Susan Brandt-Hawley/SBN 0 BRANDT-HAWLEY LAW GROUP P.O. Box Glen Ellen, CA 0..00, fax 0..0 susanbh@preservationlawyers.com Attorney for Petitioner SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TULE LAKE COMMITTEE, a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation; v. Petitioner, FOR THE COUNTY OF MODOC Case No. Petition for Writ of Mandamus COUNTY OF MODOC, COUNTY OF MODOC BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, CITY OF TULELAKE, CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TULELAKE, and Does 1 to ; Respondents; / MACY S FLYING SERVICE, NICK MACY, and Does -; Real Parties in Interest. / California Environmental Quality Act [CEQA] Petition for Writ of Mandamus
1 Petitioner alleges: Introduction 1. The Tule Lake Committee brings this mandamus action to protect historic integrity and access to the Tule Lake Segregation Center, a National Historic Monument. Tule Lake was the site of the largest and most brutal of ten concentration camps that imprisoned persons of Japanese descent in the United States in the 0s. The Tule Lake Committee is devoted to education, to remember and preserve the camp s important history and to prevent such injustices in the future. Petition for Writ of Mandamus 1
The County of Modoc and the City of Tulelake recently entered into an unstudied agreement to extend the County lease of the Tulelake Airport for 0 years. Airport operations impact the historic context of the Tule Lake Segregation Center. Of particular concern is a new -mile, -foot high fence proposed to encircle the airport and reduce access to the historic camp. Since that fence is an integral part of the lease extension and airport operation, its potentially significant environmental impacts must be studied under mandates of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) before the lease extension can be considered for approval. The Court s peremptory writ of mandamus should issue in the public interest. Jurisdiction. This Court has jurisdiction under Public Resources Code sections and. and Code of Civil Procedure sections and.. The subject Tule Lake Segregation Center and the Tulelake Airport are located within the County of Modoc. The City of Tulelake is located in the County of Siskiyou. Parties. Tule Lake Committee was incorporated as a California non-profit public benefit corporation in 1. Its purposes are to (i) educate the general public about the forced and unconstitutional imprisonment of over 1,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry into ten concentration camps in the United States in the 0s; (ii) recognize the unique role of the Tule Lake camp, which became a segregation center housing incarcerated inmates from other camps that resisted their imprisonment and Petition for Writ of Mandamus
were deemed disloyal; and (iii) to preserve the history and experiences of the inmates of the Tule Lake Segregation Center and their struggles to cope with their isolation under harsh conditions. Tule Lake Committee supporters include citizens with a deep connection to the historic importance of the Tule Lake Segregation Center. Tule Lake Committee brings this petition on behalf of all others similarly situated too numerous to be named and brought before this Court as petitioners. Tule Lake Committee representatives objected to the approval of the Addendum to the Tulelake Airport Lease and exhausted administrative remedies.. Respondents County of Modoc, through its Board of Supervisors, and City of Tulelake, through its City Council, are the government bodies that approved the Addendum to the Tulelake Airport Lease without conducting CEQA review.. Real parties in interest Macy s Flying Service and Nick Macy utilize the Tule Lake Airport in reliance on the Tulelake Airport lease and Addendum. They are named in this petition as a courtesy since they currently conduct operations at the airport. No relief is sought against them and they may be dismissed from this petition at their request if all parties and the Court agree that they are not indispensable parties.. Does 1 through are named as respondents and real parties in Interest whose true names and capacities are currently unknown to petitioner. If true names and capacities become known, petitioner will amend this petition to assert them.. This action is timely as it is brought on the first court day following 0 days of the date of the approval of the discretionary Addendum to Lease. A copy of this action has been served on the California Attorney General. Petition for Writ of Mandamus
. The paragraphs below refer to and rely on information in documents relating to this action, all of which will be filed with this Court as part of the record of proceedings and are here incorporated by reference. General Allegations Tule Lake Segregation Center. Following Japan s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1, in, 0,000 persons of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from their residences and delivered to ten concentration camps that imprisoned infants, children, and adults alike in primitive living conditions. Two thirds of them were American citizens.. A camp at Tule Lake opened in May and eventually imprisoned,00 people, including a unique population of inmates unjustly categorized as disloyal due to dissenting responses to a flawed government questionnaire. Tule Lake was the largest of the ten camps, and the only one converted to a maximum-security center, ruled under martial law, and occupied by the Army. Squalid housing and sanitation, unsafe working conditions, and inadequate food and medical care led to increasing unrest at Tule Lake.. After many inmates were released from the other camps, Tule Lake remained repressive, and for a multitude of reasons many disillusioned inmates renounced their American citizenship in favor of repatriating to Japan. While these renunciates eventually regained their American citizenship, their experiences at Tule Petition for Writ of Mandamus
