This week’s meeting in the series of talks to smooth over relations between county officials and Chumash leaders left most people in the large conference room unhappy. Thursday’s plan was to dissect a proposed agreement issued by county personnel seven days prior. But tribal chair Vincent Armenta said his board had not reviewed the document because they do not meet in December.
“It kind of puts us in a weird spot,” said Supervisor Peter Adam, who is in the subcommittee regarding county-Chumash relations with Supervisor Doreen Farr. “We’re here and we’re not going to do anything.” Armenta said he could give his personal comments. “But they carry no weight,” he said. “I don’t make these decisions on my own.”
Under the proposed agreement , the county would support the Chumash’s effort to annex Camp 4 — revoking its appeal submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) earlier this year. In exchange, the tribe would waive its sovereign immunity, make an ongoing payment of 38 percent of 1 percent of the market price (annexed land does not have to pay the 1 percent property tax), comply with environmental mitigation measures, and other agreements.
