Howard Richman with Frank Farricker in background, Dec 4, 2017 Photo: Leslie Yager
On Monday afternoon, the newly elected Greenwich Tax Collector Howard Richman was sworn in during a brief ceremony at Town Hall.
Richman, whose job doesn’t start until January, was sworn in by former DTC chair Frank Farricker, in his capacity as Justice of the Peace.
John Blankley introduced the new tax collector, recalling that Mr. Richman ran in 1994 for state senate, ran in 2010 for state assembly, and ran in 2015 for tax collector. While none of those attempts was successful, Richman has served on the RTM. Last month, Mr. Richman defeated incumbent Tod Laudonia for the job of Tax Collector.
In his remarks, Mr. Richman said there are 79 episodes of the original Star Trek series which aired on NBC from September 1966 to June 1969. He said each episode had a title, including “The Way to Eden,” “Turnabout Intruder,” “Wink of an Eye and “Day of the Dove.”
“This got me thinking that a speech should have a title too,”Richman said. “The title of this speech is ‘Thank You.’
Richman, who asked to be sworn in a month early, said he would work on his own time to familiarize himself with the job and the departments in town hall he will work with.
The salaried position starts in January.
“I’ve had help from people on the BET who have been working on this issue for a while,” he said, adding that he has recently had sessions with town department heads, including the comptroller, assessor, treasurer, and finance department.
“I wanted to get sworn in early so I could officially reach out to Tod this week, and hopefully we can get together and have a transitional meeting or meetings – if it works for him,” Richman said. “It will be totally up to him.”
Richman acknowledged that his official start date coincides with the tax payments coming due. “That’s why I wanted to hit the deck running,” he said. “We may have to hire staff as quickly as possible. I’d absolutely consider hiring back the two who were let go. If they are interested in coming back to the office, I’d be interested. From what I understand, they both did a great job.”
Mr. Richman thanked John Blankley and Frank Farricker, and everyone who participated in his campaign.
“Thank you to Tod Laudonia for your service to the Town serving as Tax Collector for the last eight years,”Richman said.
John Blankley introduced Howard Richman on Dec 4, 2017 Photo: Leslie Yager
Lee Richman, Howard Richman and Ellette Hirschorn at Mr. Richman’s swearing in as tax collector on Dec 4, 2017. Photo: Leslie Yager
Howard Richman was sworn in by justice of the peace Frank Farricker at Greenwich Town Hall on Dec 4, 2017 Photo: Leslie Yager
Howard Richman and his son Lee Richman, who traveled from Pennsylvania to attend his father’s swearing in. Dec 4, 2017 Photo: Leslie Yager
Howard Richman delivered remarks during a brief swearing in ceremony at Greenwich Town Hall, Dec 4, 2017 Photo: Leslie Yager
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