Category: Hamden

By Nick Slater

U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill sentenced Ray George to prison for tax evasion on Tuesday.

George, who has owned and operated Ray & Mike’s Deli for nearly 22 years, was sentenced to nine months in prison, one year of supervised release and fined $5,000, according to a press release.

In the 2012 and 2013 tax years, George underreported his income, failed to pay over $200,000 in taxes and used the Ray & Mike’s business account for personal expenses. He pleaded guilty to the charges in May.

George has paid the IRS approximately $480,000 and is scheduled to report to prison on March 17, 2020. 

Letters from employees and friends, addressed to Chief Judge Underhill, paint a different picture of George.

One employee, who has been working at Ray & Mike’s for 19 years, wrote about George sponsoring events and teams in the Hamden community.

“For the past five years, Ray has been a sponsor and done Survivor Lunch for the Relay for Life in Hamden,” she wrote. “[Ray & Mike’s does] a softball game fundraiser every October for breast cancer, and Ray donates all the food and drinks.”

Carl Sargolini, former president of Hamden Youth Hockey and current vice president of the Hamden Fathers Baseball/Softball Association, has known George for over 15 years, according to his letter.

“Anytime either organization has needed support, all we had to do was ask Ray and he provided it,” he wrote.

But George’s impact on the community applies to more than sports. He creates jobs for many young adults that are looking to find their passion. Christopher Ford, who has known the George family since Ray & Mike’s opened, wrote:

“[Ray & Mike’s] has always been a place where Ray gave young adults a place to work and grow while they take the time to figure out what it is in life that they want to do,” Ford said. 

Jason Silvestri, who has worked for at the deli since 2007, wrote about Geroge’s character.

“Now, 12 years later I am employed at Yale New Haven Hospital,” Silvestri wrote. “However, I am still working at Ray and Mike’s Deli for the sole reason that Ray is a great guy and is always there for his community and employees.”

Read: Government requests prison sentence for Ray & Mike’s owner

Read: Ray & Mike’s owner to be sentenced Tuesday

By Nick Slater

In its sentencing memorandum, the government asked Chief Judge Stefan R. Underhill to impose a period of incarceration on Ray George, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in May.

George is facing between 12 and 18 months in prison, a fine between $5,000 and $55,000 and up to three years of supervised release, according to the memorandum. 

The government’s request is that George receives a period of incarceration of up to 15 months. Additionally, the government is asking that George pays full restitution for the taxes he failed to report in addition to a period of supervised release after prison. 

“George’s crime was certainly not a crime borne of necessity,” the prosecutors wrote in the government sentencing memorandum.

The government pointed out in the memorandum that the Ray & Mike’s owner is a multi-millionaire with an investment portfolio worth over $3 million. George’s real-estate and rental holdings are worth over $1.7 million. Ray & Mike’s Deli was also valued at over $500,000, according to the memorandum.

The memorandum also states that George’s net worth is $4.3 million. The government uses all of these figures to demonstrate how George’s “scheme” was deliberate and not borne of the need for cash.

The government argues in the memorandum, that a prison sentence for George would not cause Ray & Mike’s to close. The prosecutors suggest that George could make arrangements to keep the deli open. 

These suggestions include hiring new employees to act as managers or promoting a current employee to act as a manager. Either of these options, according to the government, could be paid for by George’s $240,000 salary.

The government uses the extended duration of George’s offense as grounds for incarceration. 

“[George’s] crime was not one of limited duration,” the memorandum states.

During the 2012 and 2013 tax years, George failed to report $638,170, according to the memorandum, which resulted in a tax loss of $220,663. 

“If tax evaders were to face no real incarceration, then criminal tax fraud would amount to basically a loan from the Government,” the prosecutors wrote.

George is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 17. Stay with HQ Press for updates on George’s sentence. 

By Nick Slater

Ray George, owner of Ray & Mike’s Dairy and Deli, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 17.

