SOBOBA RESERVATION - A new Soboba tribal election will be held after a faction of tribal members charged the March election was not conducted properly.
Soboba Band of Luiseno Indian Tribal Chairman Robert Salgado said Monday he will go along with the new election plans.
At a tribal meeting Saturday, 57 of 80 members present voted to hold a new election, said Vice Chairwoman Becky Salgado-Flores. The tribe has about 470 members.
 
Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians Tribal Chairman Robert Salgado says he decided to seek another term after listening to elders and meditating.

No petition asking for a new election was presented at the meeting and no investigation is being conducted into reports that some ballots were not counted, Salgado-Flores said.
Also on Saturday, Salgado told tribal members he would resign, but has since reconsidered and now vows to stay in office.
His seat and two other council seats will be at stake in the election. Salgado, who has served as chairman on and off for 22 years, said he decided to seek another term after listening to elders and meditating.
"The easiest thing to do is to quit and I'm not a quitter," said 62-year-old Salgado from the tribal administration office. In the March election, where Salgado won the chairmanship again and two new council members were seated, some tribal members claimed not all of the votes were counted.
"Our election committee approved the (March) election, sent it to the (Bureau of Indian Affairs) and they approved it," Salgado-Flores said. "But 57 people want a new election, so we are going to have one. I don't think an election is necessary. I believe our election committee did the best job they could."
The new election committee will be chosen at a 10 a.m. Aug. 7 tribal meeting. No date for the election has been set, Salgado said.
Salgado said he has mixed feelings about what some tribal members think because this marks the first time the tribe has held a re-election.
Salgado said the judge's and election committee's decisions have always been final.
"There are many younger people who don't understand the customs and traditions," Salgado said. "Again, I can't think for them."
In the past 15 years, the tribe has seen a bingo hall grow into a casino with an outdoor event arena, a health clinic, a school, a first-class park with a gym, pool and deluxe softball fields.
The Soboba battle comes as the tribe and local governments discuss plans for a hotel and second casino in the area, as well as other proposed ventures, including improving road access to the existing casinos and purchasing a large lighted sign for the casino. The tribe also hopes to get Congress to make 128 acres in Winchester, acquired as part of a legal settlement with the Metropolitan Water District, part of the Soboba reservation.
The tribe has been a frequent donor to political campaigns, athletic programs and community organizations. The Hemet Public Library received a $400,000 donation last year, and football programs at area high schools have benefited from the tribe's largesse. The tribe became the first one to open a Veterans of Foreign Wars post on its reservation earlier this year, and Noli Indian School serves sixth- through 12th-graders from a number of tribes.
The tribe also is notorious for its internal strife, including a bloody feud among multiple factions in the 1980s that left several people dead and prompted intervention from a U.S. Justice Department mediator. Sheriff's deputies conducted tight security on the reservation and searched vehicles entering and leaving. Robert Salgado at that time was among those calling on people to refrain from violence.
A nonviolent dispute erupted in 2002 when the tribe prohibited motocross promoters from holding an event on the reservation after two members allowed the track to be built there. Tribal officials said they never gave permission for Ernest Salgado Sr. and Ernie Salgado Jr. to open the track. The elder Salgado is the father of Chairman Salgado, and Ernie Salgado Jr. is the brother of the chairman and the father of Becky Salgado-Flores.
In the latest shakeup, many of the complaints about the tribal leadership seem to be centered on the resignations or firings of tribal and casino employees. The tribal administrator, casino spokesman and education director all have left since the election. Other casino staffers have been laid off, ex-employees say, although most signed confidentiality agreements that prohibit them from being quoted.
Reporter Michelle DeArmond contributed to this story.
Reach Kenny Klein at (909) 763-3466 or kklein@pe.com