Unjust incarceration must never be repeated
To the Editor,
Just as Mary Miller Jones of Grants Pass, Ore. lived through the trauma of World War II (Pajaronian, Letters to the Editor, June 17), I too, as a child, lived in fear through the war years as a Prisoner of War, held by my own country — the United States of America — without charges, attorney, trial, or due process of law. That happened 75 years ago. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued his Executive Order 9066, a “you can’t stay here” ban.
One fearful rumor circulating stated that the government was going to take us to the desert to exterminate us. Upon our arrival in suffocating heat of Poston, Ariz., some were sure of it.
In less than three weeks, we will be celebrating the Fourth of July with its Declaration “that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness …” In 1942, our lives, liberty, and property (Natural Rights Philosophy) were taken away.
My family and I, along with 120,000 others of Japanese ancestry, both alien and non-alien, who were living on the west coast of Washington, Oregon and California were incarcerated. As a 6-year-old in 1942, I was given this federal prison number — 12524 D. That number is etched in my mind. We will never forget the injustices.
Of historical interest, there were 158,000 of Japanese ancestry living in the actual war zone of the Territory of Hawaii who were not incarcerated. They constituted a plurality of the Hawaiian population.
What, then, was the difference between the mainland USA and Hawaii in the treatment of those of Japanese ancestry? Answer: hateful racism.
Two of my older brothers, both graduates of Watsonville Union High School, volunteered to fight against Japan, serving in the US Army’s Military Intelligence Service (MIS). They could read and write the Japanese language. Today, the MIS has grown to become the Defense Language Institute and is located nearby at the Presidio of Monterey.
Of the 30,000 Nisei (second generation Americans) who served gallantly in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II, 202 were men and women of the Pajaro Valley. The Congress honored the men of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team and the MIS with the Congressional Gold Medal in November of 2011.
We appreciated the welcome we received upon our return to our beloved Pajaro Valley and are grateful for the Civil Liberties Act of Aug. 10, 1988, which provided an apology and a token reparation.
Thank you, friends and Nick Faitos of the Monterey Bay, for supporting us when it was not the popular stand and for understanding that we are loyal Americans.
The unjust incarceration of any innocent person must never be repeated. We will remain on guard.
Mas Hashimoto
Watsonville
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New CAO selection expensive and not transparent
To the Editor,
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors could have saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars by just admitting that it was a done-deal long ago to replace retiring County Administrative Officer (CAO) Ms. Susan Mauriello with Mr. Carlos Palacios. Why bother with the expensive $20,000 contract with Peckham & McKenney, a recruiter agency in Roseville, to conduct a nationwide search and pretend the job would be open to anyone else?
The CAO job description on the recruitment website mentioned nothing about the county’s $8.1 million deficit in the budget nor about any of the other serious challenges facing the county. It described the beauty of Santa Cruz County and the number of county employees while mentioning that Ms. Mauriello’s salary is nearly $300,000/year.
Supposedly, 25 candidates applied for the job, and the final six were interviewed by a Technical Advisory Group that included a representative from Marin County and San Mateo County but no one from neighboring counties that the CAO might need to work with to coordinate certain efforts. Other members of the Technical Advisory Group included staff from the County Probation Department and the retired director of County Health Services, a personal friend of Ms. Mauriello.
The interviews were conducted in multiple expensive meeting rooms reserved at the Hotel Paradox, just next door to the County Government Building. The first day of interviews narrowed the six candidates to three, which were further interviewed on a Saturday by the Board of Supervisors. The two Special Meetings were open to the public only to allow public comment, and then the public was asked to leave. There were no reports on either of the Closed Sessions that followed.
It is not surprising that Mr. Carlos Palacios was chosen. He has been the Deputy CAO since being hired in early 2015. He has recently been presiding at Board of Supervisor meetings, and signing CAO documents.
There is good reason for Santa Cruz taxpayers to be worried about how Mr. Palacios will run the county’s financial business. He was the Watsonville City Manager for 18 years before accepting the Deputy CAO job at the county in early 2015. I have read the County Grand Jury Investigation Reports of 2010-2011 regarding the serious and very questionable financial deals made in Watsonville City Government while he was there, and his lack of transparent government policy at the time was frightening.
We should all be watching Mr. Carlos Palacios and the Board of Supervisors carefully, beginning with the budget hearings that began this week.
Becky Steinbruner
Aptos
