Islanders should applaud the action taken by 4Culture asking the Washington state Attorney General’s office to sort out the problems brought about through the mishandling of the Mukai house and garden property by Island Landmarks. As we know, this property and the privately owned but also historically significant Mukai fruit barreling plant, have been put up for sale. The Attorney General’s office needs to know that Vashon still cares about Mukai, despite the difficult history of this project, and that we do not want the property sold to the highest bidder or, perhaps a worse fate, remain in the possession of Island Landmarks.
If the Attorney General (AG) takes court action, we may finally have the opportunity to fulfill the potential of the Mukai house and garden by transferring it to a legitimate nonprofit group willing to work with the many organizations and individuals who have tried in the past but were unable to contribute effectively under the existing management of Island Landmarks.
To say that no one stepped forward to help, no one raised the money needed, no one was interested in Mukai, as has been claimed repeatedly, is a misrepresentation of reality and ignores the more than 120 people who donated funds to Island Landmarks in 1995 and another 50 people or more who offered to volunteer. Many Islanders and off-Islanders have tried repeatedly, only to be ignored or rebuffed, just as the Puget Sound Zen Center was in its most recent negotiations. To assert that no one had or has the appropriate expertise in the areas of historical preservation and garden restoration is outright laughable. It is a sad, frustrating and maddening story of many professionally trained individuals and institutions (including governmental and nongovernmental organizations at the local, state and federal level) trying hard to work with a director who has proven repeatedly to be incapable of offering coherent leadership and unwilling to surrender any control to others.
Instead, the property, along with its potential, has languished for a decade. Board members came and went within months or even weeks of their appointments, fed up with the absence of open communication and management. In fact, between June 1995 to August 1996 and July 1999 to December 2000 (the only partial records to which I have access) more than 30 board members and officers came and went, unable to tolerate Island Landmarks’ questionable business practices and lack of transparency. Treasurers, in particular, found themselves in a tenuous position when asked to sign whatever checks were put in front of them without knowing what the payment was for or if the payouts had been approved by the Island Landmarks’ board.
However, there is little point in reviewing the actions and missed or abused opportunities that have led to the situation in which we now find this valued historic property. Such a summary would only be met with the same old denials and counter-charges we have seen repeated so many times whenever the situation of Mukai makes the news. But a review of some of the very few records that still exist on-Island and that were not hauled out of state several years ago appear to indicate that once the property was purchased with county, state, federal and private donations and grants, Island Landmarks failed from that moment on. It never functioned as a vibrant, successful nonprofit organization working toward its original mission to establish a resource and education center which could work cooperatively with other nonprofits and community members to tell a significant part of Island history and, indeed, a very significant part of the national Japanese-American story.
There is now a new interest group, Mukai Farm & Garden Association, made up of a number of people who attended the November 2009 information meeting on the Mukai properties. This group hopes to chart a new future for Mukai in cooperation with 4Culture along with other nonprofits, and will rely on professionals to assist in preservation and garden restoration.
The actions put forth in the letter to the office of the Attorney General of Washington State would give Islanders a chance to take back Mukai. Let’s work together to realize the original goal of establishing this important cultural resource as a true national treasure. If you care about this property — and frankly, the reputation of our Island among a startlingly large number of granting organizations that have seen their Mukai dollars produce little or nothing — please contact the Attorney General’s office, 4Culture, The Beachcomber and/or the Mukai Farm & Garden Association, expressing your support to break the Island Landmarks impasse. Let’s move on and realize the true potential of our Island treasure.
—Glenda Pearson is vice president of the Mukai Farm & Garden Association and a University of Washington librarian.
Help save the Mukai house
Islanders can take action by contacting any of the following: The Attorney General at https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/ContactForm.aspx; 4Culture Director Jim Kelly at Jim.Kelly@4culture.org (request a copy of the letter to the AG from him); Mukai Farm & Garden Association at mukaifarm@gmail.com; or The Beachcomber at editor@vashonbeachcomber.com.
