After reading 1,452 crime reports written at the Chumash Casino, one has to question the decision-making of our government and the politics of casino tribes. Crime report after crime report was written for methamphetamine, other drugs and public intoxication. A huge number of others included check forging, weapons, and trespassing of people who were so bad the casino did not even want them.

All of this, yet the Sheriff’s Department has not done one investigation.
Businesses in Los Olivos, on the other hand, have been investigated multiple times. We have had armed policeman walking the streets and police cars posted watching for violations. The latest in the politics of casino tribes is what we are finding out about Chumash Casino chairman Vincent Armenta’s discussions with Congressman Elton Gallegly to put the 1,400 acres, in the heart of Santa Ynez, into federal trust/reservation status.

Land in federal trust is outside local and state jurisdiction and taxation. Anything can be built, including box stores, cigarette stores, high-density housing, high-rise hotels, a power plant, expansion of gambling.

The fact that the Congressman is even considering legislation to put the 1,400 acres into trust is impossible to understand. Congressman Gallegly’s office knows about the POLO and POSY litigation against the federal government that has cost our community six years and almost $2 million.

The litigation includes two Supreme Court decisions and was filed to stop the completely corrupted Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) fee land to trust process. And it has stopped it. Any consideration or discussions between Congressman Gallegly and Chairman Armenta of putting the 1,400 acres into federal trust are an end run around the community’s litigation and the Supreme Court.
Congressman Gallegly’s office is telling us that there is nothing to worry about. Surprisingly, politicians still seem to think they can reassure us by saying that we should not be concerned, they have our best interest at heart, public opinion counts, that it would never happen without community support, that the community and county would be protected with agreements that would ensure, among other things, prohibition of gambling.

We have all traveled this road before and we know the landmines. If it weren’t so nauseating, it would be comical. Six years ago, the BIA told us almost the same thing when the Chumash Casino tribe applied to take 6.9 acres into federal trust. The BIA said the community had a voice and the community would be heard. The BIA then collected about 1,000 letters of support to put the 6.9 acres into trust from the employees of the Chumash Casino, and a number of letters from out-of-area politicians (who we later learned had received significant donations from the Chumash Casino).

Those letters all went into the decision making process. The almost 1,000 letters from the community objecting to the 6.9 were accidentally lost. They were only found when the community groups filed litigation and the letters were found to be missing.

Adding more jokes to the comedy, suggesting agreements could be written into the legislation to protect the community is ridiculous and irresponsible. Six years ago, Santa Barbara County failed miserably when they thought they were brokering a “historic agreement” with the Chumash Casino tribe that was based on prohibition of gambling. After the county gave up their standing to appeal the application on the 6.9 acres, they found out that gambling could not be prohibited indefinitely.

In addition to impossibility of agreements, there is no one overseeing or enforcing the rules that are in place to protect the community on land in federal trust. The special distribution fund is virtually a legalized bribery system. Community members are impacted and harmed, but the casino tribe has no accountability to them. County government points to the state, the state points to the feds, and the feds point in every other direction or turn a deaf ear.
We know this because our community has tried again and again to get representation from all levels of government.

We have repeatedly asked Sheriff Brown for crime investigations. We have been ignored.

We have asked the Alcoholic Beverage Control for investigations. We have been ignored.

We have written the Californian Gambling Control Commission showing Tribal State Gaming Compact violations and asked for them to be stopped. We have been ignored.

Through the litigation, we have proven the Santa Ynez Band is not eligible to have land taken into trust for it as determined by the Supreme Court Carcieri decision.

Congressman Gallegly’s office tells us it is up to public opinion. Our community is sick of politics. Here it is, plain and simple: If you don’t unequivocally oppose putting land into trust for the Santa Ynez Band, then you support it.
We will be asking.