Japanese center’s
president resignsSusan Kodani will leave
the center one day after it
is declared cleared of debt
Susan Kodani has resigned as president of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, which the members have saved with a fund-raising campaign to erase its $9 million debt.
Kodani's resignation is effective Friday, a day after the Committee to Save the Center is to announce the end of the campaign to clear the center's debt.
Kodani submitted her resignation Aug. 11 before completion of an annual performance review. She will take a fund-raising position with St. Andrew's Priory School for Girls.
Colbert Matsumoto, the center's chairman of the board, said she was not asked to leave. He said the board will be looking for candidates with programming ability as well as fund-raising and business management skills.
The center's board has launched a search for a replacement. Richard Kosaki, former chancellor of the University of Hawaii's Manoa campus, has agreed to serve as interim president.
Critics said Kodani lacked the fund-raising abilities needed for the job and that her strength lay in running programs.
"As far as I'm concerned, she's a complete failure," said Teruo Himoto, one of the center's founders. "She can't raise money; she wasn't qualified to do so."
Kodani did not return calls to the Star-Bulletin.
She was hired for the $77,200-a-year job three years ago, when the center already faced mounting debt.
The center announced in October that the board was planning to sell its 2454 S. Beretania St. property for $11 million to pay off its debts and keep its activities going. The announcement shocked members, most of whom had never heard of the center's financial woes.
The center fended off foreclosure on its property by raising $6 million by the year's end. The banks also forgave $1.5 million in interest. The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation made a $1.8 million donation in June.
Matsumoto said yesterday the center is debt-free and will announce Thursday the key highlights and results of the Save the Center campaign.
Kodani did not participate in the group's fund-raising efforts.
Fujio Matsuda, who ended his tenure as board chairman in June, said a committee had been reviewing Kodani's performance since June, but would not comment on its findings. But he defended her performance, saying, "Nobody expected her to fix (the debt) problem."
