Losing candidates critical
of Japanese center’s election
Some candidates who lost bids for the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii board of directors are critical of the recent election.
"They came up with a slate that didn't really mirror the community in age and mixtures of people," said candidate Billy Rose.
But center officials said the contested election is a sign of change at the center. "It shows that people are interested and concerned," said Colbert Matsumoto, chairman of the Committee to Save the Center, which helped find financing to stave off bankruptcy.
The Japanese Cultural Center held its first contested election since its inception in 1987. Four -- the ones not on the board's slate -- of the 15 candidates failed in the election for 11 board seats for fiscal 2004.
A total of 708 ballots were submitted out of the center's 2,002 members. The terms of the new board members start July 1.
The center decided to reduce the size of its board to 15 from 34 members. Eleven board positions were elected. Three members have been selected by the center's nominating committee, and one member will be appointed by the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce.
Earlier last year, former board members expressed the need to have multigenerational and multicultural individuals on the board to help broaden community participation at the center when it faced foreclosure due to a $9 million debt in construction and improvement loans.
"It seems to me that the slate of the people that they picked are the same people that actually presided or should be responsible for the financial crisis last fall," said Rose, 50, who is of Japanese and Italian descent. "It kind of has that flavor as 'business as usual.'"
"I was hopeful that at least one of us would get elected," said candidate Shayna Akiko Coleon. "I would think they would want a more diverse board."
Coleon, 22, of Japanese and Filipino descent, became involved in the center's ad hoc vision and mission committee when she learned of the center's financial problems.
Both Coleon and Rose said they plan to continue to support the center.
"We cannot tell the members who to vote for," said board Chairman Fujio Matsuda. "There is a strong agreement within the board and members that the center should involve the younger generation in all levels of the center of activity."
Matsuda said the center still faces about two years of difficulty because it lacks funding to add more programs.
Matsumoto said most of the newly elected board members are between ages 40 and 60, compared with previous board members who were between ages 50 and 70. He noted there are mixed-race board members, as there were in the past.