UPDATE: Moales’ campaign statement. The campaign of State Senate candidate Ken Moales says they welcome the support of political activists turned off by the $140,000 that Democratic-endorsed Richard DeJesus owes in personal property taxes on businesses, as well as his child support issues. Turns out Kingdom’s Little Ones Daycare for which Moales serves as chief executive officer owes $10,000 in personal property taxes going back to 2007, according to city tax records.
OIB reached out to Moales’ campaign for comment about taxes owned on the Stratford Avenue daycare facility. A campaign spokesman claims the daycare facility is tax-exempt, as a result “there is a specific form that needs to be updated every three years. Unfortunately, the assigned administrative personnel assigned to executing the renewal of this particular form at KLO did not complete this task.”
According to city tax records, however, taxes owed go back to 2007. No paperwork has been filed to reflect the tax-exempt status claimed. Moales has subsidiaries of his Cathedral of the Holy Spirit that are tax-exempt.
Moales is a petitioning candidate for the February 24 State Senate special election to replace Andres Ayala, the commissioner of the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
In the wild world of city politics, back tax issues for two candidates have taken center stage in a city that desperately needs the revenue. It undercuts a candidate’s effort to claim the high road on economics and tax reform, unless, of course, candidates argue not paying taxes is a credential for seeking office, as DeJesus has suggested.
It allows opponents to raise the question, Why are taxes so high in Bridgeport? Maybe because DeJesus and Moales don’t pay their taxes.
The reality is when it comes to personal property taxes, the levied equipment inside a taxable facility, the city has done very little to chase deadbeats, placing a priority instead on real estate back taxes.
Moales, a member of the school board, has been a lightning rod in city politics in recent years, particularly when he served as head of the Board of Education. He served as Bill Finch’s campaign treasurer for Finch’s first two runs for mayor. But then tax and foreclosure issues about Moales surfaced. He no longer serves as Finch’s campaign treasurer as the mayor seeks a third four-year term this year.
City tax records show past-due personal property taxes for Kingdom’s Little Ones Daycare going back to 2007 and rising.
Working Families Party candidate Ed Gomes and petitioning candidate Charles Hare are also in the race.
More on Moales from Jonathan Pelto here
Statement from Kirk Wesley, Moales’ campaign manager:
Kingdom Little Ones is a tax-exempt entity; however for personal property taxes, items such as computers, tables, desks, etc, there is a specific form that needs to be updated every three years. Unfortunately, the assigned administrative personnel assigned to executing the renewal of this particular form at KLO did not complete this task.
As a leader in 21st century Early Childhood Education in urban communities, Pastor Moales oversees four daycares, and sometimes, even though he would like to, he can’t do involved in all the minor details, such as filing tax-exempt forms.
This is a minor clerical error and will be resolved before the day’s end, and once the forms are updated any taxes accumulated retroactively will be forgiven. This is a common filing mistake that happens regularly with non-profits and churches.
WOWWW, these guys make me look like a saint! lol.
Big Daddy, I don’t know who you are, but you’re certainly not Ernie Newton. I’ve known Ernie for 40 years and Ernie had never hidden behind the cloak of anonymity. Your name may be Ernie, but be a man or woman and use your real name.
DD, Ernie Newton has used Big Daddy as a recognized handle for some time. He usually identifies himself when he uses it. I’ve updated it to reflect Ernie’s name.
A saint? I’m known for my vision but no matter how many times I look, I cannot see the halo over Ernie Newton’s head.
Any comment from the Mayor’s office? His former treasurer? A BOE member? I think we are owed an explanation from the mayor on both of these fine DEMOCRATS, Moales and DeJesus. Wow. Just wow.
WWJD? GET OUT!!!
Without any doubt Mayor Finch must speak out on both Moales and DeJesus, on these men who already are holding elected positions and now they are seeking to be state senator. With Moales who was Finch’s campaign treasurer the question becomes what do you know about this tax issue and went did you know it? I believe Rev. Moales has a degree in business and seeing as he is doing business with the City one would think this tax issue would have been addressed in some form like a payment plan since this goes back to 2007. Time will tell (JML).
Lennie, this story should include the over $20,000 that is outstanding on CT payroll taxes. The state of CT is a plaintiff in Moales’ $8 million foreclosure because they have a lien on his church properties including the buildings where the daycares are housed. He wants to serve in the legislature to decide how our taxes are spent but he has over $20,000 in unpaid state taxes. What an absolute buffoon.
State payroll taxes are his employees’ money withheld from their wages. He has a duty to pass those funds on to the State. To fail to do so is theft. Thou shalt not steal.
