San Diego Union-Tribune Letters to the Editor

It should be noted that Leon Acebedo, Jamul Indian Band tribal chairman, cannot tell the truth about anything. To say the use of force in the March 10 confrontation was necessary because his hired tribal police were being attacked is a complete lie.

I was invited by Walter Rosales to help secure his belongings from his rightful home. I was there when Acebedo’s goon squad, complete with pepper spray, sidearms, metal batons, tasers and SWAT-style clothes, attacked us.

No one physically attacked or threatened the hired tribal police. Just take a look at the U-T’s picture on March 11. It is obvious who the attackers were.

The Cheshire cat grin on Acebedo’s face, as he watched from a distance, said it all. The man relished in seeing people harmed. Funny how he was away from the thick of things as his goons did his dirty work.

In Acebedo style, he lied to Sheriff Capt. Guy Chambers, Supervisor Dianne Jacob and attorney Pat Webb. Of course, Acebedo justifies the abridgement of a written agreement he signed by saying the tribal council “overrode him.” Where was this tribal council March 10? Could he not reach them by phone that day? The next day he ordered that the homes of Walter Rosales and Karen Toggery be demolished.

Acebedo will say or do anything to get what he wants. When he says they will only build Class II slot machines, why should he be trusted? When he says the tribe has offered $6 million toward state Route 94 improvements, why should we trust him?

Acebedo believes he is above the laws we all must follow. In fact, he is quoted that “we can do whatever we want, we are a sovereign nation.”

Maybe sovereign nations should be abolished.

To say that building a casino is the only way to economic development is a lie. Members of non-gaming tribes receive millions of dollars as their portion of gaming revenues, a place to live without rent or mortgage, and access to free health care. Yet, Acebedo wants more.

This is greed to the extreme.

SCOTT SPURGEON
Jamul

It looks like the pro-casino tribal members over at the Jamul Indian Village sidestepped everyone March 10. After a four-hour show of solidarity to prevent the two remaining residents of the Jamul Indian Village (Walter Rosales and Karen Toggery) from being forcibly evicted, local residents finally dispersed when an agreement was reached between Supervisor Dianne Jacob and Tribal Chairman Leon Acebedo.

At the heart of the agreement was a promise by Chairman Acebedo not to demolish the residences of Walter and Karen for a week. This agreement, reached on Saturday, was acknowledged in the Union-Tribune’s article that appeared in the Sunday paper. Well, by Monday, their homes were demolished.

Is it politically correct to call Chairman Acebedo a liar now?

Let’s take a closer look at who all got sidestepped that fateful weekend. Certainly, Supervisor Jacob was put on the spot. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is looking pretty foolish at this point after it made an impressive show of force to protect Chairman Acebedo from the many unarmed citizens who came from the local community to observe and video record the eviction. Specifically, Capt. Guy Chambers and Lt. Hope Andrews must be feeling very foolish, since they co-signed the written agreement with Chairman Acebedo.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger definitely got sidestepped because Chairman Acebedo said so in the Union-Tribune’s article and we know he doesn’t lie. Did the Union-Tribune get sidestepped, or did it misquote Chairman Acebedo when he promised not to demolish the homes? Finally, the long-suffering residents of Jamul got sidestepped, but we’re used to that. After all, we’re nothing more than the lawful, taxpaying, voting citizens of the county of San Diego and the sovereign state of California.

VERONICA J. HOBAN
Jamul

I am so proud to be part of Jamul, a haven for all San Diegans and the place I call home. As it has been proven to me again and again in this struggle, I am part of a special group of regular people and citizens who truly demonstrate the qualities of the word “community.”

These people continue to take on the challenge that some, but not most people in America, have had to do: to fight for the protection of their own and their loved ones’ lives (state Route 94) and their rural lifestyle. More than that, they have taken on the challenge of standing up for what is right and fair. Yet, with the dwindling of rural spaces and the number of San Diego County residents who use Jamul for recreation, it really is a county issue.

When tribal members who calculatedly usurped leadership in this tribe can disenfranchise, harass and forcibly eject their own members from their homes, on land gifted to their own parents and their descendants, and who stand in the way of their greed, it is a sad day for all San Diegans. Now, we wait for the wheels of justice to slowly grind in the courts and police investigations, while they hide behind sovereignty.

About 100 members of the peace-loving community of Jamul were vigilant and answered the call to help their neighbors early on Saturday March 10. At least 20 of us were harassed and victimized when we attempted to stand with the oppressed tribal members so that they would not be unlawfully evicted from their homes in an action not recognized by California law.

The “tribe” states in propagandized ads and billboards (paid for by wealthy developer Lakes Entertainment) that it cares about the community of Jamul. Yet, it ignores the concrete objections of citizens about life and death issues (Route 94 and fire safety, to name only two) and the repeated testimony of experts in the field. It flaunts its disregard of California and federal law.

Instead, it threatens still another new scheme to force a casino down the throats of the 98 percent of its neighbors who are vehemently opposed to the tribe’s plans, ignoring that tribal members make up less than 1 percent of the population of Jamul.

Perhaps, the tribe should turn its attention to the 2-mile stretch of SR-94 it adopted that goes from the Village to Honey Springs Road and have neglected for months. For a group that professes to care about us, it’s puzzling day after day to see the same filthy trash that has been there for months. Similarly, it has ignored the community input it received this past summer as a requirement of completing its environmental statement (which, by the way, received at least 70 objections from the county of San Diego). It seems like from all of what we’ve seen, this group is clearly anti-community.

ARIELE BROOKE
Jamul

© Copyright 2007 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

Posted on March 29th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Gaming, Opinion