JACL chapter delegates from across the nation voted on several issues during the business session. (Photo: Gil Asakawa)
The National Council passes resolutions,
makes CBL changes and elects a new National Board in Philly.
By P.C. Staff
By the time the 54th Japanese American Citizens League National Convention that ran July 10-14 at the Downtown Sheraton in Philadelphia wrapped on a Sunday with the first meeting of the new 2024-26 National Board, no one could argue that little of substance was accomplished.
JACL National Board members (back row, from left) Sheldon Arakaki, Lisa Shiosaki Olsen, Joseph Gu, Eric Langowski, Ken Massey, Paul Uyehara, John Saito Jr. and (front row, from left) Jonathan Okamoto, Dominique Mashburn, Larry Oda and Ryan Yoshikawa. (Photo: Gil Asakawa)
On the contrary, both the JACL National Board and JACL National Council managed to deal with an abundance of JACL business at the convention. Not only were there several panel discussions and workshops, the agenda also included a preliminary screening of Lane Nishikawa’s JACL documentary “League of Dreams.”
As for official business accomplished, some of which took place included:
- Reporting by National Board officers to the National Council of recent accomplishments
- Honoring stalwart individual JACLers
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David Lin with his Sapphire Pin from Larry Oda. (Photo: Kris Ikejiri)
Speeches by former JACL youth leader Kota Mizutani, who now works for the White House as the Office of Public Engagement’s primary liaison to Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities; and Japan’s Masaru Sato, head of Chancery at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
- Approving a new budget that comes with a new monthly reporting method to better track spending
- Debating and approving the annual salary (approximately $150K) for an imminent new staff hire for a director of development position in which that person must immediately raise enough funds to cover the position’s pay scale, plus double or triple that figure
- Retaining the option for the annual JACL convention format with a reversion to the old biennial model for odd years for National Council meetings as a cost-saving measure
- Discussing the status of the Legacy Fund
- Under the heading of “special dues rates,” approval by the National Board of setting the costs for newly approved premium membership tiers, namely Bronze, Silver and Gold
- Formalizing Albuquerque, N.M., as the site for next year’s JACL National Convention (and viewing a video about what the city offers)
- Learning about AmplifyAAPI, a joint venture between AARP and NORC at the University of Chicago to build, as AARP VP at the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Asian American & Pacific Audience Strategy Daphne Kwok described it, an affordable and reliable AANHPI research survey panel”
- Electing national officers — one new, the rest holdovers —for the current biennium that will last until the summer of 2026.
- On that last item, it was a far cry from the 2024 convention, when no one ran for any office until at the 11th hour, Larry Oda — who served as JACL’s national president in back-to-back terms from 2006-10 — stepped up to save the organization from chaos and embarrassment.
In the run-up to this biennial election, there was only one contested race, for the position of vp of general operations, with Matthew Asada and Ryan Yoshikawa both vying for the role. Any suspense ended, however, when Asada dropped out for work-related concerns. After the National Council’s votes were counted on July 13, Nominations Chair, MDC District Governor and Hoosier Chapter delegate Eric Langowsky reported the following election results:
- Oda, re-elected as national president with 70 of 70 votes
- Yoshikawa, elected vp of general operations with 69 of 70 votes
- Seia Watanabe, re-elected as vp of public affairs with 70 of 70 votes
- Dominique Mashburn, re-elected as vp of membership with 70 of 70 votes
- Jonathan Okamoto, re-elected as secretary/treasurer with 68 of 70 votes
- Remy Kageyama, elected as National Youth/Student Council chairperson, with 7 of 7 votes.
JACL Secretary/Treasurer Jonathan Okamoto presents the proposed biennium budget to the National Council. (Photo: Gil Asakawa)
With Yoshikawa’s election to vp of general operations, he stepped down as Pacific Southwest District governor. Replacing him in that position was Joseph Gu, currently co-president of the SELANOCO-Orange County JACL chapter. At July 14’s National Board meeting, Oda announced that Legal Counsel Ken Massey and P.C. Editorial Board Chair John Saito Jr. had agreed to continue in those respective roles.
With regard to the two resolutions that passed the National Council, R1 addressed, among other items, the JACL’s concerns with the “humanitarian crisis in Palestine” while taking a stand against hate crimes and bias aimed at Arab Americans, Jewish Americans and Muslims in America, based on the JACL’s longstanding support for the civil and human rights of all people; and called on President Joe Biden and Congress to “pressure Israel to implement a ceasefire” and allow “the sustained and free flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and agree to negotiate a lasting peace agreement.” (To read the entirety of R1, visit tinyurl.com/mvaxv78v.)
R2, meantime, which was introduced late in the run-up to the convention as an emergency resolution due to last-minute occurrences, had to do with JACL taking a stand against the redevelopment and possible elimination by eminent domain of what remains of Salt Lake City’s historic Japantown. Its wording in part reads: “National JACL supports this effort to preserve and revitalize the Japantown of Salt Lake City.” (To read the entirety of R2, visit tinyurl.com/nharzy2d.)
Past and present JACL national presidents, from left: David Lin, Ken Inouye, David Kawamoto, Larry Oda, Floyd Mori and Floyd Shimomura (Photo: Kris Ikejiri)
The amendment to the JACL’s Constitution and Bylaws, aka CBL-1, made changes to JACL membership tiers by, among other things, defining the rights, privileges and dues of active, associate, youth/student and National Premium and Life Trust members. Also, with the retirement of the 1000 Club membership tier, the title of vp of 1000 Club, Membership and Services is now just vp of membership. It also detailed the process for filing vacancies for elective officers. (To read the entirety of CBL-1, visit tinyurl.com/spdn5khs.)
CBL-2, meantime, amended meetings of JACL’s National Council from an annual basis to a biennial basis in even-numbered years, while keeping open the option for JACL National Conventions to occur on an annual basis. (To read the entirety of CBL-3, visit tinyurl.com/yyaeyuwk.)
Thus, the next National Council meeting will be at the 2026 JACL National Convention. The next National Board call will take place on Sept. 21 at 9 a.m.
