This website has been created to tell the real
story of the
Last Stand At Rincon
The
Rincon Band of Mission Indians have placed concrete barricades
at the entrance to Steve & Suzanne Rogers-Dial's residence
at 33777 Valley Center Road, Valley Center, CA. The couple rent
a home on the property from Marvin Donius. They are now blocked
from entering or leaving the property. Steve and Suzanne say they
are prepared to stay on the property as long as necessary in solidarity
with Donius.
The
property was once part of the Rincon Indian Reservation, but it
was sold to nontribal members in the 1960s, making it private
land not part of the reservation. In 1982, the land was purchased
by the Rincon Mushroom Corp. of America and later purchased by
Donius in 1999.
The
5-acre property is located directly across the road from the tribe's
casino and resort. Rincon officials have said the property was
a health and environmental hazard and has ordered it to be cleaned
up.
But
the land that once was part of the reservation is now privately
held by Marvin Donius, who says the property is not subject to
the tribe's jurisdiction or laws. For
years, the Rincon tribe has tried to get the owner to comply with
its regulations using the Intertribal Court of Southern California,
but Donius has rejected the court's authority over his property.
Timeline
Facts:
- In
1960 the property was "allotted and conveyed out of Tribal
ownership", and since that time, the property continuously
has been, and now remains, non-Indian fee land.
-
In 1982 Rincon Mushroom Corp. of America, a non-Indian corporation,
purchased from a non-Indian the five acres of land.
-
In 1999 the land sold to current owner Marvin Donius, also a non-Indian.
The land was used and leased to various businesses and residents,
and grew mushrooms as well as other produce.
-
In December 2005 and January 2006 the Rincon tribe embarked upon
successful efforts to 'chill' and ultimately kill a proposed purchase
of property by FF Realty, LLC.
-
2007 wildfire burned up everything on the property. Tenants barely
escaped with their lives, some were injured fleeing property.
- Since
the 2007 wildfires, the tribe has refused to give San Diego Gas
& Electric permission to restore power to the property by
falsely representing that there was no 'easement for electrical
service' on the property, according to a complaint filed by Donius
in federal court.
-
On December 29, 2007 the tribe attempted to prevent a 'clean up'
of portions destroyed by the fire by blocking a contractor for
the County of San Diego.
-
January 14, 2008 the tribe falsely represented to the California
Highway Patrol, the AAA Auto Club of Southern California and a
firm known as Automotive Specialists, that land use is under the
jurisdiction of the Rincon Band and that they were operating as
an unauthorized business and violates federal and tribal law.
-
Following the 2007 wildfires, Rincon's tribal government enacted
its Tribal Environmental Policy Ordinance in an effort to eliminate
environmental problems and fire hazards on the reservation.
- On
Oct. 20, 2009, Donius filed a lawsuit in federal court against
tribal officials saying that tribal rules do not apply on his
property because it is private land. Judge William Hayes dismissed
the case last month saying that Donius first had to follow through
with the tribal court process.
-
On Oct. 26, 2010, the Rincon Band of Mission Indians placed three
concrete barricades at the entrance to the property, blocking
access.
-
Read the Legal Documents and decide for
yourself!
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Good
morning Edward Sifuentes, (North County Times)
Remember way back in late 2010 when you ran a couple of articles
about our situation on the Rincon reservation (Steve & Suzanne's
Last Stand...). The tribe's claim is that Marvin Donius is polluting
the ground water on this property across the street from Harrah's
Rincon Casino.
You may be interested to know that the tribe is in the process
of putting in a gas station on the south side of the casino property,
adjacent to the San Luis Rey River Basin. From what we have heard
the Environmental Impact Study didn't pass muster. I believe those
results are public record: perhaps you could look into the matter.
Do you find it as ironic as we do that the tribe can do whatever
they choose on the property in near proximity but Marvin, the
legal land owner, is barricaded off, and prohibited from, using
his property because he is viewed as a threat to the environment?
Steven & Suzanne Rogers-Dial
2-24-2012
Local
Newspaper Says No to Paid Ad
I wont speculate as to the nature of our local newspapers
position on any of this, but I do find their behavior toward us
interesting.
Early in October, not long after the Tribe served their most recent
court order in an attempt to clear the property of
all occupants, Steven stopped by the Valley Roadrunner office
to see if they were interested in the story. David Ross, the editor,
told Steven to have his lawyer contact him. Yeah, right! Sounded
like no thanks to us so we just let it go at that.
Last Tuesday Steven went in to place a 2x3 ad reading,
Get the facts about life on the reservation, visit: SteveandSuzannesLastStandatRincon.com.
Steven received a phone call a while later from the owner, Shirley
Good, informing him that she would not run our paid advertising.
Her refusal was based on her argument that she did not want to
get in the middle of a dispute. That same day Steven when went
to get our money back (and cancel our subscription) he asked to
speak to Ms. Good. He was told she was out of the country, which,
I believe makes it even more interesting that she would take time
away from her itinerary to call Steven personally.
11-11-2010
Sign
Violation Citation
Friday morning we got our banner raised and 6:10 Sunday morning
we were served with the attached "civil
citation". As you can see it comes with a $500 fine and a
tribal court date. It kind of seems like the Tribe, along with
the help of our local newspaper, is trying to keep us from letting
folks know about what's going on here on the Rincon reservation.
11-12-2010
Officer
Musick representing Rincon Tribal Law Enforcement dropped this
off yesterday afternoon, voiding
the citation.
11-18-2010
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