At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School Board of Education will discuss whether to oppose the recent BIA decision to approve the Chumash Tribe’s fee-to-trust application for Camp 4, a 1,400-parcel of land in the Santa Ynez Valley. They will also discuss whether to oppose the recent legislative action by Rep. Doug LaMalfa, the sponsor of HR 3313, authorizing the taking of Camp 4 into trust, so that the Chumash can proceed with development free of zoning laws and property taxes.
This 1,400-acre parcel is essentially the size of Solvang. As a basic aid school district relying primarily on property tax revenue, not Sacramento, I urge the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District to oppose annexation of Camp 4 unanimously. This will send a powerful message to Congressman LaMalfa, R-Richvale, who sponsored the bill.
The school board’s fiduciary responsibility is to protect all revenue sources and focus on the needs of the school’s students and teachers. The school serves a community of 20,000 people and its taxpayers. The annexation of Camp 4 will bring unrestricted development and the loss of tax revenues for the next 10, 20, 30, 50 years and beyond. Unrestricted development will increase the demands for education, including bus transportation, enrollment and safety, with no revenue to offset the costs.
Recently, the Chumash generously donated 35 iPads to the Lompoc School District. Is the SYH School Board going to find themselves at the whim of the financially successful Chumash tribe for donations that the Chumash choose to fund? Or perhaps a quid pro quo “donation” is in the works. Follow the money.
On Oct. 4, 2012, Santa Ynez High School Board President Bruce Porter wrote a sinister letter to the editor in an attempt to sway the community to vote yes to the $19.8 million school bond. Porter’s words apply one year later, “There will indeed be a consequence to our votes: We can vote to simply watch the budgetary death spiral, with the guaranteed consequence a drift to educational mediocrity for our kids; or we can vote to control our own destiny, to keep our school great, our kids successful and our community strong.”
Mr. Porter and SYH School Board of Education, we respectfully request a unanimous vote to oppose the annexation of Camp 4, “control our own destiny” and protect the students, teachers and taxpayers. I urge the community to attend this public school board meeting at Santa Ynez High School at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Michelle de Werd
Los Olivos