Response To Kathryn Bowen

I guess I used up my welcome at the Valley Journal... I submitted this in repsonse to Kathryn Bowen's repsonse to my Jakers response but it was refused.... Not surprised actually...

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Kathryn Bowen asks how I can know what the Santa Ynez Band will do or not do about federal water rights or any other matter. This was in reference to my response to Mr. Jakers letter. No where in that response did I claim to know what the Chumash will do or not do about anything. In my letter a couple weeks ago where I pointed out the errors in Ms. Cleary’s letter on federal water rights and attempted to explain in detail what the Chumash may face if they decided to exercise their rights I said that time will tell. I’ve never claimed to know what the Chumash’s future plans are.

She refers to me as an “outside” observer with the quotes inferring that I may be privy to the Chumash’s plans or have ties to the tribe, while in the same sentence she says that tribal members don’t have an idea what the Chairman “is up to”. How does she know this? It sounds like she has much more of an inside track on the tribe than us “outsiders”.

Kathryn Bowen says I was nitpicking over words when I challenged Jakers comments. Pointing out a completely false statement by someone who claims it as fact, then bases his entire point on it, is hardly nitpicking.

Jakers said “the scam is the claim that the Santa Ynez Band are descendants of a 10,000-year-old Chumash tribe whose aboriginal territory is 7,000 square miles from Paso Robles to Malibu and Kern County to the Northern Channel Islands’’ He falsely claims that that was senate testimony given by the Santa Ynez leadership and their attorneys, then bases his whole “point” on it. Sorry Mrs. Bowen, but when someone lies about something then asks us to believe in their point of view based on that lie, I don’t see challenging it as nitpicking. I see it as revealing the truth.

If there are those who believe that our local tribe intends to claim and acquire the 7,000 square miles from Paso Robles to Malibu and Kern County to the Northern Channel Islands, then I suggest you better check your cracker as I believe the cheese is starting to slip off.

Kathryn Bowen claims that I, as well as others, are hiding behind racism and “Chumash bashing”, yet in the same letter she says that Mr. Armenta’s “heritage has evolved over the years” and that for her it is “quite amusing to watch and document”. If that comment isn’t loaded with racial overtones then I don’t know what is.

Some may be wondering why I am so vocal. I know I am in the hornets’ nest here by submitting letters to the Valley Journal challenging their conglomerate consensus. I know that I am out numbered within this venue and will probably be the target of more “high spirited” entries but that’s ok. Perhaps it might inspire others to “speak up” who may disagree with the majority of those who submit letters here.

Who am I and why am I subjecting myself to this?

I have lived in the valley for the better part of my 55 yrs. I grew up here in the 60’s and had many friends in grade school and high school that lived on the reservation. I am currently an engineer working for a defense contractor in Goleta.

I played in a poker tournament a couple years ago at the casino which cost me $20. I lasted about an hour and a half, had fun but haven’t spent another dime in the casino as I’m not really a gambler. I have enjoyed a few concerts at the casino though. My wife worked at the casino as a food server and later as a dealer in the poker room but that was back when they still had the tent I believe. She only worked there for about a year until our kids and family became the priority. She is now a nurse at Cottage hospital.

I have absolutely no ties to the Chumash except to have lived in the valley with them. I have never met, talked on the phone with, or exchanged emails with Chairman Armenta. I have emailed Frances Snyder, who handles public relations for the tribe, to ask her questions regarding the tribe’s stance or to clarify their position on certain issues. On a few of these occasions she indicated that the information was for tribal members only and that she could not divulge it to me.

The reason I am vocal on these issues arises from the 5000 more slots debacle in the early part of last year. I was initially concerned when I read that the Chumash were on the verge of installing 5000 more slot machines. I, like many others, did not want to see a large expansion of the casino and 5000 more slots was a pretty hefty expansion. POLO / POSY’s letters and full page ads were quite scary so I decided to look into it for myself. It turned out it was pure alarmist propaganda on the part of POLO/POSY and friends. When they stated that we only had a few weeks before 5000 more slots would become reality, I had to speak out and did so. That, along with numerous other false statements and incredulous, baseless claims by these groups was the reason I became vocal and eventually started a blog.

