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The audience prayed before the meeting Ven. Tim Sakhorn greets the audience Ven. Tim Sakhorn addresses the audience Participants addressed their questions to Ven. Tim Sakhorn Mr. Thach Ngoc Thach addressed Ven. Tim Sakhorn The audience listening to Ven. Tim Sakhorn
01/12/2010 Angela Woodall Oakland Tribune (California, USA)
OAKLAND — Buddhists are perceived as being above church politics.
But a bitter five-year battle over an Oakland temple pitted two Cambodian Buddhist organizations against each other and gave rise to restraining orders, threats and allegations of stealing.
The struggle ended Monday afternoon in a nondescript chamber of the California Superior Court on Oak Street with a simple decision that boiled down to one thing: the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple nonprofit has a right to its East 10th Street center and temple.
The center had been taken over in 2005 by the Massachusetts-based International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center.
"We had to endure a lot of pain and suffering to achieve this," said Christina Sam, the daughter-in-law of the center's founder, Sam Son.
"I didn't expect it would take this long," said Christina Sam after she, her husband, Paul Sam, and scores of members gathered in front of an 8-foot gold-hued Buddha statue for the first time since the dispute started.
"I'm very happy. I'm very elated, very ecstatic," said 79-year-old Caray Suy, an original member. Christina Sam interpreted for her.
"We finally got our temple back," Suy added, as other members began removing signs of the Khmer Buddhist Center outside the center.
The feud began in late 2004, when members of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Society board of directors decided to transfer ownership of the temple to the International Community of Khmer Buddhist monks. (The Khmer monks have no relationship to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.)
The board's decision set off intense opposition among members of the Oakland group, which called the board's decision illegal, and a legal battle ensued between the two groups over the modest, yellow and burgundy three-bedroom bungalow in East Oakland. Each side accused the other of wrongdoing and bully tactics.
Sunthay Sunly boiled down the issues to access and local control of one of the first community-owned Theraveda Buddhist temples in Oakland. "We are not fighting against a person, but for a place for the community to come together," he said. "They lost a lot already."
Son, a refugee who fled the Khmer Rouge, founded the Oakland Buddhist society in 1983. After he was evicted in 2005, Son and three monks moved across the street from the original location, at 5212 E. 10th St., and started the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple. Many of their supporters followed and the battle continued.
Finally, on Tuesday, about 100 people gathered in front of the center, eager to visit the shrine for the first time in years. "Today is the day for us," said Theany Nov.
Not everyone agreed. "We had no choice," William Ley said. He was an original member of the Oakland society but continued on with numerous others from the original location after the Khmer Monks Center took over.
There are still details to be ironed out during the second phase of the trial about damages, after which the Khmer Monks Center would then decide whether to file an appeal, according to its lawyer, G. Robert Woodfin.
David Sternfeld, the Oakland Temple's lawyer, ruled out mediation as a possibility. In the meantime, the dozen or so International Community of Khmer Buddhist monks have to find a new home.
09/16/2008 By Paul T. Rosynsk Oakland Tribune (California, USA)
OAKLAND — For the city's Cambodian Buddhists, the past three years have been filled with everything but love, joy and compassion.
Instead, about 600 refugees and immigrants have found themselves battling "outsiders" in court for control of an East Oakland temple they successfully argued was illegally taken from them.
The battle, which some described as a "civil war," began in March 2005 when a Massachusetts-based Cambodian Buddhist organization took control of the local temple and its assets in an election the local group said was illegal.
The local group argued in court that the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center — through intimidation and a smear campaign — gained control of the board of directors and then voted to transfer all assets, more than $400,000 worth of property and cash, to the Massachusetts nonprofit organization.
Once the transfer was complete, the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center locked the Oakland group out its own temple and refused to give it about $100,000 that the group had saved in hopes of building a new temple in the city.
Although the Oakland group won its court claim in January, it wasn't until last week that an Alameda County Superior Court Judge made a ruling that set guidelines on how the group could win back its temple and about $100,000 in cash.