Moales and DeJesus are sorry excuses for politicians and both need to be ashamed of themselves for running for the State Senate with the baggage they bring. When is Mayor Finch going to demand they both either pay their back taxes or get the hell out of this election? Mayor Finch, act like a leader even if you’re not!
Donald Day, ditto. Most people lose their properties. I have been there. How these guys are still in possession is beyond me. They need to disappear for a time.
Donald Day, ditto! Finch needs to man up on this but more likely will keep sucking up on his gratuitous better every day junk that no one believes anyway (and for which we pay). Between these two candidates and the not a high priority quote he or one of his many press people he/we employ made on his behalf, that he doesn’t care about the conflict of interest bill, it’s clear he is clueless. Like we didn’t know that before. Man up, Bill! Who is your candidate??? Stand for something, somewhere besides green stuff (which we pay for).
Is it possible Finch wants Moales to run so the minority vote gets split between the two and DeJesus wins as has happened in the past between Ernie and Ed. Both DeJesus and Moales should step down.
Bingo! Who is the puppet master behind this three-ring circus? (Get it?)
Moales is an embarrassment–to his congregation, to the legacy of his father, to the BOE and to the city. He knows no shame.
How desperate, arrogant or just plain stupid does Finch have to be to support DeJesus and Moales?
Not really a high bar for submitting your name for public office these days, is it? I may be partisan here but the Bridgeport Democratic Party isn’t exactly distinguishing itself these days now, is it? I’d go as far as to say patently indefensible. Mr. Smith goes to Washington this is not. Yikes.
CC, there’s isn’t any reason for Moales to run other than to split the black vote a la Ernie. No one can make me believe Moales thinks, feels or believes he has a legitimate chance to win this election based on all the negative press on him lately.
I think the black folk of Bridgeport are a little smarter than that. Quote me on that.
I’d suggest a ficus tree be proposed, an idea first proposed by Michael Moore.
——
Moore pointed out the advantages of a Ficus. All it needs is air, sunlight, water and a little fertilizer (which the Ficus “should find plenty of in Washington”).
In addition, “I’ve seen a lot of politicians lie, cheat, steal and use improper syntax. I have never met one who can perform photosynthesis.”
——-
www .youtube.com/watch?v=wqa_bhwA-1E
www .democracynow.org/2000/6/7/ficus_for_congress
Let’s turn something bad for our city–namely, the prospect of Moales or DeJesus being elected to the state senate for a large portion of our city–into something good–helping Ed Gomes get elected to the State Senate on February 24th.
Please e-mail me to get a donation form for Ed Gomes State Senate 2015 peterdspain@gmail.com
It’s funny how Finch can talk about ex-felons but tell me and Joe we have no rights at all. Have you noticed Finch has said nothing about DeJesus, Moales and Richard P? I guess if you are on the plantation of Master Finch you are OK!
Big Daddy is Ernie Newton!
Okay, Big Daddy is gone! Ernie Newton is here! Okay Don.
Where is the pot of tar and feathers in this City? Tax cheating on top of every other improper citizenship displayed by Moales and DeJesus must be a last straw.
Yesterday I spend 45 minutes at the Town Clerk’s office looking at Back Tax listings for 2012. I am not sure how often this book is updated, if at all, since there was no Foreword providing explanation.
However, I did see Council member DeJesus listed several times including a residence address without observing any Noble Ave address. I also saw a notice for a former City Council person defeated in the primary two years ago and a City employee at the time for over $4,000. Finally I noted the name of one of the most frequent posters on this site (and who has posted in this thread) in an amount of nearly $2,000.
That being said, getting behind on taxes is not the absolute worst thing in the world, but if it can be avoided it should be because the interest expense, all alone, is so hurtful. Followed by liens and other legal process, all expensive. Also, each of these people may have already settled their obligation or proved the City was in error, but the paper report does not show any resolution.
I would like to suggest a change in procedure here in the City would indicate any elected official, anyone appointed to a Board or Commission, and any City employee who is behind in their taxes. Notice to run on the City website so as to cause the City no extra expense, and name to be removed immediately when full settlement has been made. If the name is to be removed for any other reason, the amount and the reason for removal should be maintained on the public site for two weeks. That provides a way of informing the public how things work. And that, dear taxpayer, would be a significant public service.
Finally, is it possible to require all those nominated for elective office to make a statement about how current they are on local property taxes and fees, State income taxes, and Federal obligations? Time will tell.
Dear Pastor Kenneth Moales, Jr.,
On behalf of the City of Bridgeport, I would like to offer our most sincere apologies for mistakes made while handing your tax problem. It was a gross oversight for which we accept full responsibility.
