POLO Claims Victory… (sigh) again

POLO issued a press release yesterday claiming, again, that they have won a major victory in their pursuit to stop the Federal Government from taking the 6.9 acres across from the casino into trust for the Chumash.

For some misguided reason they now believe that they have standing to challenge the BIA’s decision to allow the land to be taken into trust.

In the release POLO claims, "P.O.L.O. and POSY now have standing to challenge the federal government's ability to remove land from local regulatory and taxing authority through the fee-to-trust process and puts decisions made by the BIA or IBIA under the scrutiny of a federal court”

In reality, all that has happened is that the case goes right back to where it was on July 9 of last year when Judge A. Howard Matz decided that the IBIA in making their decision that POLO did not have standing, did, among other things, fail to “examine factors that may be relevant under their regulations” and so threw it back in the BIA’S lap for further review.

In the July 9 decision, Judge Matz ruled against POLO/POSY’s request that the Court direct the IBIA to grant them standing, saying that the Court is not empowered to do so.

I know POLO has spun some “doosies” before but, geeze, this one borders on losing touch with reality.

It is still undetermined whether or not the BIA will allow them standing to appeal their decision on the 6.9 acres in question.

Here is what really happened…

Following the July 9 ruling, The Department of Interior filed a "Notice of Appeal" document that was filed simply to save appeal rights in case they wanted to appeal the July 9 ruling...common, everyday legal procedure.

The tribe did the same just to be on the same page as the BIA.

Recently the Federal Government made a decision not to appeal and so did the tribe just to keep in step.

All this means is that we go right back in time to July 9 when Judge Matz made his decision that the IBIA reconsider, using a 5 point functional analysis as suggested by a previous case, their decision to not allow standing to POLO/POSY.

This will be the next step.

That’s it..thats all…. Nothing has really changed since July 9!

Someone reading the POLO press release who was not following the case would think that POLO had just won a history changing Supreme Court case ranking up there with Roe vs Wade or Miranda vs Arizona..

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Here is the POLO press release:

Precedent setting case comes to a close; hands victory to local groups

Preservation of Los Olivos, P.O.L.O. and Preservation of Santa Ynez, POSY
v. the United States Department of the Interior

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: info@polosyv.org

Santa Ynez, Ca. - January 21, 2009 - After four years in federal court, the Department of Interior and Santa Ynez Band officially withdrew their appeal of a July 9, 2008 ruling by Federal Court Judge A. Howard Matz making the July 9th order final.

"By withdrawing the appeal, Judge Matz' decision becomes the final decision in this case. P.O.L.O. and POSY now have standing to challenge the federal government's ability to remove land from local regulatory and taxing authority through the fee-to-trust process and puts decisions made by the BIA or IBIA under the scrutiny of a federal court," states Kathryn Bowen, spokesperson for P.O.L.O. "Never before have these decisions been subject to judicial review. This is a very big victory for all affected communities."

Matz' ruling on July 9th rejected the arguments made by the federal government and the Santa Ynez Band that Preservation of Los Olivos (P.O.L.O.) and Preservation of Santa Ynez (POSY) have no right to appeal Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) or Internal Board of Indian Appeals' (IBIA) decisions.

"The days of the rubber stamp approach by the Department of Interior over land use issues involving gambling tribes is over," explained Bowen. "Our grievance was with the government telling us we did not have a right to stand up in a court of law and object to the removal of land from local jurisdiction. We believe we do have that right. Judge Matz agreed," Bowen says.

P.O.L.O. and POSY's legal challenge against the federal government began in 2005 after the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors failed to meet a deadline to appeal the Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision to place the 6.9 acres into federal trust status.

"The county had automatic standing to appeal this decision and take steps to protect our community. They chose not to. The Board of Supervisors repeatedly failed in their responsibility to protect the interests of the county and in doing so saddled the community with a costly burden of rectifying their error in judgment," says Bowen.

P.O.L.O. and POSY filed an appeal in 2005 on behalf of the community against the United States Department of the Interior.

"We knew the 6.9 acre parcel would have set the precedent for all future land acquisitions by the Santa Ynez Band. The planned cultural center could have built over 5 years ago. The land does not have to be in federal trust to build it," states Bowen.

P.O.L.O. and POSY are requesting that the order be published so that all persons seeking review against related federal actions may use it and are seeking reimbursement for their attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

"This has always been about restoring and preserving the voice of each and every one of us. The Constitution is still a very young document, but it provides a clear framework for our rights as citizens and this case is a monumental example," states Steve Pappas, founder and former Executive Director of P.O.L.O.