A blog dedicated to public records requests and Monterey County news.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

AB 52: Federally recognized tribe opposes

A federally recognized Native American tribe based in Shasta County has come out against a bill co-authored by Asm. Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) that is opposed by several Monterey County  unrecognized tribes.

The Pit River Tribe, recognized by the federal government since 1976,  has called AB 52 a "thinly veiled attempt" to cut Native Americans out of the development process in a letter to the main author, Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles).

"Marginalization and cultural extermination of California's surviving Indians seem to have replaced genocide of past centuries," wrote Dolores Raglin, tribal chairwoman for Pit River.

At issue for unrecognized tribes is the bill's Section 1 (b) which says it will "Establish a consultation process for federally recognized Native American tribes in California in the California Environmental Quality Act."

Unrecognized tribes, such as Monterey County's Ohlone/Coastanoan-Esselen Nation, interpret the bill to mean they will no longer be consulted on projects they consider part of their ancestral land, such as the Fort Ord veterans cemetery.

California currently does not distinguish between unrecognized and recognized tribes, according to an analysis by the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.

Alejo said last week the tribes have misinterpreted his bill and it would not affect their ability to work with developers. However, Gatto told The Herald the legislation would likely not pass if the state's 78 tribal communities petitioning for recognition were added to the mix.

"We have to bite off what we can chew," he said. ". . . Politics is the art of the possible."

In Raglin's letter, she wrote the tribe was concerned a change to the definition of what a Native American tribe is would further past grievances.

"Given the shameful, historical treatment of California's Native Americans at the hands of the U.S. and State Governments," she wrote, "AB 52's proposed removal of many Indian peoples from the CEQA process puts the State of California in the role of continuing that dark legacy."

Gatto said he actually came up with the bill because of a desire to preserve California's history. AB 52 would elevate federally recognized tribes to the same status as other government entities. Instead of just being focused on finding archaeological artifacts, it would force every project under CEQA to be reviewed by the Native American Heritage Commission.

Raglin also opposes the work required of recognized tribes if the bill passes as "an undue burden and unfunded mandate."

The Pit River Tribe plans to attend the Senate Appropriations Committee in Sacramento on Aug. 4 when it is read again, according to Morning Star Gali, the tribe's historic preservation officer.

There are three local unrecognized tribes. The Esselen territory is mostly limited to Monterey County; the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is spread across San Benito, Santa Cruz and northern and eastern Monterey counties; the Salinan Tribe is in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.

Pit River Tribe letter

Monday, July 21, 2014

Monterey County Sheriff claim continues to fall flat

At the height of the Monterey County sheriff's primary, I made a California Public Records Act request for documents related to a claim that eventually came out in a last minute attack -- That Sheriff Scott Miller had several official complaints against him.

According to my recently-received response, the Sheriff's Office had 11 complaints with the county Equal Opportunity Office. Of these, seven cases were based on race, national origin and/or gender and four cases complained of discrimination based upon disability and age.

The only thing it proves is the office had complaints, not Miller. Also, there is no way of telling what they were about exactly.

The Californians for Law and Order group, run by a former GOP Central Coast leader, claimed in advertisements Miller has had "13 charges filed for sexual harassment and discrimination" against him.

No evidence has ever been produced to validate that claim.

Here is what Miller wrote about complaints against him at the time:
"None have been shown to have any factual merit," he wrote, "Most of them have been abandoned or lie dormant. The majority of the claims were filed by disgruntled former employees."
I figured this was worth a blog post because 1) It likely will come up again in the campaign and 2) for how long it took my request (attached below) to be filed.

I made the request to the County Counsel's office May 14. I did not get a response until last week.

No explanation was given as to why it took 44 business days to get a response, but I did get an apology. I've never had an issue with County Counsel Charles McKee or his staff; They are usually fast and helpful with requests.

Under California law, public entities have a maximum of 24 days to release records, give a date for their release or explain what exemption allows it to not release it.

I made another request for something else related to the campaign on April 24 and have not received the information I asked for. McKee said they are working on it.

Last week, Miller's challenger in the November election, Steve Bernal, received the endorsement of the Deputy Sheriffs Association. Although it is unclear how much that means to voters, Bernal was very pleased and said it would give his campaign momentum.