Lake left an indelible mark on history. Due to turmoil and strife, the Tule Lake Segregation Center was the last camp to close, in March.. Tule Lake s national significance as a segregation center and its unique and tragic role in American history has resulted in the honor of portions of the site being formally recognized as a State Historic Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and a National Monument. Expansion of the landmark status to include the entire site is under consideration.. Awareness of the wrongfulness of the wartime incarceration grew over the decades, and a movement developed to gain an apology and redress from the U.S. government. Students, community activists, and former inmates organized a Tule Lake Pilgrimage in to bring attention to its history. These events continue into the Petition for Writ of Mandamus
present. In, the Civil Liberties Act passed, and survivors received an official Presidential apology, token payments of $,000, and a promise to fund education about the unjust wartime incarceration. Tule Lake Airport Lease and Addendum. The Tulelake Airport at the Tule Lake Segregation Center site is owned by the City of Tulelake. The Department of the Interior patent was completed in 1. The airport runway was constructed from the camp s main firebreak. In, the City entered into an agreement with the County of Modoc to lease the airport for 0 years; to wit, until September. In recent years and continuing to the present, real parties in interest Macy s Flying Service and Nick Macy utilize the small airport for s commercial agricultural crop-dusting business.. Conflicts have developed between the use of the airport and the restoration and use of the site as a National Historic Landmark and National Historic Monument.. The City and County now intend and propose to construct various airport improvements, which the Tule Lake Committee contends will adversely impact the historic integrity of the site. In particular, the Committee opposes the proposed construction of a -mile long -foot perimeter fence around the airport.. On January,, the City and County entered into an Addendum to Lease, extending the term of the lease of the Tulelake Airport for 0 years, until September 0,. The lease referenced construction of property improvements required to begin within five years and which include the new fence. No environmental Petition for Writ of Mandamus
review or CEQA document was prepared. In February, the County confirmed the lease parties intention to carry out a -year construction program that includes the fence, at a reported cost of $. million.. Tule Lake Committee representatives objected to the lease addendum and extension and requested that environmental review be conducted to consider environmental impacts to the historic site, including in particular the fence planned to surround the airport and running close to the Tule Lake Segregation Camp border on all sides. The fence would substantially close the site to the public. Environmental impacts relating to aircraft noise and aerial pesticides were not examined.. In May, Tule Lake Committee s counsel requested that the City and County rescind the lease addendum and reconsider approval only after preparing an EIR that analyzes the site s current environmental setting and historic features and considers impacts and alternatives to the lease extension and related projects.. Through counsel, the County of Modoc declined to set aside the lease addendum or to conduct CEQA review.. Petitioner has no plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. Issuance of a peremptory writ is needed to avoid immediate, severe, and irreparable harm to Tule Lake Committee and concerned citizens via the extension of the Tulelake Airport lease for 0 years and construction of airport projects. Respondents have the capacity to correct their violations of law but refuse to do so. Petition for Writ of Mandamus
Violations of the California Environmental Quality Act. Petitioner incorporates all previous paragraphs as if fully set forth.. The County of Modoc and the City of Tulelake abused their discretion and failed to proceed in the manner required by law in approving the Addendum to Lease without preparing an Initial Study and an appropriate environmental document in compliance with CEQA. Substantial evidence supports a fair argument that the agencies discretionary approval of a long-term lease extension is a project subject to CEQA because it may result in significant impacts to historic resources of national importance and to immediate surroundings such that the significance of such resources would be materially impaired.. The County and City improperly segmented and piecemealed review of the lease approval and reasonably-foreseeable Tulelake Airport construction projects.. The County and City failed to proceed in the manner required by law in approving the Addendum to Lease as if exempt from CEQA. The discretionary 0-year lease extension has potential significant environmental impacts and is a CEQA project. Wherefore, petitioner requests: 1. That the Court issue a peremptory writ of mandamus ordering respondents County of Modoc and City of Tulelake to set aside and void approvals of the Addendum to Lease of the Tulelake Airport and to refrain from further consideration until full compliance with CEQA is achieved, including preparation and certification of an Petition for Writ of Mandamus
adequate environmental document and adoption of feasible mitigations and alternatives based on findings supported by substantial evidence;. That the Court issue an administrative stay order and/or temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining the respondents and their agents and employees from any and all physical actions in furtherance of construction projects at the Tulelake Airport while this petition is pending;. For petitioner s costs and attorney fees under CCP section.; and. For such other and further relief as the Court finds proper. July, BRANDT-HAWLEY LAW GROUP Susan Brandt-Hawley Attorney for Petitioner Verification I, Susan Brandt-Hawley, am the attorney for petitioner Tule Lake Committee whose members are located outside of Sonoma County where I have my law offices, and so I verify this petition on their behalf. I have read the Petition for Writ of Mandamus and know its contents. The matters stated in it are true and correct based on my knowledge, except as to the matters stated on information and belief, and as to those matters, I believe them to be true. I declare under penalty of perjury that the above is true and correct and is executed this th day of July,, at Glen Ellen, California. Susan Brandt-Hawley Petition for Writ of Mandamus