George, 53,  pleaded guilty to tax evasion in May. In 2012 George underreported his income by over $365,000 and in 2013, he underreported by nearly $275,000, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office. George also failed to pay approximately $220,000 in taxes.

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines suggest a sentence of 12 to 18 months for George’s offense. The Guidelines also suggest a fine between $3,000 and $30,000 and up to three years of supervised release. The Guidelines also states that, in 2018 “roughly half of all tax evaders were sentenced to probation without imprisonment.”

In his sentencing memorandum, George’s attorney proposes a sentence less than the guidelines suggest. In fact, George’s attorney requests no sentence and no further fines, and gives multiple reasons explaining the request.

George paid the penalty for his offense, along with interest, which totaled to over $479,000, according to the defendant’s sentencing memorandum. Therefore, the attorney reasons, an additional fine is unnecessary.

Since George is a first time offender, his attorney argued that the likelihood for re-offense is low and that George is not a danger to his community. Not only did he accept responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty, he has also been cooperative with the IRS throughout the case, according to the defendant’s sentencing memorandum.

The last reason George’s attorney requests no prison sentence is because of the effect it would have on his employees. George has owned and operated the deli for almost 22 years. His employees would experience “severe financial hardship” if George was to be imprisoned, according to the memorandum.

By Hannah Tebo

It’s that time of year! If you are a Hamden resident and a registered Democrat and you want to make an impact on your community, come out to one of the nine different voting stations on Tuesday, Sep. 10, to cast your vote for the Democratic candidate for mayor. While bringing identification is not required, it is strongly encouraged.

Click HERE for information about your specific district.

 

 

By Adrianna Lovegrove

Councilwoman Lauren Garrett is a longtime Hamden resident who is in the running to become Hamden’s next democratic Mayor. The primary is on Tuesday Sept. 10 to determine who will be running against endorsed republican Jay Kaye in the general election.

Q: What was it that made you want to run?

LG: We have a lot of financial problems in Hamden and an economy that hasn’t really been growing at all for decades. And I sit on the council and see a lot of continuations of those bad financial decisions and as an engineer I can’t sit there and watch it happen. I’ve got to fix it. I decided to just get into it and try to fix this town so that we can move forward and build an economy that supports Hamden. 

 

Q: When you talk about those bad financial decisions, what are you talking about?

LG: A couple of years ago, Hamden took out bonds, borrowed money, to supplement the pension plan. They borrowed 125 million dollars. To sink into the pension fund and in doing so, they were required to invest in the pension fund with required payments. They’ve been kicking the can down the road on those payments and it’s putting us in a worse position for the pension plan. Any time that you don’t make a payment, it’s going to cost you more later because you don’t see growth in your pension plan that’s invested in the stock market and in other bonds. It’s a safe investment but if you’re not putting more money into it, you’re not seeing that growth. So now we’re actually in a position where we’re actually paying out more than we are putting into our pension because of the payments we have to make to retirees. 

 

In regards to our infrastructure, our budgets are being balanced by not doing infrastructure projects, closing those projects and then using that money to supplement our budget at the end of the year. 

 

Our debt is not being paid off as it should be. So, last year in the budgeting process there was a debt restructure that was done and instead of paying our regular debt payment they restructured over $40 million worth of debt for an interest only payment. So that payment is going up and we incurred more debt just by doing that debt restructure. 

 

So we are adding to our debt. We are deferring infrastructure. And our pension is growing and its liabilities. 

Garrett and the current mayor, Curt Leng discussed financial decisions during the first of two debates.

 

Q: So what is your plan to deal with that if you were to win?

LG: We need to make sure that we are funding our budget appropriately because right now we are in a situation where our fund balance, it’s like what your rainy day fund is, is at .61% of our operating budget. It should be between 6 and 10 percent of our operating budget for a healthy town. We’ve got to budget honestly and we also need to start getting to work on growing our economy so that the economy grows with the town.

