The recent 3-2 decision by the Board of Supervisors to allow expansion of alcohol sales at the Chumash Casino and Resort in Santa Ynez was stunning.
Remember, casino tribes do not pay taxes like other businesses. They also receive federal funding. That means you, the taxpayer, are subsidizing the casino tribes and their businesses in addition to being put at risk by the increased alcohol and drug accidents and death, crime and other negative impacts that come with thousands of daily gamblers.

Reading about this hearing was bad enough, but watching it and seeing Supervisors Lavagnino, Carbajal and Gray ignore the clear testimony by Sheriff Brown, Supervisor Farr and members of the community is mind-boggling. View their testimony for yourself on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iruMLbjMXo. What is going on here?

Sheriff Brown spelled out that his department is short-funded. This is consistent with the June 18, 2011, article in the Santa Barbara Daily Sound: “Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown blasted the Board of Supervisors approval of sweeping cuts to his department, including slashing or pulling funds from 50 positions and axing the gang team.”

In the recent July 5 Supervisors’ hearing, Sheriff Brown stated the following:
* There has been increased criminal activity and need for both police and medics to service the Chumash Casino and Resort to the tune of nine positions.
* The county has to go to the state to get reimbursed for public health and safety protection from a special distribution fund that tribes pay into because of the negative impacts of casinos.
* The state can choose not to pay the county anything. This happened one year and the county was not reimbursed $675,000.
* The current cost of 5 deputies would be $760,040 annually. That does not include the cost of the other 4 deputies and medics that have been needed.
* They estimate the cost of all 9 positions to be over $1 million.
* In current economic times, there is less money in the special distribution fund. At most the county will receive $409,427. That will pay for 2.69 deputy sheriffs.
* On July 24 the already scheduled cut backs to Sheriff Brown’s department will begin.

This means a shortfall of $600,000 to more than $1 million to our county that is broke. And every year it is uncertain if, or what, the county will receive from the state fund.

In addition, in the hearing, Supervisor Farr said she, and the other Supervisors, had received hundreds of letters of opposition from the public opposing alcohol expansion at the casino. POLO had submitted over 1,450 crime reports, information detailing that given the size of the casino and resort that it is nearly impossible for the Alcoholic Beverage Control to determine where drunks get drunk and thus oversee the safety of the license, in addition to POLO’s litigation against the Bureau of Indian Affairs that questions this casino tribe’s legitimacy and eligibility to even have a casino.

Supervisor Farr concluded the hearing by saying the county does not have the money to provide the police and medical staff for public health and safety, and that Sheriff Brown may need even more than nine positions after the full alcohol expansion is in force and probable increase of even more crime occurs. Farr implored the Supervisors to continue their protest. Supervisor Wolf agreed. Lavagnino, Carbajal and Gray turned a deaf ear to the two Supervisors, and the public. There was not even a word of discussion.

After watching the hearing I emailed Supervisors Lavagnino, Carbajal and Gray and asked them how much, for sure, the county would receive from the Chumash casino tribe or State to pay to for protection of the public. Supervisors Lavagnino and Carbajal did not respond. Supervisor Gray forwarded me to the CEO.
I asked the CEO for a specific breakdown of the costs of police, fire, medical or other county provided services for the past five years, and how much the county received from the casino tribe or state fund. I assumed that this information was provided to the Supervisors for their decision-making at this hearing. The CEO did not have the information and promised to gather it for me.

All of this makes absolutely no sense, unless you talk to other communities who are infected by unrestricted Indian gambling. The political process is the first to be corrupted.

POLO got the video of the hearing, did minor editing, and has posted on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iruMLbjMXo.

We have included the full testimonies of Sheriff Brown, and Supervisor Farr. It is vitally important that you watch Supervisors Lavagnino, Carbajal and Gray ignore the Sheriff and Supervisor Farr, even after Farr implores them to continue their protest because of the huge threat to public health and safety. It is also important that you sign up for POLO’s email newsletters and donate to POLO at www.polosyv.org.

Kathy Cleary is president of POLO, a grass-roots citizen group.