Mr. Ward recently wrote a letter listing the accomplishments of M.O.P.A. and noted its dissolution. I am the current head of the Proprietary House Association and in that capacity I had attended several M.O.P.A. meetings between February and June of 2013. This is the reason that I had contacted the City administration to inquire about the rumor that the group had been dissolved and to ask what happened to their funds. I was advised that it was the position of the administration that M.O.P.A. was an independent body and that I should contact them. I sent a letter to their mailing address 260 High St. A short time later I received an email from the administration informing me that a meeting was going to be held to dissolve M.O.P.A. I would have liked to attend the meeting but as with most of their meetings it was held in the afternoon.
I would first like to point out that Mr. Ward is a past president of the Association, but he was removed for cause and has not spoken for the Association in a number of years. In his letter Mr. Ward stated that he liquidated M.O.P.A.’s bank account and sent token payments of $1.00 to each of the three museums in the City. I have received his check for $1.00 and a copy of a bank statement showing a balance of approximately $59.00 for December 2013.
The reason that I inquired about the finances of M.O.P.A. is that on two separate occasions they solicited donations stating the intended purpose of benefiting the Proprietary House and or the Association.
A request for donations was made on City stationary with the City seal and with the mayor’s name to support a year- long celebration of the 250th anniversary of the building of the House. As I had stated previously the City states that they are an independent body and indeed they are a New Jersey Non-Profit corporation. It would appear to me that City stationary was used to create the belief that this was a City sponsored organization. I must also point out that there was no yearlong celebration.
In January of 2013 a letter was sent out seeking donations for repairs to the damage done to the Proprietary House by Sandy so that the museum could be reopened. There was no damage to the House and the Museum was never closed. Mr. Ward did send a letter to the state offering to pay for some needed repairs to the building, none of these repairs were required by Sandy and all repairs have been made without any assistance from M.O.P.A.
Mr. Ward also stated that grants were made to all three museums in the City. Since we knew of no such grant to either the Association or the state I asked Mr. Ward what he was talking about. He stated that over $600.00 was spent on a lobbying effort for the passage of a bill that would bring state monies to the Association. The issue of the bill is much too complicated to get into here. I have no idea what these lobbying efforts consisted of.
The February meeting which I attended had a treasurer’s report and a statement from Mr. Ward that several thousands of dollars were raised as a result of this letter about Sandy damage.
I am seeking to find out what happened to the money raised in name of the Proprietary House, because we had not seen any of it.
One last point I would like to make is that Mr. Ward stated that M.O.P.A. was responsible for the renewed ceremonial ringing of the Liberty bell on the Fourth of July. He is clearly very mistaken. The ringing of the bell was revived in July of 2001, at the request of Mr. Livingston a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration. The first few years of this ceremony was a small affair done by myself and Pastor Wayne Brady and grew as time went on.
In 2009 when M.O.P.A. became involved I was uninvited from participating.
As a representative of the Proprietary House Association I would like to know what happened to the money raised in our name and have not received a satisfactory answer to that question.
If there is anyone who would like to know more about the Proprietary House Association or have questions about what I have said, please contact me at davidszilagyi@comcast.net.
Sincerely,
David Szilagyi
President Proprietary House Association
