Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

In recent years Paul Puzzo has received more than $100,000 in annual compensation as vice president of business development and community affairs at the Community Renewal Team, the Hartford region's anti-poverty agency �- but he rarely appears at the office, and doesn't have a desk there.

Puzzo, CEO of the anti-poverty agency until 2005, has a contract with CRT that runs through the end of 2013, although he spends a significant amount of time in Florida, a Courant investigation has found.

Puzzo's mail now is forwarded from his longtime home in East Hampton to Stuart, Fla., where since 1993 he and his wife have owned a waterfront condominium unit on a cove sheltered from the nearby Atlantic Ocean, on a spit of land roughly 40 miles north of Palm Beach, records show.

Both Puzzos registered to vote there on Jan. 17 � the same day Puzzo, 68, applied for a "Florida Homestead Exemption," local officials told The Courant. Under that "Homestead Exemption," a property owner can gain significant property tax savings if he declares that his Florida home is his or his dependent's "permanent residence."

Puzzo's long-distance arrangement with CRT was explained in one of several recent emails from the organization's spokeswoman, Director of External Affairs Nancy Pappas: "Mr. Puzzo is actively engaged on behalf of the organization and is in contact with the management team on an as-needed basis."

"It is important to note," Pappas wrote, that "Mr. Puzzo's compensation package is funded only by non-federal and non-state sources. Money comes from unrestricted private, local and corporate funding, as well as CRT's performance-based programs."

Asked Friday what steps are taken to document that he works an average of 35 hours a week � which the agency has reported to the IRS in annual filings that maintain its tax exempt status � Pappas said she didn't know.

Puzzo's arrangement raises questions about what CRT said would happen after he stepped down as CEO in late 2005 � a move that followed findings by federal auditors that the agency's top salaries, including Puzzo's more than $300,000 in pay and fringe benefits in 2002, were too much for an agency that operates Head Start preschool programs.

At the time, CRT Board Chairman Fernando Betancourt said publicly that Puzzo's 40 years of experience with CRT and community contacts were assets too valuable to lose overnight, and that Puzzo would be paid $85,000 a year under a contract running through the end of 2013, when he plans to retire.

Higher Pay

But Puzzo's compensation has exceeded $100,000 in at least two years since 2005, records show.

His 2007 compensation was $102,714, along with $23,591 in "contributions to employee benefit plans & deferred compensation plans," according to CRT's Form 990 return to the IRS as a tax-exempt organization. CRT's Form 990 for 2009 showed corresponding compensation figures of $102,793 and $33,738 for Puzzo.

Pappas maintained that "the rate of pay is still $85,000" for Puzzo. When asked to account for the $17,000 difference between $85,000 and the compensation figures shown on the IRS forms, she said that Puzzo's 2009 compensation figure of $102,793 represented taxable items including "salary, distribution from a deferred compensation plan, and benefits."

Other recent years' filings � including the most recent, for 2010 � don't even show Puzzo's compensation, which Pappas said was "because the 990 only lists the top grossing employees. At that time, he was not one of our three top grossing employees."

CRT refuses to release current salary figures as a state agency would have to. It does not consider itself a public agency subject to the state's Freedom of Information law, Pappas said, even though most of its funding is from state and federal government sources. Therefore, details about Puzzo's compensation involved asking the agency for clarification of the limited information that appears in the Form 990s.

Pappas said in an email that the board wanted to keep Puzzo on the payroll after 2005 because "under Mr. Puzzo's leadership, CRT had grown to be one of the largest, most financially secure and most respected agencies of its type in the country. The Board saw this experience as invaluable to support the transition to a new CEO and, longer term, to preserve the many national relationships he had cultivated to benefit CRT and the other community action agencies in Connecticut.

"The Board was interested in continuing to leverage his skills and experience in growing the organization to meet future challenges, by making him the Vice President, Business Development and Community Affairs for CRT, and working closely with The Meadows Real Estate Management and Development Corporation, which is a CRT affiliate."

Pappas said that "Mr. Puzzo's role at CRT was always viewed as a consultancy agreement between him and the Board with duties that could be performed offsite, which explains why he did not maintain an office at CRT or would not appear on an organizational chart."

Strife, Scrutiny

The inner workings and finances of the $80-million-a-year non-profit agency have received increased attention in the past two weeks, since a disclosure in the Courant of the resignation under duress last month of Trish Donovan, CRT's $100,000-plus chief operating officer

Donovan claimed in a Jan. 15 letter to CRT's governing board that current CEO Lena Rodriguez, who succeeded Puzzo, forced her to quit after accusing her of improper behavior. Donovan denied any impropriety, and said the reason she was ousted was that she cooperated with, and furnished documents to, state auditors who were looking into a complaint about financial improprieties.

That complaint, written by a former CRT employee in April 2011, said that money was being diverted improperly inside the agency from one grant program to another. The auditors say that they turned over the case to state Attorney General George Jepsen's office in September. Jepsen's office is said to be investigating, although he won't comment.

Speaking for CRT, Betancourt said Donovan's claims were "nothing more than the views of a disgruntled former employee" and denied the misuse of grant money.

