California Government Code Sections 54950-54963, commonly referred to as the Brown Act, was developed to “aid in the conduct of the people’s business.” It further states that, “The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

 

More plainly, the citizens of California retain the right to know the business of the legislators who represent them, and no legislator has the right to deny that information to them. So, you may ask, why is this an issue?

It has come to my attention, and perhaps to yours as well, that there are some serious problems involving our local government and the transparency of the business that they are conducting ostensibly on our behalf. Three specific times that I know of, proposed projects in our community have been impacted from the original proposals simply because the Valley Journal dared to inform the community of the meetings. Those projects included the Buellton Sphere of Influence Study, the Santa Ynez Valley Baseline Study and the Santa Rita Hills CSD.

 

In each case, it was clear that public information about the projects was not the intent of the planners, although they may have followed the bare minimum legal requirements of posting a notice on a public door somewhere. The intent of the law was clearly not being followed or there would not have been so many people in each case who said that if not for the Journal, they would not have known about it. It pleases me to no end to break this code of silence, which has existed for far too many years in our community.

There are other concerns I have as well regarding happenings in our community and possible decisions being made, all between our elected officials and a sovereign government without our knowledge or input. The so-called government-to-government discussions enabled by what some refer to as S.B. 18 originally were intended to apply to federal branch agencies only. Because tribes are subject to the plenary powers of Congress, they are not equal to states.

 

By having secret meetings, one has to assume, there are potential 14th Amendment violations, for now NOT all people are being treated equally and certainly one’s civil rights are being denied. Equal protection under the law is an important part of the American way of life, and this relatively new wave of secret negotiations all over the country is developing a life of its own and will soon be a major subject of discussion in our federal courts. 

 

Just recently I have become aware of a number of times when secret meetings have occurred in Santa Barbara County between our representatives and tribal representatives on a variety of topics, all of which is public business. I have in my possession copies of letters from Vincent Armenta to Brooks Firestone Sept. 6, 2006 regarding consultation on the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan, Derek Johnson, Project Manager,  Jan. 9, 2007 regarding the Rice Ranch project, Derek Johnson May 7, 2007 regarding changing regulations for the Archaeology Goals, Policies, Actions and Development Standards in the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan and from John Baker, Director of Planning and Development, Jun. 20, 2007 offering consultation to the tribe on the Ordinance 661 Consistency Rezone Project in the Santa Maria Valley, Tepusquet Canyon and Los Alamos Valley.

 

I am confused by what I am seeing, because I always thought the whole point of the archeological policies were aimed at discovering and preserving artifacts of previous people who inhabited the area.

In contrast, I am seeing what has become wholesale land use control by Armenta facilitated by the county. For example, for two years an owner of property in Los Olivos has been trying to get a simple lot line adjustment in order to preserve a previous owner’s house. You would think this would not have anything to do with any artifacts since no digging or construction is involved yet it is being repeatedly challenged by a representative of the tribe, which is turning out to be very costly and unnecessarily time-consuming for everyone.

 

Now, the very regulations that disclose what procedures must be followed to preserve artifacts are being dictated to the county by someone not even under its jurisdiction. What is being suggested to be added to the already onerous list is an assortment of locations having water sources (like the Santa Ynez River?) or bluffs (my house?) or unspecified areas where groups of people “may have lived.” You might ask just who would be the authority on saying where these locations are. I think we know the answer to that, given a pronouncement on a local radio show that this person saw “hundreds of thousands of sites in the Santa Ynez Valley.” If you own any property, I believe you should be fearful of the County giving away your rights.

 

This is a topic that will require lots of information to fully understand the implications of where some of our laws have been distorted and are now being abused. I believe that ignorance and confusion both play a role in what is happening to our sovereignty and our right to self-determination. These are very basic concepts in our Constitution, which most of us, myself included, take for granted, that is, until faced with a leader who proclaims that all land between Monterey and Malibu was once owned by his ancestors and that he intends to take it back. My answer to that is that my ancestors used to own land in Ireland, but it has been owned by many others since so I clearly no longer have any claim to it. There are laws to support this view, which I shall explore at a later date.

In case you would like to get information for yourself from federal or state agencies, I will include next week a detailed description on the format you must use to get a response. And please don’t get in a hurry about it because your request will most likely end up on the bottom of the heap. It took people almost a year to get the heavily redacted version of the “Consortium,” information contained in an article in the Capitol Weekly newspaper written by Malcolm Maclachlan on Dec. 13, 2007. You might find it very interesting to read. It can be found at www.trustandconsequences.com.

 

Can you believe it

In the news recently have been some pretty outrageous stories that you might have missed. First, there was the story of the dog that was kidnapped in Pennsylvania and when the police asked Verizon to release the phone number of the kidnapper’s throwaway cell phone, Verizon charged them $150 for the number. The Journal had already cancelled our Verizon contract because of on-going bad service, such as not having Internet service for over a week, but I think we would have done so on hearing of this reprehensible behavior.

Then there was the story of the gruesome accident in which a young girl driving her father’s Porsche was killed and beheaded. The local police had taken pictures of the scene, some of which were pretty graphic, which have now not only turned up on the Internet but have also been sent to the grieving parents with messages saying that “she got what she deserved.” What disgusting person would do something like this? Have we all lost our sense of right and wrong; does anything go these days?

 

Then there was the fax I received last week advertising drugs that I know require prescriptions claiming no prescriptions needed. My immediate thought was that these drugs were either fakes, which would endanger my life or they weren’t quite right in some way, which wasn’t good either. I know that there has been a lot of effort to get people to buy drugs online that claim to be so much less expensive — but how do you know what is actually in them? I decided it wasn’t worth my life to get a cheaper price since the ultimate price might be the result, so I’m sticking with my trusted pharmacist, Steve, at Star Drugs in Santa Ynez. When I get my medications there, I know I’m getting what I’m paying for.

 

Holidays

Is it just me or does everyone at this time of year suddenly feel that a week has gone missing somewhere because despite your careful planning, there still seem to be too many tasks undone and too little time left in which to do them? My dear husband suggests that I should just skip something. Well, what should I skip? Shall I skip wrapping the presents that haven’t yet arrived, skip the holiday baking that I enjoy so much, or skip his birthday dinner? I don’t think so. Oh, maybe I should skip the holiday get-togethers with our friends or the last few trips to the grocery store? No, that won’t work.

 

I guess I’ll just do what I can, enjoy the season and try to get some sleep somewhere in the midst of it all. I dare say there are those of you with the same dilemmas that I am facing. I am confident we will all prevail, whatever that will mean, and no one will be the wiser as to the things we simply didn’t have the time or energy for. The best part is the visiting with family and friends that Christmastime brings. My wish is for everyone in the valley and elsewhere to have the very best Christmas and New Year holidays that they possibly can. I wish for happiness, health and good times for all.

 

Merry, Merry

and Happy Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!