When you have an economy that’s flat or declining for a couple of decades, it really hurts mill rate, the taxes and the town. We need to grow an economy that actually supports the rising costs of running the town. 

 

So that is my primary focus. Getting more economic development, bringing more business into Hamden. We really have to work with our partners, like Quinnipiac. We need to work with people who own commercial real estate in Hamden and make sure that we’re putting in businesses that attract foot traffic. 

 

Q: When you talk about bringing businesses to Hamden, what is your strategy to get them here?

LG: Well, we have a couple of tools at our disposal. So, one is a qualified opportunity zone. It’s a federal program that’s designated by census tract. This is the area of southern Hamden, from the border of New Haven, up to Putnam Ave and then from about Fairview to Newholm and this gives us access to money that we can use to develop southern Hamden and make it ripe for businesses wanting to come here. 

 

We have areas of town where we can simply put in some sewers north of Quinnipiac on Whitney Avenue. There are no sewers, so do businesses want to come here and put in septic? Nope. So there are some simple areas where we can put in a simple fix and generate growth. 

 

Q: On your website, you talk about wanting to eliminate the achievement gap. Why is that a priority and how do you plan on getting rid of it?

LG: We want to decrease the achievement gap. Everything we do in Hamden public schools should be to lift test scores for all of our students. We have great programming in our Hamden public schools for kids who are doing very well. AP tests, AP classes that give college credits to kids who pass the test. We’ve got a new  engineering program at Hamden High. It’s called HECA, Hamden Engineering Career Academy and there is so much being done for high achieving students, we need to make sure that we are also putting in  a lot of effort into making sure that students are coming to school. That we don’t have chronic absenteeism. We need to make sure we are giving students every tool available so that they can learn well in school. Making sure that they’re well fees. Making sure that they’re not going to school hungry. They have the supplies they need for the classroom. Everything we do needs to be about engaging our students and helping them develop into the career or college after school. 

 

Q: You talked about bringing in more diverse teachers because 61% of Hamden students are black or brown. How do you plan on bringing in more representation?

LG: I organized a panel discussion last January about recruiting and retaining more teachers of color and the Board of Education has some really great plans that they have developed since then. Their goal is to get some of their faculty who has a college degree already and put them on a path to getting their teachers certificate while being substitute teachers in our Hamden public schools. So they can be long term subs, they can go through all their professional development training that our teachers go through, while getting their teachers certificate. This can reduce the cost of our subs and it’s a great opportunity for us to encourage the minority faculty that we have already in our schools to have their teaching certificate and teach our kids. 

 

It doesn’t really address the overall percentage of our faculty. It’s a step in the right direction though. I’d also like to see active recruitment of black and brown teachers from HBCU’s and make sure that we are really seeking out these great teachers. I would be more than happy to go on a tour of schools recruiting some teachers for Hamden from schools. But we have to make sure funding is available earlier on in the season.

 

What typically happens in Hamden is that we don’t really know how many teaching spots we have available for the fall until pretty late in the summer. It’s a lot of last minute hiring and by then people have already made decisions about where they are going to go to school. We have to make sure that we are being more active earlier on in the season. 

 

Q: Quinnipiac and the town of Hamden have always had a rocky relationship. Where do you think that relationship comes from?

LG: Quinnipiac has a new president. That’s more of a clean slate that we’re working with there. I want to make sure we’re coming to the table with an understanding of each other’s goals and each others needs. I know that Quinnipiac wants to be a good partner and invest in Hamden but they want to do it in ways where they can put their stamp on it and say ‘Look what we’ve done for Hamden.’ For Curt Leng to put in his budget that Quinnipiac is going to give $2.2 million, that sets things off on a bad foot. We have to have those conversations in order to have a good working relationship instead of putting it out there in the press, putting it out there is a public document that this is what you’re demanding. 

 

In addition to that, he didn’t attend President Olian’s inauguration. That’s not a good way to start a relationship. 

