JTF,
Inc. Board Meeting
1765
Sutter Street, Conference Room
January
27th, 2003, 6 -8:30 p.m.
Attendees: Scott
Belser, Jon Osaki, Pat Shiono, Seiko Fujimoto, Caryl Ito, Mark Moriguchi, Tak
Matsuba, Benh Nakajo, Rosalyn Tonai, Linda Jofuku, Chris Durazo and Ernie
Yoshikawa
Guests: Frank
Lee (DPW), Shirley Wysinger (San Francisco Redevelopment Agency), Olivia
Swilley (Mayor’s Office), Karen Kai (advisory), Steve Suzuki (Kokoro), Officer
Kiyotaka Kanamori (SFPD), Sandy Mori (advisory) JK Yamamoto (advisory), Alan
Woolman and Takeno Chiyo
Excused: Mariko
Watanabe, Sheila Chung, Doug Dawkins, David Ishida, Jeff Mori and Bob Otsuka
Unexcused: Colin Gomez
B.
Presentation by Frank Lee from Department of
Public Works (DPW)
New
signal lights on Bush Street from Presidio to Kearny:
This
project will last from 11/02 to 11/03.
The project includes new mast arm poles for better visibility,
pedestrian countdown clocks and synchronized lighting for rush hour. Curbs and
sidewalk work will occur between Presidio and Van Ness until April, however,
street excavation has already been completed.
The
Central Freeway will come down in mid-March:
Caltrans
will remove the central freeway from mid-March to October 2003. DPW will
rebuild Octavia Boulevard (into six lanes from October 2003-04). DPW will then
build the freeway ramp to Market Street from October 2004-06. Holly Thier is
the public relations contact and can be reached at (415) 440-0234. Those coming
to Japantown from the Bay Bridge (West-Bound 80) and/or North-Bound 101 will
need to identify detours. The last exit will be at the corner of Duboce and
Mission Street. There are two City-sponsored community meetings regarding these
projects on February 6th and February 13th (please see
posting on www.jtowntaskforce.org or call 346-1239). Board members expressed concern over the impact on people coming
to Japantown, especially during the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival in April.
The Task Force will work on identifying viable detours to circulate throughout
the community. The ad hoc signage committee will also work on integrating this
new info with their mapping of replacement directional signs to Japantown.
C.
Recognition of Quorum
D. Minutes of November 25th, 2003 approved unanimously as submitted
Tak Matsuba (search committee) introduces and
nominates Scott Belser for a position as a new board member.
1.1 Action
Item: Motion passed unanimously to accept Scott Belser’s nomination as a new
board member.
Budget/New
Bank Account
Linda
opened a new savings account with California Bank and Trust with donations that
came from the newsletter. Our contracts are on a reimbursement basis. JCYC has
been very generous to the JTF by allowing us to use their general fund for
payroll and bills, but we are asking that the board help us develop a general
fund. Jon asked if there has been a
goal set for when JTF plans to operate and administer its own funds. Jon
recommends looking into affordable loans from the Northern California Community
Development Fund for the development of a general fund.
Japan
Center Garage Contract
Five-year
contract split between capital costs and operational costs. The capital project
for this year is signage for Japantown. The ad hoc signage committee would like
signage from the freeways to Japantown and will identify specifically where to
place the signs. We are also looking for pro bono artwork for the signs with
three different directional arrows.
Litter
Hawk photo shoot February 7th
Wendy
Nelder (Mayor’s Neighborhood Beautification Fund) and Dee Dee Workman (San
Francisco Beautiful), Tak Matsuba (Japantown Merchants Association) and Rich
Hashimoto (Japan Center Parking Garage) will meet on February 7th
for a photo shoot to be sent with press release. The Litter Hawk is a Cleaning
Machine that is available for community rental at $25/hour.
