Pechanga tribal election prompts protest

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Saturday, July 15, 2006 9:08 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- Members of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians are voting in new leaders this weekend, an election that takes place once every two years and on Saturday prompted former members of the reservation to stage a protest next to the tribe's large casino.

The tribal council and its chairperson, positions up for grabs in the election, oversee the 5,500-acre reservation and its education, health care and public safety programs, among others.

The tribe and its 1,000 members also own and operate the Pechanga Resort & Casino, situated southwest of Temecula and one of the most successful Indian gaming ventures in California.

Mark Macarro, 42, will continue to serve as chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians' tribal council as he is running unopposed, paving the way for his seventh, two-year term.

Fifteen other candidates, including five incumbents, are also vying for a total of six tribal council seats, which carry two-year terms. Those results may be released sometime today or this week.

As voting commenced on the reservation Saturday, about 60 people holding signs that read "rights for all," "stop disenrollment" and "end tribal corruption" lined the thoroughfare that flanks the casino and leads to the tribe's polling location.

The protestors consisted of a mix of disenrolled members of the Pechanga tribe as well as other disenrolled members of other tribes in the state who came to the area to support the local group.

Macarro could not be reached for comment on the protest.

At issue was whether Pechanga's tribal enrollment committee had the right to remove some 130-plus members in 2004, depriving them of income generated by the prosperous casino.

The dispute centers around whether the disenrolled members, descendents of Temecula pioneer and Luiseno Indian Pablo Apis, have a legitimate claim to the Pechanga tribe, established in 1882.

Apis apparently passed away before the Pechanga reservation was established.

According to the protestors, led by John Gomez Jr., a spokesman for the disenrolled members, another large family consisting of 100 adults is in the process of being disenrolled from Pechanga.

"I respect sovereignty, but sovereignty wasn't meant to cut out your own people," Gomez said Saturday about Pechanga members' argument that they have the right to disenroll some members.

The ousted members have turned to the courts to plead their case but victory has alluded them.

The first lawsuit they filed was recently declined by the U.S. Supreme Court, terminating the case.

Another more-recent suit filed by the ejected members that seeks tens of millions of dollars in damages is winding its way through the court system.

The suit alleges that tribal members are trying to decrease the number of adult members in the band to increase their own clout within the tribe and thereby enlarge their share of casino revenues.

In an August 2005 statement, Macarro said "tribal governments have sole jurisdiction and authority to establish and enforce procedures to determine their own tribal citizenship, ... (which) is central to Pechanga's identity as a distinct sovereign government."

Gomez said the protest is meant to bring attention to the disenrollment issue as much as it is about highlighting what he contends is an unfair election since disenrolled members cannot vote.

"This is a billion-dollar business," Gomez said while glancing toward the Pechanga Casino. "People are going to be concerned about it, about our rights being violated."

Edward Vedolla, 66, drove 15 hours from Northern California to be at the protest. He is a disenrolled member of the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians and said he knows how the locals feel.

"I wanted to show my support because people in this situation need to come together," he said.

Meanwhile, an unsigned endorsement statement allegedly circulated by an unknown number of Pechanga members who support disenrollments asserts that "thankfully, Pechanga has now begun to return to normal after the recent political turmoil."

"On the other hand, we have reliable reports of incumbent council members who often disrupt Tribal Council meetings," the letter states. "Several Pechanga families have come together this election to put a stronger team on the Tribal Council."

The letter endorses Macarro as chairman as well as five others for council seats: incumbents Andrew Masiel Sr., Russell Butch Murphy, Mark Calac and candidates Andrea Ibanez, Robert RJ Munoa and Maria Villegas.

Other candidates are incumbents Donna Barron and Marc Luker and challengers Betty Barrintos, Corrine Hicks, Phillip Ibanez, Joann McKuhn, Darlene Miranda, Ken Perez and Ben Vasquez. Tribal council member John Magee is not seeking re-election.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com. To comment on this article, go to www.californian.com.