“I am deeply honored that my fellow tribal members have elected me to serve as our new Tribal Chairman, look forward to working alongside my fellow Business Committee members to ensure that the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians continues to grow and prosper,” Kahn said in a statement.

When Armenta resigned on March 17, tribal government bylaws dictated that nominations for a new Tribal Chairman would occur during the next General Council meeting, which was held on April 12.  Kahn, 39, was nominated at the meeting, and tribal members voted via absentee ballot and elected him as their new Tribal Chairman.

The tribe’s Chairman and Business Committee are responsible for establishing policies and overseeing the legal and business affairs of the tribe, while providing for the economic well-being of its members.

In addition to owning and operating the Chumash Casino Resort on the tribe’s reservation, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians also owns Hotel Corque, Root 246 and the Hadsten House in Solvang and two gas stations in Santa Ynez. The tribe employs more than 1,700 residents of Santa Barbara County.

Read our June issue that will have a more in depth interview with Kahn and his plans for the Tribe’s future.

Photo Source Google Images

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The May Faire will feature a traditional May Pole dance, craft activities, and bounce houses for children along with an artisans bazaar.  There will be a bake sale offering home-made treats and a raffle drawing of a Best of the Valley Basket filled with donations from local wineries, restaurants and shops.

According to event organizers, a highlight of this year’s May Faire is free, live entertainment in the courtyard.

11 a.m.-12 p.m.: Solvang Conservancy performances led by Director Diane Byington

12 – 3 p.m.: Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Dewey Roberts from Santa Ynez will share his styling of hits from many artists including the Beatles, Ray Charles, Plain White T’s to Guns n’ Roses.

To satisfy hungry May Faire guests, items available for purchase include cool treats from Kona Ice of Santa Barbara and a taco bar by Tacos Amigos; plus beverages for adults from local wineries & brew houses.

Admission to the May Faire grounds is free for all ages and tickets for children’s activities can be purchased on-site (a single activity ticket per child is $1.00 each.)

St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Preschool is a non-profit organization that welcomes all children ages three to Pre-Kindergarten. The Preschool currently is enrolling students for the 2016-17 school year. Regular Preschool hours are 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday to Friday from September through June.  St. Mark’s offers an environment that honors the carefree days of childhood by supporting and encouraging children to grow, learn, and respect others and themselves. This small school nestled in Los Olivos is proud of serving the area for the past nine years—with well-trained and experienced staff of Director Yvonne Lowe, and teachers Erika Ray and Brittany Ramirez.

The Rev. Dr. Randall Day remarked, “St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley is a community center and common ground for the Santa Ynez Valley. Come to May Faire to see long-time friends and meet new ones! ”

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In a ceremony held Tuesday, Gagnon was honored alongside other leaders for their achievements in tribal communities. Ernie Stensgar, the Vice Chairman of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, received the prestigious Tribal Leader of the Year Award, the Navajo Nation won the Deal of the Year Award, the Kiwi Café was this year’s recipient of the Education Program of the Year Award, and Gagnon won the Executive of the Year Award.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by an organization like NAFOA. Awards like these are given to individuals, but we all know that it takes talented team members and a collaborative effort to truly achieve success. I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside some great people throughout my career, so this award honors their efforts as well,” Gagnon said.

“Over her 20-year career, Gagnon has consistently led gaming enterprises to success by increasing margins, stabilizing finances, and recruiting experienced and respected executive teams. NAFOA is honored to recognize Gagnon not only for her proven leadership but also her work in the community. She is a founding board member of Global Gaming Women, where she chairs the mentorship committee. She has also been instrumental in helping to launch a mentoring program for Native American high school-aged girls,” NAFOA said in their statement regarding Gagnon’s award.

Prior to joining Chumash Enterprises in September 2015, Gagnon served as the President and CEO of Pearl River Resort, which is owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is located in Santa Barbara County, California.  The tribe owns and operates the popular Chumash Casino Resort on its reservation and also owns two hotels and a restaurant in the nearby town of Solvang – Hotel Corque, Hadsten House and Root 246 – as well as two gas stations in Santa Ynez.

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This year’s theme is “Your Future Is Golden” which will start the evening of graduation on Friday, May 27 at the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. The old gym and adjoining areas will be transformed into a festival of activities including a popular DJ for dancing, photo booth, Henna tattoos, laser tag, casino Black Jack tables, hypnotist, movies, food and much more. From GoPro cameras to gift cards, everyone student takes home a prize!