California
Japantowns Preservation Committee January 24th meeting
The
California Japantown Preservation Committee (CJPC) is a subcommittee of the
California Japanese American Community Leadership Council (CJACLC). The governor had set aside $1,000,000
through State Parks & Recreation for the preservation of the three
Japantowns. The purpose of the meeting
was to decide what projects the Three Japantowns subcommittee would put forward
for the Prop. 40 funds. Among the
projects suggested by Linda were the Peace Pagoda, Kokoro, and YWCA. Paul Osaki had also received $150,00 for the
CJACLC through the Civil Liberties program to do a historical installation or
marker in San Francisco Japantown.
JCCCNC and Los Angles were particularly interested in a streetscape
proposal, which included artwork, such as a historical marker, and cherry
trees. The subcommittee, though, wanted
to work in unity and set forth similar projects. Jon also adds that the emphasis was less on the projects being
similar than having the projects be consistent with the governor’s priorities,
and working with the state in a uniform and coordinated manner. Steve Suzuki, President, Kokoro Board of
Directors, states that the importance of Kokoro is not only the jobs it
produces, and the housing it provides, but that it maintains the fabric of the
community and provides valuable services that support the community. Karen Kai, not acting as a representative of
Nihonmachi Little Friends, reports that NLF is still working on raising
acquisition funds, and has created a dedicated committee to work on this
issue. She also adds that San Francisco
YWCA and Kokoro projects are in fact consistent with the priorities of the
governor and the mandate of the Task Force.
Jon remarked that he had the sense that the California Japantowns
Preservation Committee will be looking for each community to submit only one
project, since they would like it to have a significant impact. Linda, Jon, and Benh, as representatives
of San Francisco Japantown, will be attending the next CJACLC and California
Japantowns Preservation Committee meeting in February to put forward which
projects they would put forth for Prop. 40.
1.2
Action Item: Motion passed recommending that the
capital projects of Kokoro and the YWCA be put forth to the Leadership Council
as preservation projects. Pat Shiono abstains.
G. Committee
Reports
Health and Safety Committee
Captain Cashman has designated someone from the
police force to be a liaison to our health and safety committee. Alan Woolman
discussed a report he made two years ago around a rape in the NPC lot behind
his apartments. He also heard another incident this past Friday night. Because
the victims do not report these crimes, the police were not able to take down a
report. Mark noted that because a report is not filed does not mean that it
doesn’t happen. Benh announced that the committee would meet for first time on
Thursday, January 30th at 6:30pm. He encouraged anyone interested in
the health and safety of Japantown to attend
Communication Committee
Seiko
provided a written report and asked people to call either her or David with any
questions. The committee meets every third Tuesday at 5pm for those interested.
Cultural and Historical Preservation Committee
Rosalyn
discussed the written report she submitted. Two committee work objectives were
having follow-up meetings with the Landmarks Advisory Preservation Board
president, Tim Kelley and coming up with a definition for cultural
preservation. The committee will meet on either Mondays or Wednesdays at 4-5pm
and are encouraging others to participate. Talks arose regarding the California
Civil Liberties Education Program (CCLEP) funded Three Japantowns Historic
Markers Project. Rosalyn reported that she had been asked to be on the judging
committee. They are trying to identify the top three artists from the request
for qualifications (rfq) process. A
request for proposals (rfp) will happen in the future. The project will be
something that links all three Japantowns and somehow integrates this history
into historic markers, costing a total of $150,000 (to include design and
drawings). Curt Osaki is the administrator. Concerns were raised about if the
Prop 40 monies were going to be earmarked for the fabrication/installation of
this project. People felt that this would not be the best usage of these
preservation funds. Another concern was whether this project would solely focus
on WWII (because of the funding limitations), forgetting the contributions of
the earlier and latter generations within SF Japantown.
Economic and Business Development Committee
Tak
Matsuba, committee chair, will hold his first meeting on Thursday, February 20th
at 6pm
Personnel Committee
The
committee will meet in February to go over Linda’s six-month performance
evaluation.
Finance Committee
No
report
Please see the calendar of events posted online at www.jtowntaskforce.org
for more details.