To remedy this situation, we have already fixed our original error of taxes owed ($10,000) and will be offering you a refund of $666. We try our best not to make mistakes, but when they happen, we try to fix them!
I hope this will make amends for the mistakes that were made. Rest assured, your unfortunate experience has helped us identify a major problem in our tax department, which has now been fixed.
If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at 203-576-7271 and, on behalf of all of us in the tax department, we are truly sorry!
The Tax Collector
City of Bridgeport
Is this the $600 tax refund to every citizen plus interest???
Now that is cleared up, let’s move on to DeJesus’ letter.
Ron, what DeJesus letter?
Maria, the same letter Jimfox has written above for Pastor Kenneth Moales.
Jimfox // Jan 29, 2015 at 5:06 pm
So WHAT’S NEXT?
Dear Mr. Richard Dejesus:
On behalf of the City of Bridgeport, I would like to offer our most sincere apologies for mistakes made. While handing your tax problem, it was a gross oversight for which we accept full responsibility.
To remedy this situation, we have already fixed our original error of taxes owed ($140,000) and will be offering you a refund of $40.12. We try our best not to make mistakes, but when they happen, we try to fix them!
I hope this will make amends for the mistakes that were made. Rest assured, your unfortunate experience has helped us identify a major problem in our tax department, which has now been fixed.
If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at 203-576-7271 and, on behalf of all of us in the tax department, we are truly sorry!
The Tax Collector
City of Bridgeport
CC
Bill Finch
Stevie Auerbach
Tom McCarthy
Rev. McCluster
Hamilton Burger
Lennie Grimaldi
The Troll
Ed Gomes
Jimfox, you have made it easy for Hamilton Burger because all he has to do is to copy the letters above and mail them to Moales and DeJesus. Time will tell (JML).
Ron, you’re right! Lol.
My synopsis.
Right after the Anthony Musto defeat, Mayor Finch and Gov. Malloy had a sit-down to discuss the future of Finch’s chances against Mayor Joe Ganim now that Mayor John Fabrizi was out of the race and the Fabrizi poll showed Ganim with a good chance of beating Finch in the August primary.
Malloy and Finch knew then and there, the only way Finch could beat Joe Ganim is with a new law on the books, prohibiting felons from running for public office, since Finch had very little chance in securing a DTC victory against Joe Ganim.
So now they needed a few Bridgeport legislators to make it work, hoping Grogins and Ayala will put forth a Get Ganim Bill. Obviously they both refused, nor would they (Grogins, Ayala) sponsor the Malloy and Finch Get Ganim Bill.
So now the obvious thing to do is to create two vacancies, and to move Ayala to the DMV and Grogins goes up for the State Judgeship she always wanted anyway. Now they need two new people to take their places!
Enter Pullman & Comley LLC. No! No! Oh! I mean Steven Stafstrom and Richard Dejesus! The new kid on the block fresh out of Fairfield and the nephew of past DTC Chairman John Strafstrom, and Richie Dejesus “I’ll pay my $140,000 in back taxes, and feed my kids, when I get to Hartford as your next State Senator!”
You remember John Strasftrom the one who has an 18% Finch tax break on his home on Brooklawn Ave from the 2008 revaluation. You can’t forget the famous Bill Finch quote “some people’s taxes will go up, and some people’s taxes will go down.” Finch was talking about John and his other friends at the time. Not you!
John Stafstrom and Steve Stafstrom both work for Pullman & Comely, who handles all the contract work and bonding for the city of Bridgeport, as well as the State of Connecticut, something like that. No conflict here, folks!
Now keep in mind we also have the Moore-Hennessy bill coming up! HB 5886.
Now if Joe Ganim beats Bill Finch for Mayor, how long will it be before John Stafstrom’s taxes go back up like his neighbors? Just about the same time Pullman and Comley LLC will no longer be the Bond Counsel for the City of Bridgeport! So that’s why little Stevie wants to be our next State Rep. from 129th.
So little Stevie Stafstrom has his work cut out for him, he has to Co-Sponsor a Get Joe Ganim Bill, and fluck up the Hennessy-Moore Bill HB 5886 with amendments like a grandfather clause or a Get Joe Ganim Bill.
I have not taken my meds today, and I refuse to!
Jimfox, who is going to give Finch a job after his defeat?
Ron, Only Malloy!
As a toll collector!
No! Never mind, he’ll be skimming off the top!
Rev. Moales has a business degree plus he has stated he’s a millionaire so it makes one wonder how he could be a state senator when he doesn’t care about the finance of Bridgeport and he shows he is a terrible business executive because he doesn’t have a checks and balance in place. Now he wants the voters to trust him in dealing with state tax dollars, please!!!