No one would say how much time Puzzo spends in Connecticut vs. Florida or elsewhere � or how many days he has spent in the CRT office in recent years. Pappas said it's fair to say he's "rarely" at CRT but unfair to say "almost neverPappas said Puzzo can be reached on the phone; CRT provides him with a cell phone, she said.

In the past week, the Courant called the CRT office at 555 Windsor St. in Hartford, and asked for Puzzo. A person who picked up the call offered to take a message. When The Courant called again and asked if Puzzo had been in the office during the week, the response was the same: another offer to take a message. Puzzo did not return calls.

The Mail Trail

In an effort to ask Puzzo some questions, The Courant mailed him a certified letter on Feb. 2. It was addressed to his lakefront home in East Hampton, roughly a half-hour's drive from CRT's office in Hartford. The letter was forwarded during the following week to his home in Stuart, Fla., where it was delivered Friday, according to theU.S. Postal Service's "track and confirm" website for certified mail.

"I received your letter of [inquiry]. Please refer all questions directly to the Community Renewal Team," Puzzo said in an email to The Courant Friday.

Asked for documentation of Puzzo's work activities and his hours � including phone logs, or paperwork for projects he's worked on � Pappas provided none. CRT wouldn't release employment and retirement agreements that it has with Puzzo � agreements that are mentioned in a recent report issued by the independent auditing firm that the organization pays to go over its books, in accordance with federal standards. The agreements outline "duties and responsibilities" that Puzzo is expected to perform, the audit report says � but, again, CRT did not agree to the Courant's request to see the agreements that are referred to in the report.

Pappas wrote: "Mr. Puzzo's 40 years of knowledge about community action, and relationships at the state and national level, are valuable to CRT in several ways. He represents CRT on the board of the Connecticut Community Action Foundation, and is a founder and board member of Northeast Institute for Quality Community Action (NIQCA). His continued activities on behalf of the Agency include meetings with community leaders, identification of possible funding opportunities, and leads on properties for siting programs. It is valuable to have Mr. Puzzo's 22 years of experience in community action on both the state and national levels."

Puzzo has been on the Community Action Foundation board for about two years, which has involved attendance at two annual meetings and perhaps other occasional meetings and communications, the organization's secretary/treasurer, Michael A. Gurecka, said Friday.

Puzzo holds what the Northeast Institute for Quality Community Action lists as an "emeritus" position on its advisory board. "He's a non-voting member" and "doesn't represent any organization," the Boston-based organization's executive director, William A. Hunter, said Friday. Hunter had the impression that Puzzo is "retired," adding that it's "kind of just an honorary position." Asked if Puzzo goes to board meetings, Hunter said, "He does occasionally, but he's non-voting."

A former administrator of CRT housing services programs, M. Steven Gosselin, said in an interview that after Puzzo stepped down as CEO in December 2005 he almost never saw Puzzo during his periodic stops in the main Hartford office.

Gosselin, who said he was laid off in the summer of 2010, said he and other employees thought the arrangement was, in effect, a retirement. He said he knew Puzzo had appeared at an annual meeting, but he and other employees had heard he was often in Florida.

"I don't understand even why they're calling it a job," Gosselin said.

Comfortable Retirement

When his current employment arrangement concludes at the end of 2013, Puzzo can look forward to a generous retirement package. Here is what the recent report by CRT's independent auditor says about it: "CRT will provide an annual supplemental retirement plan benefit of $100,000 in each of the years 2014 through 2016, with an $85,000 annual supplemental benefit payable thereafter for the remainder of his life." His retirement benefits also would include medical and dental coverage "at no cost" to Puzzo.

Pappas was asked if the annual "supplemental retirement" payments of $100,000 and $85,000 would be in addition to any other pension or other payments already coming to him � such as payments from a 403(b) tax-advantaged retirement savings plan to which she said he has been making contributions.

She would not answer. Nor would she say whether CRT matches his contributions to that plan, which is available to certain employees of nonprofit organizations. "I'm not going to be able to provide any further information concerning Paul's compensation or retirement package," she said. "[A]ll aspects were thoroughly reviewed by Compensation Resources, Inc., an independent compensation consulting firm that was retained by the Board�."

Pappas was asked why she had said "it's important to note" that Puzzo's compensation doesn't come from state or federal funds, in light of the fact that she acknowledged that CRT could not continue to exist without those funds. Her answer: "It is imperative that our funders and the public clearly understand that all of CRT's public funds go directly into the services for which they were awarded."

"In fact," Pappas added, "our audit shows that more than 93 cents of every dollar received go to participant benefits, with less than 7 cents for administrative costs. CRT is committed to financial transparency, efficient operations, and to safeguarding the trust of our community. All of the Agency's activities are audited annually by independent auditors, and CRT has received unqualified opinions for more than 10 years, with no material weaknesses nor significant control deficiencies."

Courant Senior Information Specialist Cristina Bachetti contributed to this report.

Jon Lender is a reporter on The Courant's investigative desk, with a focus on government and politics. Contact him at jlender@courant.com, 860-241-6524, or c/o The Hartford Courant, 285 Broad St., Hartford, CT 06115 and find him on Twitter@jonlender.