Time to consider Tanforan memorial
Recently, a controversy erupted over a proposal to sell memorabilia once owned by Japanese- Americans who had spent time in U. S. internment camps during World War II.
Rather quickly, the idea was quashed. It was an appropriate reversal of a bad plan. Such materials should be entrusted with the individuals and families and their representatives who endured government- ordered deportation from the American West Coast to inland locations, none of which were especially welcoming or attractive in any way, shape or form.
The entire sad episode was set in motion by a draconian post- Pearl Harbor presidential order, a reaction to palpable fear of a military assault by the Empire of Japan’s naval and air forces on the West Coast.
President Franklin Roosevelt’s stunning dictate went into effect in April of 1942; it was deemed valid and binding by the Supreme Court in a controversial 6- 3 ruling.
We are two years away from the 75th anniversary of this affair. To that end, perhaps it’s time to consider the creation of a significant local memorial to this history which has distinct roots right here on the Peninsula.
And there would be no better place for it than what became the site of a San Bruno assembly point for JapaneseAmericans who would be sent to what were termed “relocation” camps for the duration of the conflict.
The former Tanforan Racetrack, located near what was then the Southern Pacific rail line and El Camino Real, was a logical site for a holding/ embarkation facility.
An estimated 8,000 Japanese- Americans were processed through the Tanforan venue. Overall, the entire internment program affected over 100,000 people along the West Coast.
Some estimates go as high as 120,000.
Today, the racetrack is long gone and The Shops at Tanforan, a bustling shopping center, graces that property. There is a modest plaque that commemorates the land’s grim wartime function; it’s inadequate. Few visitors even know it’s there.
A more substantial indication of what really went on there is needed. This is particularly relevant with the 75th anniversary of the relocation decision looming in 2017.
A new memorial doesn’t have to be massive. It doesn’t have to be a full- blown museum. But it ought to be obvious and a serious display, something that could stand on its own in a prominent spot in the huge Tanforan complex and be a source of serious perspective on the cultural resiliency, determination, survival skills, grit and creativity of those mandated to move to the camps for an extended period, among other things.
The San Mateo County Historical Association might be available to assist current Japanese- American history buffs with such a project.
It’s a concept that’s worth a look.
55 percent solution?
Remaining in San Bruno for a moment, officials of the community’s hardpressed elementary school district continue to struggle to address an anticipated $ 400,000 2015- 16 budget deficit.
One of their last- ditch options is to ask their constituents to approve a parcel tax. It’s a logical thought. But, through the decades, San Bruno has not been kind to any tax measure that requires a two- thirds majority vote for passage.
In fact, even the very notion of attaining that tough threshold in the town is basically a pipe dream. History tells us it simply won’t happen. San Bruno is a longtime hotbed of virulent anti- tax sentiment, dating all the way back to the campaign to gain approval of Proposition 13 in 1978.
However, there may be a glimmer of hope for the schools. Once again, public education advocates in Sacramento are pushing for a change in the stiff two- thirds parcel tax requirement.
They seek to reduce it to 55 percent, similar to what school bond measures need in a general election. But any movement on that score is going to be too slow to help San Bruno with its immediate fiscal troubles.
Olson and McGinn
In a related matter, you have to admire the San Bruno district’s two new top administrators, Superintendent Cheryl Olson and associate superintendent of business services Sean McGinn.
They are faced with a herculean task to balance the budget, work well with a stressed Board of Trustees, mollify their unhappy public employee union members and create trust with a skeptical community at large.
Good luck to both of them. They’re going to need it.