Thursday We Got A Call From A Reporter And...
Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 10:17PM I spent five and a half hours Friday with the Windsor Coalition of Taxpayers and a visiting Boston Globe reporter who is interested in what a pure democracy looks like when it goes awry. That is definitely Windsor.
We showed the Globe reporter, with document after document, how, depending on who you are in that town, property taxes don’t have to be paid. This problem goes back to 2000, according to the Windsor town father’s own admissions, as well as NH Department of Revenue records. CNHT knows it goes back farther than that. We have been working on this and other bizarre municipal nightmares there since 2006. We made two successful trips to Superior Court – so far.
Speaking of dates.
It appears the Windsor Tax Collector was working in longhand, on scrap paper, without a calculator or receipts, and with a schedule derived from the ancient Mayan Calendar which ends in 2012. The town finances in Windsor have collapsed three years early.
After all the history, data, statutes, folklore and chocolate chip cookies were evenly distributed and digested among our group, the Globe reporter casually mentioned to us that she stopped by the Windsor Town hall (30’ x40’ capacity 50 odd souls) and saw a note on the door. She copied it down. It said, roughly:
“There will be a meeting of the Windsor Selectmen March 21, at 7 pm to have the Town Attorney contact the NH Attorney General’s Office with the town audit.”
WHAT!
It looked like the Windsor Selectmen were about to hold an emergency meeting on a Friday evening to pack up the supposed audit, more like a Polaroid snapshot, of the town tax records to take to the Dept. of Rev. Admin. and the AG – ASAP! About time.
But was this true? The only way to find out was to GO to the emergency meeting. So off went the key members of the WCNHT and THE GLOBE REPORTER (you can’t make this stuff up).
The Selectmen shuffled into the two car garage sized town hall, along with a few local pals who must have been tipped with a phone call. You might call it “immoral moral support.”
Our guys were there – with a video camera and reporter for this unpublished, except for a note on the door emergency meeting. You would think they expected no one would find out. Imagine their surprise when they asked the young lady whom they have never met what she was doing at their emergency! She tells them she works for the Globe!
Now for the rest of this story I should really sell tickets.
Apparently the Windsor Village Idiot was at this emergency meeting Friday. Remember him? He was the one quoted in the Union Leader, Tuesday last week, front page, above the fold, saying this is how we do business in Windsor, meaning, we use the tax system and our majority vote to take advantage our neighbors. And there was the usual blather about how long his relatives have lived in the area. Fine, I get that all the time. But we surmise the AG has waited long enough for Windsor to get off the tax crapper and this comment may have been a catalyst for some long awaited state action.
Here is the exciting part of our adventure.
Our story trails off with Mr. Idiot telling the reporter he wants an interview.
Now all we do is wait for that to happen. (with big smiles of course)
We also wait to see if the State of New Hampshire Department of Revenue will actually do something about a town that refuses to keep tax records for at least ten, probably twenty years. They could order an audit.
We wait for the AG to sit some of these Bozo’s down and get a statement as to what is going on, where all the money collected went, and how much is not collected.
And we wait for the Globe photographer to come get the pictures they want for the Windsor story.
Smile!
Reader Comments (11)
In my town, the elected clerk/tax collector couldn't figure out how to use the tax software, so she simply made up the numbers she reported. Luckily for us, she sometimes reported too much, sometimes too little, so it pretty much evened out when the state audit was done.
If for one nanosecond the STATE had done its job going back to 2000 when the DRA first started writing letters to Windsor about their lack of financial accountability and failure to file Municipal Services forms this could have been avoided.
If crooked public officials in municipalities were PROSECUTED once in a while instead of being given a free pass this would happen much less often.
CNHT had to work a full year, two superior court cases, one battle after another with town counsel, a total lack of a trustworthy press, and small group of activists brave enough to take the heat from neighbors to get this far.
Kelly Ayotte, our illustrious AG, may want to look like a hero coming to the rescue of beleagured taxpayers but the opposite is true.
The STATE dropped the ball and is untrustworthy at all levels from the top down until you find a good state employee in a department to work with. They are rare.
And these are the people that want a broad based tax to pay for more state government?
Imagine trying to root out and fix a situation like this at the STATE level!
The Gold Dome would be like giant cat litter box, cover, cover, cover, and never empty.