Tickets are $50 and are now available online at www.syhsptsa.tictail.com by using PayPal or credit card. Buying online gives students 10 extra raffle tickets and therefore more chances to win big prizes. Tickets will also be sold on campus prior to spring break during the lunch hour. The sooner the ticket is purchased, the more raffle tickets they receive for prizes.

Scholarships for this event are available. If a student is in need of financial assistance, please contact Terry Westfall at 686-3563 or twestfall@syvuhsd.org.

Creating a successful event requires a tremendous amount of work and support from parents and the community. Those interested in volunteering to help or providing prize or monetary donations should contact Kris Shean (tshe396@aol.com) or Jacque Wagstaffe (jacque@impulse.net).

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Any candidate for a seat on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors can be expected to have a unique point of view, but 3rd District candidate Karen Jones stood out Thursday night when she told a forum audience that the agriculture industry should use more robots, and people should stop corruption in government by “kicking ass and taking names.”
More than 250 people packed into the conference room at Root 246 in Solvang on Thursday night to listen to Board of Supervisors candidates from all five of the county’s districts.
The biggest group is seeking the seat in the 3rd District, which stretches from Isla Vista through the Gaviota coast and Santa Ynez Valley and north to Guadalupe. Those candidates are Bob Field, Jay Freeman, Joan Hartmann, Karen Jones and Bruce Porter. Current Supervisor Doreen Farr is retiring after eight years.

Most of the forum’s topics involved agriculture, tourism and the wine industry, which are all hot topics for constituents in the Santa Ynez Valley. In particular, the county’s proposed new winery ordinance would affect smaller wineries and vineyards that want to have wine-tasting rooms and special events.
The forum was sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, Santa Barbara Independent, Visit SYV and Solvang Chamber of Commerce.
Opening the forum was Morgen McLaughlin, executive director of the vintners association. She stated that the wine industry creates economic benefits for all businesses in the county, including restaurants, hotels, retailers, media companies, graphic designers, lawyers, accountants and more.
“The wine industry provides more than 9,000 full-time jobs and contributes $93 million in state and local taxes with wine-related activities. The wine industry also makes more than $2 million in charitable donations each year,” McLaughlin said.
Moderators Matt Kettmann and Kelsey Brugger of the Santa Barbara Independent asked a range of questions, such as whether each candidate thought the wine ordinance would raise a barrier so that only the wealthy would be able to start a winery.
Jones spun the answer to imply she was more concerned with candidates whose campaigns were supported by big money and the conflicts of interest that would pose. Hartmann said there was a loophole for those who invest other people’s money, a dig at Porter, who is an investment adviser. Field clarified for the audience that the ordinance would limit wine tasting to lots of more than 20 acres and events to lots of more than 40 acres.
“I’m not against the wine industry, but it’s dysfunctional to have small wineries all having tasting rooms and events,” Field said. “I will save you from your own mistake,” he added, which brought a round of jeers from the audience of mostly vintners and other people who work in wine and agriculture.
Porter said the wine ordinance should be dead on arrival because it would put a lot of small wineries out of business.
“It was not written by people in the industry and there’s no scientific basis for the lot sizes. If we limit it and those smaller growers raise grapes for other people, so much revenue will be lost — and shame on us if it’s passed,” Porter said.
Freeman said he had not read the winery ordinance and declined to comment until he had.
First District candidate Das Williams said that agriculture already has too many restrictions, and the industry needs to remain profitable. Otherwise, he said, land owners face the hard decisions of selling the land for other uses.
“The winery ordinance shouldn’t be thrown out but revised, and not micromanaging businesses,” Williams added.
On a question related to farm worker housing and easing restrictions on farms so they can build adequate places for their employees to live, Jones said she would need to study the topic further. However, she implied that robots might be better and the technology wasn’t that far away.
Field said he wouldn’t support more restrictions but in his opinion agriculture and tourism are becoming blended into one thing and they should remain separate.
“Increasing the use of shuttles would be a good idea, especially along the more rural roads, but the main issue is water and addressing how to recharge the aquifers with storm water and recycled waste water,” Hartmann said.
Regarding party politics in the board room of the nominally nonpartisan Board of Supervisors, first district candidate Jennifer Christensen said political opinions should be checked at the door, and each issue should be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
“We have the same values, that we want to protect the coastline and environment while keeping our history and character,” Christensen added.

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