PRAR - Molnar 07-15-14.pdf

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Fort Ord vets cemetery meeting planned

State Sen. Bill Monning
A day after some environmentalists raised a red flag over the state not having a public meeting over the draft Fort Ord veterans cemetery plans, two local politicians have announced a meeting.

U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, and State Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, will hold a 1-hour meeting Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

The public gathering is at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Morse B-104, 426 Van Buren Street. If you have questions, you may call Monning's office at 831-657-6315.

Monning's office said the event will be "an informational town hall meeting providing a state and federal update on the status of the California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery."

The public has until next week Friday to comment on the draft plans for the cemetery. The 629-page draft environmental assessment for the cemetery is available online or at the Seaside Library at 550 Harcourt Ave. or Marina Library at 190 Seaside Circle.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Fort Ord vets cemetery: No public meeting planned

There is no public meeting planned to discuss the recently-released Fort Ord veterans cemetery plans, according to the California Department of Veterans Affairs.

The state is not required to hold the meeting, but its absence has increased fear among the Keep Fort Ord Wild, or KFOW, group that the project will get "rubber stamp" approval.

If the state would have done a much longer environmental impact report, instead of an environmental assessment, it would have needed to have a public meeting, according to the California Environmental Quality Act.

KFOW, which plans to ask the state for a full environmental impact report, found about the lack of a meeting through a public records request.

The group gave the response to its CPRA request to The Herald. A few things of note:

  • The two agencies who will ultimately approve the environmental assessment are the state Department of Veterans Affairs and the federal Department of Veterans Affairs. 
  • The representatives for the agencies are David Gerard, CalVet assistant deputy secretary, and George Eisenbach, director of the VA's cemetery grant services program. 
  • All appeals on whatever the state VA decides will be handled by the Governor's Office of Planning & Research.
  • The state plans to respond to public comments received during the public comment period (accepted until July 18). 
The public will be able to get updates on the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery in two weeks. The Fort Ord Veterans Issues Advisory Committee meets July 24 at 920 2nd Ave. in Marina. It typically meets at 3 p.m., although an agenda has yet to be posted. 

At the meetings there is always an update on the cemetery and representatives from the state VA, state Sen. Bill Monning's office, Rep. Sam Farr's Office and the Presidio of Monterey attend. 

The 629-page draft environmental assessment for the cemetery is available online or at the Seaside Library at 550 Harcourt Ave. or Marina Library at 190 Seaside Circle. 

After more than 20 years of work, cemetery organizers hope they can meet federal deadlines to begin the project in late fall. Besides KFOW, the only other public opposition to the project has come from the Oholone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation which contends the cemetery land is on its indigenous homeland.

"Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation objects to all excavation in known cultural lands, even when they are described as previously disturbed and of no significant archaeological value," wrote Esselen chairwoman Louise Miranda Ramirez to the state.

Ramirez said Monday afternoon by phone it sends a similar letter to all Fort Ord projects because it considers the former base part of its land. Its effort to build an 80-room hotel, wellness center and cultural center has stalled out of concerns a casino could be built -- Despite the tribe voting not to build a casino and saying they are willing to sign an agreement with the county it would not build a casino. 


Monterey County sea monster is just a whale carcass

My dream of covering a Monterey Bay sea monster story will have to wait another day.

About a week and a half ago, Michael Bell of Seaside contacted me about a possible sea monster found on the beach off of Tioga Avenue in Seaside.

This is how Bell described it in an email:

"It's about 50ft long &looks as if it had underwater wings :) & it's amazing!! I am unable to tell exactly what it is, yet with Earth's oceans vast greatness, I wouldn't be (sic) suprised if it's an undiscovered creature of the deep seas?!"

Unfortunately for newspaper sales, the good people at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station have cleared up the confusion.

Randy Kochevar, a researcher at the station, looked it over with some colleagues and they concluded it was an old, dried up whale carcass.

"You can see the characteristic folds from the underside of the mouth cavity in some of the photos," he said.

I'm sure there is all sorts of crazy stuff out in the Pacific Ocean we have not discovered. I will hold out hope for the next unique thing that washes up on shore.