Connecticut court OKs receiver for Amistad America; organization vows to cooperate
By Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register, Conn. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
An order approved by
The order places full control of Amistad America in the hands of the state's receiver,
Sacks has operated a law practice since 2001 and has extensive experience as a court-approved receiver in
"In addition to assuming all responsibilities for the day-to-day maintenance and operations of the Amistad, Attorney Sacks will work with the
The 79-foot official
"This is an important and necessary step to assure the people of
"We look forward to continuing our work with the Attorney General and to working with the receiver to protect this state asset," Malloy said.
Jepsen said the Amistad "is an important piece of
"We will seek to continue the receivership until the public can be assured that its money is being properly used and accounted for and that a plan exists for the organization to responsibly carry out its mission into the future," Jepsen said.
He said that "substantial challenges" remain for the Amistad, "not least of which are designing an appropriate governing structure for the organization and identifying consistent and adequate sources for its operational funding."
"Success is not guaranteed, but today's action is a necessary first step and one that can give the state the confidence needed to continue expending funds allocated for the Ship's operations," Jepsen said.
"I am especially grateful to Mayor Harp and the
Jepsen said state officials "also appreciate the cooperation of the Amistad's existing staff, crew and directors both in ensuring the continuity of the ship's programming under the direction of the receiver and in developing long term plans for the ship's operations."
Jepsen said, "Continuity of operations is essential, and we do not expect the receivership to interfere in any way the Amistad's currently planned schedule of activities, including its planned visit to
Amistad America's Executive Director
"Having a direct link between the organization and the state to approve funding and ultimately address the concerns of taxpayers is exactly what we need," Washington said.
The Amistad, which spent last weekend in
"To commemorate the anniversary, Amistad America plans to have the freedom schooner Amistad at
State Sen.
"It is a shame that years of lax oversight by this administration has put such an important educational and cultural asset at risk and possibly resulted in the squandering of taxpayer dollars," Fasano said. "It is essential that we protect and preserve the Amistad for future generations. I am grateful to the Attorney General for his thorough review and action on this matter.
"By appointing an independent receiver, we can ensure the survival of the Amistad and verify that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and put to best use," Fasano said.
State Rep.
"I'm very happy that they're not closing that investigation," Urban said.
"The bottom line is, it needed to happen," Urban said of the receivership. "The whole organization needs to be built up from the bottom again. We need people that have experience with finance. Amistad was in deficit in 2006-2007 to the tune of
"So basically, they were playing catch-up all the time," she said.
"With the state stopping the funding, no one is going to invest in that ... because the ship is sinking," she said, referring to Amistad's need to raise additional funding each year to support expenses not covered by the state. "No foundation, no investor is going to put money into that organization until it has a board of directors and a CEO who have experience running a tall ship."
A press release Urban sent out also was issued by state Rep.
Amistad America's tax-exempt status with the
"Audits released earlier this month accounted for the significant amount of state funds invested in the vessel over several years, but faulted the organization for lacking the controls necessary to ensure proper accounting and recordkeeping," the state's release said.
Ocean Classroom announced last month that it is going out of business, unable to sustain its 20-year-old model operating educational programs on three older, tall ships, all of which need major repairs.
The state froze payments on Amistad's
The state is still reviewing them and the funding remains frozen.
Built in 1999 at a cost of
La Amistad was seized as salvage by the USS Washington near
After trials in
The latter-day Amistad has cost the state nearly
Washington took over at Amistad America on
She has said she knows that Amistad needs to make changes in order to get back on a firm footing.
The balance of the Amistad's summer schedule includes trips to the
On
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