What we have in common is a belief that because we all share the beautiful land of the Santa Ynez Valley, we should all play by the same rules.

The addition of the Chumash Casino to the Valley has had both positive and negative impacts on the area. The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians have had great success operating their casino on Highway 246, and we support the tribe's efforts to ensure their long-term prosperity by diversifying their economy beyond gambling.

What we don't support is the fully self-sufficient tribe's continued manipulation of the federal fee-to-trust process to annex land and remove it from local and state tax rolls. Furthermore, we oppose private, non-tribal developers teaming up with tribes to circumvent long-established land use and environmental laws.

Please join us in our campaign to ensure that no development - regardless of the project or who the developer is - be allowed to proceed without full state and local regulatory review and public input.