Japanese center's sale on hold
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
A controversial plan to sell the Japanese Cultural Center was temporarily halted during a membership meeting yesterday, and board members agreed to launch a last-ditch campaign to try to keep the building.
One member stood up during the meeting and pledged a donation of a half million dollars toward keeping the center in its current location.
The proposal to sell the 8-year-old Mo'ili'ili building that houses the center failed to gain approval at yesterday's meeting because there was not a quorum of members who submitted their votes in person, board members said.
Although nearly a thousand ballots were submitted, bylaws require that at least 20 percent of those voting — or 195 people — be present, board secretary Ronald Ushijima announced shortly after the 10 a.m. meeting began.
Those present numbered 129; the remaining ballots were submitted by proxy.
Board members did not reveal whether the measure would have been defeated or passed based on those ballots submitted, but the lack of a quorum effectively vetoed the sale under consideration.
The potential buyer had offered to purchase the building for $11 million — $2 million more than the $9 million the center needed to pay off debts and forestall foreclosure on the building. Conditions of the sale, however, required the bid to be accepted yesterday.
During the remainder of the meeting, members discussed whether selling the building was appropriate, or whether other measures should be considered.
Board chairman Donald M. Takaki said the board had wanted to sell the center because foreclosure was looming at the end of the year.
"And that would be a disaster," he said. "The very end. We would have no more credibility with the banks."
Selling the building, paying off the debt and starting again seemed like the most reasonable way to keep the Japanese Cultural Center intact, Takaki said.
A group that had formed earlier this month to examine means of keeping the building, the Committee to Save the Center, had encouraged members to vote against the sale until board members could convince the membership that less drastic means of meeting the debt had been exhausted.
During yesterday's meeting, members of that group and their supporters spoke in favor of approaching members of the Japanese American community in Hawai'i, Japanese sponsors overseas and the community at large here and on the Mainland for donations to help cover the debt.
Beyond that, they said, more extensive fund-raising should be planned on an annual basis to keep center finances in the black.
Glenn Masunaga, a Honolulu orthodontist, stood up and pledged a half million dollars toward keeping the center in its present location.
"I'll write you a check," he said.
Masunaga said he made the pledge on behalf of himself and two other people, associates of the Makiki Japanese Language School.
Colbert Matsumoto, a recently appointed board member who is also a member of the Committee to Save the Center, said he was shocked to discover the extent of the center's financial problems.
"We've got to make an all-out effort to keep it," he said. "We've got to reach deep into our pockets and we have to make sure we have exhausted every possible option."
Center president and executive director Susan Kodani said an ad hoc committee was formed to join the Committee to Save the Center and consider options for fund-raising.
While efforts are under way to set up the appropriate means of fund-raising, Save the Center leader and Japanese Cultural Center member Albert Miyasato said those who wish to pledge money or have their names placed on a contact list may call him at 595-4574.
Meanwhile, Kodani said she planned to talk to the potential buyer to see if she could keep the option to sell the center open.
Kodani refused to name the potential buyer, but several people connected with the Japanese Cultural Center and with the proposed sale said New Hope Christian Fellowship had been the prospective buyer. Officials for New Hope could not be reached for comment.
