Thursday, March 19, 2015

After Sens. Feinstein and Boxer Inaction, Pechanga Tribe Issues Punitive Increase in Water Rates for Non Tribal Reservation Residents: Convicted Felon Gets His Way

For four years Pechanga has been trying to steal water from allottees on the reservation, who are no longer tribal members after an unconstitutional disenrollment.

 Twice, the tribe has been defeated in the halls of Congress. They've been working on payback.

 We met with the legislative assistants for both Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer. The wife of Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro, high powered lobbyist and short list for Hillary Clinton's Native American aide, Holly Cook Macarro, wrote the last bill that tried to get the definition of allottee changed. Holly tried to get tribal members as the basis for allottee, meaning, those that were ACTUALLY ALLOTTED land and water rights, would lose out. Even the senator's people had the decency to be embarrassed.

 That bill did not go through. Meaning Pechanga paid Holly Macarro and her community property state living husband anyway.

 Now we have a letter from the Pechanga Water Systems, which was pushed by convicted felon Raymond Basquez Jr. to increase the rates of non-members, while the rich tribal members will pay NOTHING for their water.
This is a blatant attempt to force families to sell. $75 might not seem like much, but when you have an EQUAL right to any water on the reservation, in fact, MORE right than any member NOT allotted land, it's punitive.  And a 65% increase is exorbitant.  We told the Senators that this would happen.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Look left on the REZ...a felon, look to the right, a child molesting felon, and they are still in the tribe...with free water.

'aamokat said...

Not to mention that they are taking mailboxes away from allottees and giving them to freeloading tribal members.

Anonymous said...

Felons have Macarro as their bitch, it seems...

Anonymous said...

I understand that allotment owners share in the reserved water rights of the tribe, that they are entitled to a percentage of the water that the reservation holds. But, and I think this is how tribes circumvent the law and justify selling water to allotment owners, the labor used to dig the ditches, the materials need to transfer water from the well across the reservation, the cost to lay the pipe, drill the well, and pump the water, and the continual maintenance of that wager system in the reservation was/is paid for by the tribe with resources that are only to be utilized and reserved for tribal members. In other words the tribe is footing the bill to have access to the water underneath the ground, so they can control who can access it for free and who has to pay. The easiest solution, dig a well and use the water that you are entitled to use, then nobody can say anything.

Anonymous said...

Isn't the cost covered by water grants from the government.

Anonymous said...

They spent millions of dollars in a battle they could not Win It's a punishment indeed but it is Still THE MODERN WARRIOR VICTORY Maybe we can do That again FOR ICRA STAND ING LAW IS RELEVANT POLYSQWALIS Let s get the petition s signed calling all WARRIORS

Anonymous said...

They spent millions of dollars in a battle they could not Win It's a punishment indeed but it is Still THE MODERN WARRIOR VICTORY Maybe we can do That again FOR ICRA STAND ING LAW IS RELEVANT POLYSQWALIS Let s get the petition s signed calling all WARRIORS