On Tuesday, Santa Barbara County chose to forsake its responsibility to protect the interests of the residents of the Santa Ynez Valley along with burdening all County taxpayers with additional taxes by approving its intergovernmental with the Chumash for Camp 4.
Fortunately, along with the Santa Ynez Valley Coalition, there are groups willing to stand up and fight for the Santa Ynez Valley. That very day, Santa Ynez Valley Concerned Citizens(SYVCC) filed suit in federal court seeking to overturn the Camp 4 fee-to-trust action.
If this suit prevails, the Bureau of Indian Affair’s decision to approve the Chumash’s trust application would be reversed, and a more thorough analysis of the impacts of this action would need to be undertaken before it is reconsidered. Obviously, the cursory impact analysis that was previously undertaken was completely insufficient for any federal decision of this magnitude.
You can read the SYVCC press release here, and you should click here to download and read a copy of the Concerned Citizens court filing.
We will keep you posted on more developments as they arise.
As you always, if you have questions, need more information, feel free to send us a note.
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