Houston

I never personally met most of the Houston members. The two I most recall were Lynda Caine Barrett and David Overland, whom I met online as members of the online Zadankai I'd been introduced to before I ever heard of yahoogroups. Both were long term stalwart members. The story unfolded as they were gradually radicalized them from being very loyal SGI-members to actually breaking off their membership.

Needing a New Community Center

The story started with an innocent situation. The Houston planning board began the process of finding a new location in October, 1998 when their regional leader, Dale Mowrer, asked them to "establish an official committee and submit proposals" for a variety of options for a new location since the previous lease would be up in August 1999. They were told at that time to submit proposals to purchase a stand alone building. The members in Houston were seeking a suitable location for holding meetings so that their area could grow and Kosenrufu could advance.

Taking the Initiative

They sent repeated requests to Los Angeles seeking guidelines and specifications on what they would be able to obtain based on membership and usage levels. In reply they "received nothing concrete and were verbally advised to seek something either smaller, the same size, or slightly larger." They were also repeatedly told that their "usage level exceeded that of any other community in our region." Encouraged by this and believing they were acting "Based on input from SGI-USA" they they enthusiastically established a committee of volunteers from throughout the city. This committee diligently interviewed and hired an independent realtor, after being advised that they should not use a member for this function. The committee members devoted a great deal of time and energy inspecting different locations and providing feedback to members at large and to the area planning board. They began daimoku Tozo campaigns every Tuesday and Saturday and were very enthusiastic in their efforts.

With Itai Doshin you can accomplish Anything

By November, they had submitted a proposal to purchase such a building; this proposal was turned down. They were then asked to submit a proposal to lease a building with possible option for purchase. They were ultimately informed that this had been approved.

In a unanimous vote, the planning board moved to submit a proposal for leasing of one of these sites. The proposal was submitted to SGI- USA on May 17. At each step in the process they later remarked that "we were told to proceed to the next step or provide further information to SGI." So they were confident that their choice had been accepted.

The story starts to turn dark

However in June, at the conclusion of their extensive search process, SGI denied their proposal. They wrote a letter that same month to Frank Nakabayashi which was cc'd to the other top leaders detailing their complaints.

Obviously they'd been communicating with the wrong leaders at SGI Plaza because Frank wrote:

"In the first paragraph of your letter you mention that when your group was formed you were told to "submit proposals to purchase a building." The SGI-USA has had an established policy regarding its facilities since 1995. At no time was it communicated to local leadership that a new location was going to be established in Houston. Paragraph one further states that you submitted a proposal for a new building and that that proposal was turned down. Unfortunately, we have no record of a proposal for a new facility being submitted to the SGI-USA Administration Center and thus, did not turn it down."

"In the second paragraph of your letter you mention that you received input from SGI-USA. We are not sure whom you are referring to. You further state that based on input from SGI-USA you hired an independent realtor. The SGI-USA uses a national realty company called CB Richard Ellis. Should you need assistance in contacting CB Richard Ellis we will be happy to provide assistance."

"In the seventh paragraph of your letter you mention that you submitted a proposal in May and that the SGI-USA requested additional information. We did receive a copy of your May proposal and we responded to it immediately. We informed Dale Mower that based on the facility policies the facility mentioned in the proposal was too large."

"As regards the five points you listed after you eleventh paragraph, the SGI-USA is very much willing to consider a leased facility that is in accordance with the facilities policy and which can be leased for a reasonable rate. Based on the facility policy and the size of the membership, a facility approximately 3,000 square fact would be allowable. We would be happy to see proposal for a facility of this size."

"In conclusion, we sincerely apologize to all the members of Houston who have clearly been working and chanting about this project. We are very concerned with how this problem occurred and we sincerely hope that the members will continue to chant and seek a facility which meets the national facility guidelines and that all the members can comfortable enjoy. We will continue to look into this matter."

"We too are chanting for the great advancement of kosen-rufu in Houston and for the happiness of all the members there. Please do not give up or give in to this setback Please work together with local leadership and Brian Matsuo and find a great new community center."¹

Never Give up! Appeals.

The members appealed and the answer came back:

Frank and the others were claiming that their "proposal did not meet corporate policy for Community Centers." They claimed that "Houston only qualified for a CC of 3000 ft2", which Dave at the time noted was "much smaller than the current one we already didn't fit in." They claimed that they "didn't follow the correct process for searching. Policy is for SGI-USA's agent to search and find a place. The Board says yes or no. The members' only involvement is daimoku."²

A Sense of Betrayal

Taking initiative was out. The members felt they'd been lied to, they had indeed talked to SGI-Plaza members, and they'd never been told that they wanted too big a building. One, a Japanese speaker, even phoned Ikeda trying to talk to him. Naturally the secretary said he was busy.

