Dear Ms. Dunham,
My name is Kira Teshima Conlon with the Japanese American Bar Association and am writing to express our strong opposition to the proposal by Sakura Intermediate Care Facility (“ICF”) to involuntarily evict its vulnerable senior tenants. As with the first rejected plan, the re-submitted transition plan fails to present viable relocation facilities. Sakura ICF is the only one of its kind offering sensitive bilingual and bi-cultural care that has been an invaluable resource for the Los Angeles area Japanese American community for nearly 50 years. None of the relocation alternatives in the transition plan offer this sort of care. To endanger lives of seniors to move to a facility not providing these essential services, especially during a pandemic is unconscionable.
The Japanese American Bar Association is one of the oldest and most venerable diverse bar associations in the country. We are the only Japanese American bar association in the United States and are based in Los Angeles, with growing numbers of active committees in Chicago, San Diego and Orange County. Since 1976, JABA has served to promote the interests of the Japanese American legal profession and the Japanese American community.
It is with a great sense of urgency that the Board of Governors of the Japanese American Bar Association urges you to reject the transition plan in order to protect our most vulnerable community during this state of emergency.
Sincerely,
Kira Teshima Conlon
President, Japanese American Bar Association
www.jabaonline.org