Who/What is P.O.L.O.?
P.O.L.O. is a 501 c (4) corporation that was formed in 2002 when hundreds of citizens believed they were not being represented in decisions being made on land use in Santa Barbara County.
Many P.O.L.O. members are extremely involved and volunteer 10-40 (or more) hours a week researching and attending County meetings to understand the decisions that are being made that affect all of our quality of lives. Hundreds of other members of the organization and community have attended the educational Town Hall meetings put on by P.O.L.O.
These P.O.L.O. members believe that one of the biggest challenges we face in our Community, State, and Country is the 25 billion dollar Indian tribal gambling industry and flawed federal and state law allowing tribal land and gambling expansion. What every citizen needs to understand is that current federal and state law ignores opposition to tribal gambling or land expansion. If the community wants the casino tribe to increase its gambling or expand its reservation, the federal and state agencies will listen. If the community opposes more gambling or land expansion, the federal and state agencies ignore the community. Citizens opposing tribal gambling or land expansion do not have equal protection of the law guaranteed to every citizen by the 14 th amendment. Their only recourse is to file a costly private lawsuit against the federal or state government. These lawsuits can cost millions of dollars. Because of the “Indian” casino in our community, we are all directly impacted by the Indian tribal land expansion and gambling industry.
After the massive expansion of their Casino in 2000, the Santa Ynez Band filed an application to place an additional 6.9 acres of land into federal “trust.” When the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved this application, P.O.L.O. and POSY filed a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the land from going into federal “trust”. This lawsuit was filed on behalf of thousands of citizens who had expressed their opposition to the Santa Ynez Band taking any more land into federal “trust” and out of local and state jurisdiction. As you will read, the ramifications of land placed into federal “trust”, and out of local and state jurisdiction are significant. Everyone in the United States is impacted by this because of the billions of largely unregulated Indian casino dollars that are involved. The majority of the population has no idea what is going on.
This website is being dedicated to these issues. |
P.O.L.O. Fundraising Campaign
“The Cost to Defend a Community”
P.O.L.O. has launched a nationwide fundraising campaign to raise $350,000 for the lawsuit: Preservation of Los Olivos, Preservation of Santa Ynez v. the United States Department of the Interior
Prevailing in this lawsuit will give all communities opposing tribal land expansion the opportunity for a “voice” in the fee to trust process
Our community has already spent about $2,000,000. We need approximately $350,000 more to get to the finish line.
Please support all community groups across the Country by supporting P.O.L.O.
Donate Here
Learn more about the lawsuit
JOIN P.O.L.O.
the greater the numbers,
the louder the voice
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Tribal gambling and land expansion are complicated. This website has been arranged in a “question/answer” format to explain the basics of the information. This website will not longer post “up to the moment” articles on tribal expansion. For up to the moment articles, log on to: www.trustandconsequences.com.  |
| 1. Tribal gambling and land expansion issues are complicated. Is there any way for the average person to understand this? |
| 2. How does an Indian reservation and casino impact the community? Why should I care if they want to expand their reservation or add more slot machines? |
| 3. What does this lawsuit, “P.O.L.O. and POSY v. Department of the Interior” mean? |
Community Groups Sue the Federal Government
Preservation of Los Olivos and Preservation of Santa Ynez
v. United States Department of the Interior |
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| 4. I hear people say, “They deserve whatever they can get because of what we took away from them.” What does POLO think of that? |
| 5. Why should I donate to support this POLO and this lawsuit on 6.9 acres? What does it really mean to me? |
| 6. The Santa Ynez Band says they are just going to build a museum on the 6.9 acres and that is why they want to take the land into federal "trust". Don’t you want a museum? |
| 7. I read about Schwarzenegger and “compacts.” What is a “state compact?" |
| 8. Doesn’t the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians donate to the community? |
| 9. What are Santa Barbara elected officials doing about tribal expansion issue? |
| 10. Why aren’t the Supervisors doing anything to protect the “non-Indian” citizens who have made it clear that they oppose tribal gambling and land expansion? |
| 11. What progress is being made? |
| 12. WHAT CAN YOU DO? |
Join and Support P.O.L.O. Sign up for the email updates.
In order to make a difference and change law, there must be an organized entity to represent the people. P.O.L.O., a 501 c 4 non-profit corporation, was formed for this purpose.
Education, and the legal system, are key to stop the inequity.
Standing up for our constitutional rights is an expensive venture. The question to you is, “How much is your quality of life, worth?”
Our voices must be many and must be loud so that our gambling dollar deaf elected representatives can hear us. Members of P.O.L.O. have spent and continue to spend thousands of hours on research, education, and meetings at the state and federal level, and have filed the lawsuit against the federal government. We are in contact and collaborating with other Citizen Groups across the country. Since our voices have been systematically silenced by politics, the BIA and our elected officials, we are placing our energy, time and resources in the legal system.
Every dollar counts. Many small dollars add up to big dollars:
Donate Monthly: email info@polosyv.org |
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