"First, we’d like to thank the hundreds of residents who attended our September public meeting about our tribe’s purchase of the Camp Four property in the valley.

Our goal is to provide you with the facts, rather than play on emotion. We’ve repeatedly said we are not building a second casino on the Camp Four property. Building a second casino so close to our existing casino doesn’t make any financial sense. Furthermore, the federal laws regarding building casinos on land taken into trust after 1988 make this basically impossible.

The simple truth is that we hope to place the land into trust so we can build homes to create a tribal community for families on land under the jurisdiction of their local tribal government.

Unfortunately, as soon as our meeting ended, the opposition groups tried to put their negative spin on it and stir up more emotion. One tribal opponent was quoted in a newspaper saying: “We’re all just running around to stop their latest tactics to get more land and power.” These groups at a meeting in August compared themselves to people laying down their lives in Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Enough with the fear-mongering."

Get the Story:
Chumash Tribe Vice Chairman Richard Gomez: Tribe wants people to have information (The Solvang Valley News 10/14)

Other Opinions:
Cathie McHenry: Second casino or not, it’s bigger than that (The Solvang Valley News 10/14)
Bob Field: There can be no ‘agreement’ with the tribe (The Solvang Valley News 10/14)
Jim Marino: Representation without taxation ( The Santa Ynez Valley Journal 10/13)

Related Stories:
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Vincent Armenta: Chumash Tribe shares facts about land plans (9/29)
Opinion: Neighbors aren't buying Chumash Tribe's story on land (9/22)
Chumash Tribe starts website to support land-into-trust efforts (9/20)
Richard Gomez: Facing the facts on Chumash Tribe's land plans (9/15)
Chumash Tribe to hold public meeting on land-into-trust plan (9/13)
Editorial: Chumash Tribe should be more open about land plan (9/8)
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Opponents to host meeting to discuss Chumash land-into-trust (8/12)
Opinion: Stop Chumash Tribe from placing new property in trust (8/5)
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