1) How can where a story idea comes from affect the integrity? Not that I am defending the integrity of a news source that is owned by the NYT becaseu both the Blobe and Times years ago to be bastions of journalism integrity.
2) Even if the State did this, a local entity would have to provide inputs. I'm Without keen eyed local people looking at this the problem would still be unknown. Pushing to further to the state would further hide it.
We HAVE keen eyed locals but it is a town meeting form of government subject to intimidation and personel vendettas. So you need brave taxpayers to step in, as we have in Windsor.
We won two court cases so far. We are contemplating a new one aimed at the state should they fail to move forward.
It would be nice to see a new crop of selectmen in Windsor but that will not happen as the non-taxpaying crowd has the votes to win every time. We would suggest OUR guys NOT take ANY office as they will be hounded relentlessly at every meeting and by the local papers. Remember, the local papers LOVE these types of public officials and protect them.
Hence you need state help to effect change and get things back on track.
The DRA has statutory authority to aduit Windsor, compell witnesses to testify, collect any taxes over three years late, and to prosecute criminal action IF there was any.
CNHT went as far as possible without state help. Our expertese is in NOW being able to shine a light on this in a much broader way than back before the internet and our talk radio program.
I beleve the people we worked with in Windsor will tell you we said from the start THIS was how to procede. And they took our advice at each step.
Now we have to teach the town attorney that he represents the WHOLE town not just the crowd not keeping books, a part of this stroy we have been hankering to get on with from the start.
I remember a friend telling me the story of when a town treasurer (his mom, one state over) had a nervous breakdown and started randomly hiding uncashed tax payments in drawers around their house. By the time the family realized what was going on it was a catastrophe.
Sometimes you don't even need greed or conspiracy to cause things to screw up... it just happens. And covering it all up and sweeping it under the rug just makes it worse. There are times when everything is NOT Okay, even though the people themselves aren't bad people.
Ed is right to be vigilant.
When I became the head selectman in here in Deering after the NHMA employee/selectwoman left office, her hand picked secretary compressed and deleted everything on our computer and was gone five days before town meeting - the first I would be in charge of.
The townies managed to place the blame that and made up stuff on me. Fine, I understand that. This is how direct democracy works - the biggest liar wins.
But I went to the DRA for help and they let me hang. Joan Gerrard? was the DRA rep. for Deering back then.
Had I had one tiny bit of help, or even a letter from the state saying what happened I would not be running a statewide organization now.
I realized back then it was inaction by the State that leads to this type of municipal mismanagement.
And now in a roundabout way I am back to haunt them.
Should have stepped up to the plate in 1999, hey DRA?
Windsor isn't the only town we are working in.
Here is the great part. The Windsor guys have offered to help us in other towns.
I just got turned onto your website by one of the women on the Windsor Coalation. You hit the nail right on the head when you said "It would be nice to see a new crop of selectmen in Windsor but that will not happen as the non-taxpaying crowd has the votes to win every time." I recently ran for Town Selectmen, but got voted out. Do you know why??? FEAR. Because we had the biggest turn out of voters since anyone can remember. Do you know why? Because they didn't want me in! I was to much for putting liens on people's property that don't pay their taxes. I was too much for the Selectmen following the LAW. My running mate won hands down. Must have been due to her "integrity, her being a good person, and her understanding for the need for change." It's amazing how she can sit on that Board and still owe taxes. That's real integrity there. Lisa
Don't get discouraged about all that democracy/traditional town meeting nonsense.
We have a saying at CNHT: When you have been demonized - become the demon!
There are ways to get things done without getting elected.
Stay after them.
As you see in Windsor and other towns, without a secret ballot, you have intimidation of those who have to vote in the presence of the mob that shows up.
Take the town of Hancock AGAIN having the moderator allow booing and hissing at someone who stood up to that crowd of liberals.
Town meetings are supposed to be about discussion?
In one seacoast town, New Castle, population 1100, the school district meeting took three minutes - just the way the 15 people who showed up like it. New Castle education level above 25 years of age 61.5% bachelors degree. Pretty smart people. They love debate and discussion.
By the way J.J didn't CNHT help you out not that long ago? And did the selectmen learn anything from that experience?
How about your town attorney?