dedicated public servant.
As his lawn signs say: “Re-elect Richman tax collector.”
The deadline to submit a letter to the editor regarding candidates in the Nov 5 municipal election is Tuesday Oct 29 at 5pm.