The members called an emergency meeting. and unanimously decided to formally request a reconsideration of our proposal and/or a written explanation that fit the facts better. Some leaders were resigning, many were angry. They got a letter that reiterated the June one. The members concluded that they were either miscommunicated to or misled. They were aghast. They had another emergency meeting. The Area Planning Board folded, and voted to renew the current lease and stay another year. But many of the members, and leaders alike, felt betrayed. They had followed all the rules given them, had asked for policy direction, had acted in good faith as an organization. Dave said at the time that "Because the process had been so open, had involved so many of the membership, because all information was passed out, it was obvious to EVERYONE that the response given by National did not fit the facts. Some of us said it out loud - we were lied to. Trust, once broken, is not easily regained."

Come back Spirit

They had a meeting in July in which their fortunes seemed to reverse. Their Zone Leaders, Brian Matsuo and Rita Risom out of Denver, seemed to be really listening. During the meeting Brian apologized profusely. He acknowledged the efforts put out by everyone and the pain they felt. He claimed he was committed to supporting their continued efforts. Brian vowed to get to the bottom of the situation. He vowed to work with the regional leaders and the national leaders to find out what happened, what the path forward would be. "He promised to report to Fred Zaitsu and President Ikeda immediately. He said to give him one week to find out the situation, and not to thank him until he showed results."

In October of that year Mr. Wada visited Houston. In his guidance he said among other things "how, after remonstrating with the government three times, the Daishonin retired to Mt. Minobu. There he was visited by many followers who traveled a great distance to see him and bring him gifts, however humble. The Daishonin embraced these members for their spirit. Mr. Wada stated that the distance one travels represents one's seeking spirit. This is the spirit of the Daishonin: That our prayers to the Gohonzon will be for a new departure from today for a new Houston organization. Mr. Wada reminded us that all the while the Daishonin faced persecution he never lost sight of his conviction that this Buddhism would spread around the world."

The meeting encouraged the members greatly. And after those meetings the Houston members thought things had changed for the better, In November 1999 they had had moved in to the new place. Lights, phone, water were all turned on. They had a signed contract, a budget of around $8000 needed for a new sound system, wheelchair access, and a reception desk. Dozens of members were making preparations for the opening. Mr. Wada had come down and congratulated them. A new day was dawning, everyone working together. They felt they had achieved a victory! All the efforts, all the campaigns, were worth it.

No Happy Ending

However, things just got worse. Dave later recounted how the day after the signed contract arrived at the WCC, "they sent it back, said the landlord didn't really want us there and was operating in bad faith." -- Which was a lie -- The local leaders, who weren't involved in any of the efforts, agreed immediately and directed the Chapter Leaders to get the members to move out. They never met with any of the members on any of the committees, never explained anything. They called one of the committee members a week later and asked him to tell everyone else the comittees were dissolved."

Getting the Community Center the Corporation Wants

Brian Matsuo and this "CB Richard Ellis" Company indeed did come in and they found their own Community center as an alternative to the one that the members had selected. LA sent a real estate agent down for three days, they found a place which the leaders accepted without even seeing it. No Houston members had been involved in any preparations in that place. It was too small to hold Area Meetings in, ever, the rent was considerably more than that at the larger place and they didn't have enough parking. However, the CB Richard Ellis company got their commission and one wonders who else benefited.

Certainly not the members in Houston. The new place didn't open until the first week in December 2000. Originally they were planning to rent a hall for the opening ceremony, but Danny Nagashima was willing to stay two days, so they did it in shifts. On December 12 2000. There wasn't enough room to do it all at one time. An article appeared in the world tribune talking about the new community center and what a wonderful benefit it was, but those involved had been disheartened by the events and the authoritarian manner in which they'd been run over by the leadership. Danny wrote:

"After this meeting, I went to NASA to visit one member. Being there reminded of the movie, Apollo 13 and was very excited to learn that some of our SGI-USA members work at this space center."

Unfortunately that was not to last long. That member was Dave Overland and he was soon due to quit the organization in disgust.

Upshot

The members may have been temporarily encouraged by this visit, but their problems weren't over. I'm not sure what happened next (I'm looking for the rest but this is enough for now), but by 2001 they had had enough with protests and complaints and were talking to representatives of Nichiren Shu along with some Las Vegas members. In January 2002 the Houston Group formally seceeded, incorporating as a not-for profit. By September 5 2002 they were exploring joining Nichiren Shu: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IRGdaimoku/message/20962 and did so. I hear that Lynda eventually became a "lay-priest". She has been ordained as a "shami", or acolyte, in training to become a full-fledged priest in Nichiren Shu.³ She is the first black woman (and first person of African-Japanese descent) to ever be ordained by any Nichiren School.⁴

David Overland is now the center person for the Houston Independent Movement. The rest is history.

Chris