 

Q: How do you plan on building a stronger relationship? 

LG: We need to have good communication. We are sharing goals and needs. It’s in Quinnipiac’s best interest to have Hamden in good financial standing as a town. And it’s in Hamden’s best interest to have a vibrant university as part of our town.

 

Q: You have built your campaign around the promise of financial responsibility. Can you explain what that means?

LG: It starts with a budget. So we need a budget that is honest. An honest representation of what we can expect for revenues and funds, honestly, what we are required to fund. And that’s not happening right now and as a result we are seeing deficits every single year. Last year, it was almost $10 million. And the way that it’s being solved at the end of the year is by not contributing what we should towards the pension as well as taking money that was borrowed to infrastructure repairs, not doing the repairs and then putting the borrowed money into the budget to offset expenses. 

 

Q: Overall, what has surprised you most about the campaign process?

LG: I was in full expectation in the amount of work that it would be. I knew this was going to be full-time, nights away from my family. I guess what was unexpected was maybe negativity. I have been focusing on the issues and focusing on communicating with voters and making sure that I am knocking on as many doors as possible. And I feel like that’s what it’s really going to take to win. I think when you have face to face conversations, there’s more respect in person and social media can just be a little bit nasty so sometimes that’s hurtful. 

 

Q: So speaking of negative. There was a Tesla incident a while ago. A lot people claimed that you endangered the lives of your children. What’s your response to that?

LG: I don’t think that the best decisions were made that night but I think that when people are the victims of crime, I don’t think they’re expected to act perfectly. Women get raped and then take a shower because they feel disgusting and destroy evidence. Are they doing the right thing? How can I judge them for that. There’s a lot of judgment for my family and we’re the victims of crime and I think it’s hard to think about how would you make these decisions. I don’t really like passing judgement on other people when that’s not my experience. 

 

Q: Looking back on the experience, was there anything you would have done differently?

LG: Of course but I’m trying not to victim blame or victim shame myself. I have friends who are mental health professionals who are constantly saying “don’t do that to yourself.” It’s not good for me to do those kind of things to myself. So, of course there are things that I would do differently if I was not a victim of a crime. But I am not concentrating on that. I’m trying to move one and what ultimately was the most harmful for me and my family was the negativity, the judgment and the shaming. My daughter was bullied the next day at school and that was the result of the social media negativity. 

Both candidates are looking to gain momentum prior to Tuesday’s primary election.

By Peter Dewey

HAMDEN — Democratic candidates Mayor Curt B. Leng and challenger Councilwoman At-Large Lauren Garrett engaged in a primary debate on Wednesday Sept. 4 at Thorton Wilder Hall, less than a week before the primary election.

The debate was put on by the League of Women Voters of Hamden-North Haven, with more than 200 people attending. Residents were able to submit written questions at the debate for review and submission to moderator Ray Andrewsen.

“I was very impressed with the turnout,” Rod Groff, a Hamden resident, said. “I haven’t seen the room this full before.”

The two candidates were able to advocate for their campaigns ahead of the Democratic primary election on Tuesday Sept. 10.

Leng and Garrett touched upon many issues including reducing pollution, preparing for storms, making schools safer, developing parts of town such as High Meadow and bringing more taxable businesses to Hamden.

However, the biggest issues stemmed from the town’s financial crisis where the two went back and forth for much of the debate.

Garrett: “I know what is keeping these people up at night.”

She discusses the problems with Hamden financially and with transparency in terms of the budget. #HamdenMayor pic.twitter.com/osdZWBsfG8

— HQ Press (@hq_press) September 4, 2019

“I guess overall I was a little underwhelmed,” Groff said. “There are a lot of big issues right now for Hamden. From what I’ve read our level of debt is [nearly a billion dollars]. I don’t feel like they really addressed that elephant in the room.”

While the New Haven Register reported in June that the town’s debt had climbed to $1.1 billion, the candidates didn’t quite offer solutions, but rather tried to justify their positions on the crisis.

