First some GOOD NEWS!!!
Today JAC won an important victory in the California Court of Appeal. The court ruled IN FAVOR of JAC and reversed a lower court ruling that had dismissed JAC’s lawsuit against the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) for unlawfully facilitating JIV’s construction of its casino.
JAC had sued the WCB for granting an easement on the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve to Jamul Indian Village without complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The court rejected arguments by the WCB and JIV that JAC was precluded from proceeding with its suit because JIV had sovereign immunity. JAC’s case now goes back to the trial court for further proceedings.
JAC has a second case pending in the Court of Appeal that will be heard on March 23rd. That appeal requests reversal of the trial court’s dismissal of a second JAC lawsuit challenging Caltrans’ approval of encroachment permits that likewise facilitate JIV’s construction of its casino without compliance with CEQA.
Second a reminder:
The recent Public Relations letter sent to the vast majority of the residents of Jamul by the Jamul Indian Village public relations machine is inaccurate and insulting. It is inaccurate because no Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement has been agreed upon by the County. The truth is there is only a draft of a proposed agreement at this time, which even the Supervisors haven’t yet seen.
It is insulting because it falsely states that the JIV is committed to be a good neighbor, when in fact it is destroying our community. JIV is committed to greed and turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the needs of the community. To attempt to suggest that the proposed MOU is one of the strongest, is outright deceitful, since it only favors the JIV, and fails to get anywhere near what the County has received from other tribes!!!
JAC is opposing the MOU before the Board of Supervisors and has begun meeting with each Supervisor to explain the weaknesses in the proposed MOU! It is no surprise the JIV said they are grateful to County staff, since it appears that JIV is getting everything it wants, while the County staff, for whatever reason, has all but facilitated the giving away of the 4 things the JIV wants without any of the millions of dollars of compensation that have been paid by other tribes for similar projects in the County. In this instance, no MOU is a better deal than a bad MOU!
JIV intends to discourage you with their false and fraudulently misleading mailings, because they want you roll over and accept their takeover of the community.
We must not give up, we have only just begun to fight, and we have yet to lose on the merits in any court. I remain invested to stop this monstrosity. My wife and I, along with many of your neighbors and their families, continue to give of our time, and energy and as we are able our fiscal resources to stop this project. I continue to have complete faith that this project can be halted through the courts. Clearly the courts move a much slower pace than I would prefer, but we are every day another day closer to winning on the merits, and stopping this project once and for all. Adequate representation in State and Federal courts is expensive and our needs are great. We can scarcely afford to stop supporting the only effort that truly holds the promise of halting this nightmare.
Please support JAC with your donation to our legal fund. Please send your donations to:
JAC
P.O. Box 1317
Jamul, CA 91935
You may also use Paypal to send a secure donation: