September 17 Council Meeting Showdown

Barstow City Council Meeting
September 17, 2007
The Showdown Over Indian Gaming

For a month now, the September 17, City Council Meeting has been shaping up to be a real show down for several reasons:

1. The Barwest Compacts were scheduled to die their last and final death on the 17th, the same day of the Council Meeting which was guaranteed to turn out the masses on all sides of the issue.

2. The last meeting of the Council was a Special Meeting on August 28 wherein the Mayor was exposed for his unauthorized letter to the Department of the Interior attacking the Chemehuevi and their Ancestral Rights.

3..Then we learned that Tom Shields had been planning a major Barwest media blitz and lobbying effort in the days leading up to Sept 17, to salvage the Compacts that were killed prematurely by the Co-author of the bill, Senator Pat Wiggins who is now under investigation by the FPPC along with Barwest partner Michael Malik for contributing twice the legal allowable limit to her campaign.

4. And finally, it was discovered that the Council (all but Gomez) had gone to Sacramento, on tax payer’s money, under the guise of attending the League of CA Cities, from Sept 5-7. What they did instead was to spend the time lobbying the legislature on behalf of their special interest Barwest. On the 6th they all met with Governor Schwarzenegger’s Deputy Legislative Analysis, Cynthia Bryant. This was a major violation of the Conflict of Interest since every one of them has financial ties to Barwest. Worse still, all of this constitutes the worst case of violations of the Brown Act.

I will be posting more information and commentary soon but I wanted to get a schedule of Relevant Comments and Agenda Item for easy reference. The entire meeting lasted over three hours and most people have neither the time nor the interest to watch the entire meeting. So I have compiled this catalogue here for your convenience.

For assistance on how to watch the meeting on the internet, see my post entitled:

Everything You Need to Know about How-TO do
Barstow Citizen Oversight on the Internet

City Council Meetings can be viewed on: the City's Website Here

Internet Viewing Schedule of Key Items
September 17 Council Meeting
Relevant Comments and Agenda Items

Note-Times for items on the video are given by how far into the meeting they occur and are listed as (hours) : (minutes) : (seconds) For example 2:43:18 would be two hours, forty-three minutes and eighteen seconds into the meeting.

Public Comment Start Time -1:11:25
THIS IS THE TIME AND PLACE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL ON MATTERS WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTION THAT ARE NOT CURRENTLY ON THE AGENDA.

1:15:00 Larry D. Halstead
[This is my statement on who I speak for (myself) and who I represent (nobody) when speaking at the Council podium.]


Casino Report Start Time 1:29:30 Finish 2:17:37
Recommended Action: Information Item

1:30:00 to 1:31:40 Chairman Wood of the Chemehuevi Tribe
1:31:45 to 1:54:00 Phil Wyman, Chemehuevi Lobbyist, former State Senator and Assemblyman, and lawyer
[This was a brilliant, definitive presentation on the Ancestral Rights of the Chemehuevi and the political status of Barstow Indian gaming in Sacramento]

1:54:45 to 1:58:25 Katherine Siva Saubel, Los Coyotes
1:58:50 to 2:03:08 Nephew of Katherine Soble, Kevin?
2:03:10 to 2:08:00 Tom Shields, Barwest spin doctor
2:08:00 to 2:11:25 Lance Boldrey, Atty for Barwest
2:11:30 to 2:14:36 Pat Aleman, concerned citizen
2:14:40 to 2:17:37 Larry D. Halstead
[This was my 3 minute lecture on how it is all about Ancestral Rights and why I feel so passionate about it]

Business of the Council Start Time 2:18:30 Finish 2:25:05

2:19:12 to 2:21:23 Councilman Gomez comments about the casino issue

#31 under Business/Action Items Start 2:27:00
City Council Discussion of September 6, 2007 Meeting with Cynthia Bryant, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director For Governor Schwarzenner
Recommended Action: Receive and File

[This was a lame attempt to cure the council’s Brown Act Violations that occurred when four members of the Council met with the Governor’s representative and the conflict of interest involve it was a heated exchange that got into the conflict of interest involved]

2:27:00 to 2:31:35 Mayor Dale
2:31:35 to 2:32:27 City Manager Hector Rodriguez
2:32:30 to 2:41:00 Councilman Gomez with interruptions by Mayor Dale
and Council Member Hackbarth-McIntyre
2:41:05 to 2:44:25 Larry D. Halstead


#14 under Consent Calendar Items Start 3:05:50 Finish 3:10:05
(Pulled from the Consent Calendar by Councilman Gomez)
APPROVAL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/RDA MANAGER TO ATTEND THE LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIAN CITIES
Recommended Action: Approve Economic Development/RDA Manager’s trip to Sacramento for September 5 through September 7, 2007.

[This item was put on the agenda to pay for Ron Rector to go to Sacramento over the Sept 5-7 to organize the lobbying effort on behalf of Barwest]

3:05:50 to 3:07:30 Council Discussion of the Item
3:07:38 to 3:10:05 Larry D. Halstead