“We have a five-year plan,” Leng said. “We have a ten-year plan and we have one-year plans. The problem with anything that you write down is it is going to evolve year to year. It is going to evolve when your revenues change and when your contracts change.”

Garrett, who first won a seat on the Legislative Council in 2017, has worked on approving where the town’s money is spent, enacting town ordinances, decreasing the budget and other things.

Garrett believes that Hamden must become more financially responsible in order to sustain itself over the long-term.

“There was a financial plan in 2015,” Garrett said. “Since then there has not been a financial plan. This has been demanded by the council and nothing has been delivered on that. If there is a financial plan and it’s not being shared, that is not transparency.”

Her campaign website cites improved spending of tax dollars as well as economic development as key issues to address.

“I have been working to bring transparency and accountability to our budgeting process in Hamden,” Garrett said in her opening statement. “I think we need to start having honest conversations with our residents about where we are at financially so that people can see when these types of high taxes are going to end.”

Despite Garrett’s questioning of the handling of the town’s budget as well as its sustainability, Leng was adamant that improvements were being made, telling the crowd multiple times to not fall into that “narrative.”

“We’ve worked towards fixing our pension fund,” Leng said. “Our pension fund was only nine percent funded a decade ago. It’s 38 percent funded now. We’ve put $64 million into the pension over the past four-plus years.”

While a number of issues were touched upon during the debate, Justin Farmer of the Hamden Town Council’s fifth district would’ve liked to have heard more from the candidates.

“We have long-term plans,” Farmer said. “The average mayor lasts for about six years so I wanted them to talk about longer term than five year plans, what things did they want to develop in the next ten years and set the trajectory to allow people to come in to set up and see [Hamden] grow.”

Farmer said he wished to hear the candidates talk more about issues already facing Hamden such as developing northern Hamden and affordable housing.

“Whatever financial hardships we have, it’s going to take awhile,” Farmer said. “But the light at the end of the tunnel, there has to be a plan.”

The two candidates also touched upon Hamden’s relationship with Quinnipiac, both citing the fact that too many students are in residential neighborhoods.

“It’s a real challenge,” Leng said, as he explained that it is too easy for student housing permits to be renewed despite there being multiple violations. “The State of Connecticut needs to empower towns to be able to reject a permit renewal based on bad behavior. We can’t do it now and it is really, really needed.”

Lauren Garrett on Quinnipiac: pic.twitter.com/QTC770T7aM

— HQ Press (@hq_press) September 4, 2019

Leng also cited some positives, stating that Quinnipiac President Judy Olian has shown a dedication to supporting the community and that the university is a large driver in the town’s economy.

“We should be asking ‘How do we embrace the fact that we are a college town?’” Farmer said. “We have Quinnipiac, we have Yale, we have Southern down the street, how do we embrace that culture as a college town rather than have this narrative that students are so horrible?”

Mayor Leng on Quinnipiac: pic.twitter.com/XCn8UTbAjz

— HQ Press (@hq_press) September 4, 2019

Leng is looking to begin his third full term as mayor, should he win the primary and the general election. While the incumbent received the endorsement from the Democratic Town Committee, Garrett was able to petition for a primary election, receiving over 1,200 signatures. 

Leng has already been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, despite the fact that most federal officials wait until after the primary election to endorse a candidate.

In addition to DeLauro, former State Senate candidate Jorge Cabrera also endorsed Leng for mayor this week. 

“I’m looking forward to voting on Tuesday,” Groff said. “But I’m also looking forward to hearing the other side and seeing what the Republicans put forward for November. I’ll definitely come to that debate as well.” 

Leng and Garrett will face off in another debate on Friday Sept. 6 at Whitney Center at 8:30 a.m. Registration and a $20 fee is required. See the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce for more details.

The winner of the Sept. 10 primary election will be pinned up against Republican nominee Jay Kaye in the November election on Nov. 5.