NARRAGANSETT — With a strong aroma of controversy and 15 people running for five seats, this year’s race for the Town Council was already shaping up to be one of the most heated in recent memory.

Then came Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting, at which the shouts inside were followed by the vandalism outside. The crime: unflattering and in some cases lewd messages, spray-painted on the cars of two council members.

Any doubt that this year’s election was different from those of past years immediately vanished. Replacing the sense of routine in 2008 are charges of nepotism and cover-up, countered by charges of election-year opportunism that masks a darker political agenda.

At the center of the turmoil is the position of tax collector — a post the council planned to fill in April and then, for reasons that have been slow in coming, did not.

The about-face took place at a council meeting on April 21. Councilman Christopher Wilkens moved to postpone the appointment, a move he says stemmed from concern that the requirements for the position should call for a four-year college degree. Councilman George F. Lenihan Jr. seconded the motion, and the council voted 4 to 0, with Councilwoman Krista J. Garrett recusing herself.

Few people seemed to notice, but the move drew attention in July when the town announced that tax bills were coming out late. About the same time, some council members started asking why the appointment had not reappeared on a council agenda.

Those questions have now become the dominant issue in this year’s council race, in which all five incumbents are seeking reelection. A nonpartisan primary on Tuesday will cut the field from 15 to 10.

Town Manager Jeffry Ceasrine has said repeatedly that the late bills were caused by the installation of new computer software and had nothing to do with the appointment. As for the appointment, he has said he decided not to fill the post because he saw an opportunity to save money. Rather than appoint a tax collector, he would have Finance Director Robert J. Uyttebroek take on the collector’s duties.

Not everyone is buying the explanation.

Councilmen Lenihan and James P. Durkin, as well as council candidates Michael G. Riley and Douglas E McLaughlin, have homed in on the fact that Garrett’s daughter was one of 22 applicants for the job. They have asked, among other things, what role Garrett played in putting off the April 21 appointment, and why the town employee who was going to be appointed was told just before the meeting that the appointment was off.

Lenihan, who has led the charge, says there was a cover-up to protect Garrett. He points to the sequence of events on April 21, in which Christine Beck, a clerk at Town Hall, was told she would be appointed. Her name was even on the agenda.

“It just doesn’t make sense that you would ask somebody, and then that you would humiliate somebody,” he said.

Until this week, Garrett and Ceasrine had essentially refused to comment. But Ceasrine said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that Garrett “did not attempt to influence” him on the appointment or speak with him about the tax collector’s position on the day of the meeting.And Garrett said in an interview that she had forwarded her daughter’s resumé to Ceasrine, asking if it was appropriate for her to apply — a version of events that is consistent with Ceasrine’s e-mail — but did not try to influence his decision and did not know know her daughter was considered to be an applicant.

She also went on the attack, saying Lenihan is trying to deflect attention from the recent after-hours drinking incidents at his restaurant, which led the council to suspend his liquor license for three days.

And she said Lenihan and Durkin, two endorsed Democrats who voted against Ceasrine’s appointment last year, are pushing the tax collector issue because they want to control the council. Lenihan and Durkin supported Andrew Nota, a former town employee who is now the parks and recreation director in South Kingstown, while Garrett, Wilkens and council President T. Brian Handrigan supported Ceasrine.

“They need a third vote. And right now they don’t have one,” said Garrett, a Republican who runs as an independent.

When asked if they think there is an agenda to control the council and perhaps remove Ceasrine, Wilkens, an endorsed Republican, and Handrigan, a six-term council member who declined the Democratic Town Committee endorsement this year, acknowledged the possibility.

“It sure looks that way,” Handrigan said. “It’s one of the reasons I decided to run again.”

Lenihan and Durkin, as well as McLaughlin, an endorsed Democratic council candidate, and Winters B. Hames III, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, said there is no such agenda.

One move that should shed light on the matter is a report, requested by the council this week, that will show the savings, if any, from not filling the tax collector’s post. Ceasrine did not return calls yesterday, but he has said the tax collector’s position had a salary in the $40,000 range, while Uyttebroek, the finance director, is receiving an additional $6,500 to perform the duties.

And then there’s the issue of the graffiti.

Police Chief Joseph P. Little Jr. said detectives are still investigating who marked up Lenihan and Durkin’s cars with yellow spray paint. Anyone who saw something during the Tuesday night meeting should call the police, he said.

redgar@projo.com