My being vocal is not to speak for or defend the tribe nor endorse any expansion or any other endeavors they may pursue. The tribe has never contacted me and asked me to say anything on their behalf or in support of them.

I do support the tribe’s ever shrinking sovereignty, sovereignty which is not race-based, as POLO and company believes it is, but sovereignty which is recognized and protected by the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, and treaties. If the indigenousness natives of this continent that the Europeans found when they first arrived were 2 ft tall blue pygmies then we would have pygmy reservations today. It has nothing to do with race.

I also support the tribe’s right to own and operate the casino and to provide economic security for their future generations.

I support whatever right they have which is allowed by law and by the Constitution, just as I support any right allowed by law and the Constitution to any other American in this country.

My sole purpose and intent in being vocal is to bring to light and expose the alarmist propaganda, falsehoods and bias being generated by a very small minority in our valley.

That’s it… pure and simple. Tell the truth, don’t hide stuff, don’t twist it all up and I am happy no matter what side of the issue(s) your on.

There are certainly legitimate issues concerning tribal sovereignty and gaming as well as off reservation land issues and court decisions will eventually hammer it all out. Maybe not in our lifetimes but eventually there will be some sort of symbiosis between the tribes, local communities and county and state governments.

I am not sure which documents Mrs. Bowen has in mind when she asks me to support my claims. They have the testimony which clearly disputes Jakers claim.

I can’t afford expensive lawyers so I do all of my own research using the Internet as my primary source. The “documents” Mrs. Bowen asks me to produce to support my “claims” can be found on my blog in the form of links. For example, the links listed below are all the sources I used for responding to Ms. Cleary’s error filled letter on federal water rights:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-25-water-rights_N.htm
http://www.klamathbucketbrigade.org/Pace_NativeAmericanwaterrightsontheline022608.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Department_of_Water_Resources
http://lib.berkeley.edu/WRCA/pdfs/news131.pdf
http://law.jrank.org/pages/13674/Winters-v-United-States.html
http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/publications/townhall/Chapter8.pdf
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/wtr/water_rights_activities.htm
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080726/BUSINESS/807260312
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417167

Speaking of supporting claims with documents… in April of last year Mrs. Bowen told me in an email that “We have the facts to back up everything we've said and do not support, and have never supported "scare tactics" and "half-truths." I then asked her twice, very specifically, to give me the source of a study that claimed in big bold print in a full page ad paid for by POLO and friends, that one slot = 5 - 12 car trips per day indicating that if the Chumash had 7000 slots, that the Valley would have 42,000 people a day coming into it.

I never did receive the source.

You know, it seems like the thinking by some in our valley is that the Chumash have pulled one over on us. Like one day they woke up and thought,” Hey, lets build a casino and become really wealthy and invest in real estate and businesses and to hell with what everybody else thinks.”

For 108 years the Chumash have been playing at the US Government poker table. The rules of the game were created by the Government and they were rules that other Americans didn’t have to play by. Other Americans played by rules that made the odds of winning much more favorable and they had very nice tables in the nicest part of the room. The Chumash played at the tables that the other Americans deemed not nice enough for themselves and which were located near the back door. Year after year the Chumash were dealt losing hand after losing hand. Then 20 years ago, playing by the rules they did not create, they finally got a winning hand. They won big time.

Do you think they should have looked at that hand and folded? Do you think they should have said to themselves, “ No, no …we shouldn’t take this opportunity to pull ourselves out of poverty and create a better life for our children? It will just tick off a few of the rich white folks that have just recently moved here”.

What would you have done? Would you have folded?

If you have a beef with the Casino or the Chumash or the reservation, take it to Washington and Sacramento and the courts if you want to. That is where the people are, along with the voters of this state, who have allowed the casino to be built in our valley and who will be making decisions on the future.