"It has been a long struggle to get to where we are," said David Sternfeld, an attorney representing the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Society Temple. "Our clients are, thankfully, very patient people. We are just hoping that by this point in time, we can get our temple back."
The three-year ordeal was caused, in part, by the Buddhists' lack of a central religious organization. Instead, various communities throughout the world create their own local "parishes" or temples.
The International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center wanted to change that, and according to Sternfeld and court documents, began taking over local Buddhist temples throughout the United States.
The way in which the group tried to secure a national organization angered many local residents, Sternfeld and court documents said.
In Oakland, the group brought in outsiders and preyed on internal disputes between temple members to create climate in which temple members began to argue with each other over the future of the organization.
They posted notes on red paper or written in red ink, a threatening color in Cambodia, warning others not to argue against them, documents say. They also accused elder monks of inappropriate activities and eventually forced the election of a new board of directors. That board voted to merge the Oakland temple with the Massachusetts organization.
Now, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Tigar has ruled that a new election must take place and be witnessed by a "special master."
Only members of the Oakland temple before it merged can vote in the new election, Tigar ruled.
The new board of directors will then decide who gets control of the assets.
Sternfeld said he is hopeful that the Massachusetts group will give up its fight for control of the local temple and return the property and money it took. However, he said, he thinks the group will argue that it already spent the cash.
If both sides are unable to agree on the selection of a special master and how the election will take place, each must submit competing plans to Tigar, who said he will demand a progress report next month.
G. Robert Woofin, an attorney representing the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Reach Paul T. Rosynsky at 510-208-6455 or prosynsky@bayareanewsgroup.com.
12/21/2007 By Momo Chang, STAFF WRITER The Oakland Tribune (California, USA)
OAKLAND — A California Superior Court ruled Tuesday that the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Society Temple should never have merged with a corporate, centralized temple in Massachusetts.
"Finally, justice prevailed and we got our temple back," said Christina Fam, daughter-in-law of the temple's now-deceased abbot.
The temple's board of directors conducted a membership vote in June 2004 leading to the merger, but it never stated that the Massachusetts-based International Community Khmer Buddhist Monks Center would essentially take over the Oakland temple, according to the judge's ruling.
The abbot, Sam Son and three monks were locked out of their own temple in 2004. They started a new one — the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple — across the street in the same East Oakland neighborhood, followed by many of their supporters.
"The abbot was told he could no longer be the abbot and he couldn't perform any ceremonies or do anything," Fam said about the temple coup. "This was to the abbot's surprise and the members' surprise."
Several board members allegedly had grudges against some of the elder monks and the abbot. They accused the monks of engaging in inappropriate activities, such as viewing pornography on the Internet and playing cards, allegations that Fam says were false, but were used as an excuse to bring on the merger.
The abbot, Son, passed away July 2005 in the midst of the internal disputes.
"Unfortunately, the abbot couldn't handle the stressful situation," Fam said in tears on the phone Thursday. "He was already frail and had a heart condition. He was in emotional distress."
The original temple was founded in 1983 by Son and incorporated as a nonprofit in 1986. Before the temple was transferred out of local control, it had a membership of 600 and was central to the Cambodian community in Oakland, many who are refugees.
The temple offered language and citizenship classes and workshops on immigration issues and cultural events, according to the plaintiff's lawyer, David Sternfeld.
"We're hoping to bring the temple back into the community and provide the services it had in the past," he said.
G. Robert Woodfin, lawyer to the defendants, said he is still reviewing the decision and declined to comment.
The audience prayed before the meeting
Ven. Tim Sakhorn greets the audience
Ven. Tim Sakhorn addresses the audience
Participants addressed their questions to Ven. Tim Sakhorn
Mr. Thach Ngoc Thach addressed Ven. Tim Sakhorn
The audience listening to Ven. Tim Sakhorn
