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Agenda Item No. 4(A) CITY OF EL CERRITO PROCLAMATION RECOGNITION OF ERNEST S. IIYAMA AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE EL CERRITO COMMUNITY WHEREAS, Ernest S Iiyama was a resident of El Cerrito for over 50 years, husband to Chizu, father of Patti, Mark and Laura, and attended the University of California, Berkeley; and WHEREAS, in 1934, Mr. Iiyama was one of the founders of the Oakland Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and the Nisei Young Democrats of the East Bay; and WHEREAS, in 1942, along with more than 110,000 Japanese Americans, Mr. Iiyama was ordered to Topaz, Utah, one of ten Concentration Camps in the United States; and WHEREAS, Mr. Iiyama returned to the Bay Area in 1956, supported the Civil Rights movement, protested against the War in Vietnam, and joined the Contra Costa Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and later was elected president; and WHEREAS, Ernest Iiyama and his wife Chizu, became active in the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations seeking justice for the Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, and was one of seven who received reparations in Alameda County; and WHEREAS, Mr. and Mrs. Iiyama were also prominent in the National Japanese American Historical Society, speaking for many years to schools in the El Cerrito community and universities throughout California about their internment during World War II. They also spoke at many Days of Remembrance commemorating the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the order for the concentration camps; and WHEREAS, in 2009, Mr. and Mrs. Iiyama received the Clifford Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian Award from the Day of Remembrance Consortium in honor of their lifetime activism; and WHEREAS, Mr. Iiyama served on the Human Relations Committee for the Richmond Unified School District and on the Ad Hoc Committee, which later formed the Human Relations Commission of El Cerrito. NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of El Cerrito does hereby proclaim its recognition of the significant contributions of Ernest Iiyama not only to the El Cerrito community but to the Japanese American community of the East Bay. Dated: February 6, 2012 William C. Jones III, Mayor