Pechanga Chairman Macarro AGAIN Caught Lying

OP: This time it's in the latest commercial that he's fronting.

From John Gomez, AIRRO:

The Big 4 Tribes sent out a new bi-lingual mailer asking California voters to vote Yes on their sweetheart deals. The mailer, entitled "Sharing with those in need" states that the gaming tribes will share tens of millions of dollars with tribes that have little or no gaming revenue. In fact, Mark Macarro claims that "limited gaming... has brought prosperity to our people...lifting us out of poverty..." Macarro goes on to state that ".., we believe all members of our sovereign nations should share in our prosperity."

This all sounds warm and fuzzy, and if it were true, Indian Gaming in California could be considered a success. Unfortunately, the claims made in the new mailer are misrepresentations of the actual circumstances surrounding the Big 4 deals.

Currently, non-gaming tribes receive $1.1 million a year under the 1999 compacts signed with the State. However, the Big 4 deals would provide billions of dollars for the Big 4 tribes over the life of the agreements, and the non-gaming tribes will not get a penny more than what was already allocated in the 1999 compacts. You see, the new deals fail to provide additional funding for non-gaming tribes. The rich get richer, and the poorer, smaller tribes make do with less.

And, while it is true that the members of the Big 4 tribes would prosper immensely, Macarro failed to state that the number of members in his own tribe, the Pechanga Band of Temecula, has been reduced drastically since Props 5 and 1A allowed for gaming on California Indian reservations. In 2004 and 2006, just prior to tribal elections in which Macarro ran for re-election as Tribal Chair, a total of nearly 300 members were kicked out of the tribe.

As a result, Macarro and his cronies won their re-election bids and all remaining members of the tribe saw their per capita payments increase from $15,000 per month to the nearly $40,000 per month they receive now. While Macarro and his followers prosper, those who were kicked out of the tribe have been denied medical care, elder and child benefits, and education assistance that were provided based on their status as tribal members. Most must now avail themselves of State and federal government programs at tax payer expense.

Membership does indeed have its privileges, and, as far as I can tell, those who would actually benefit from these deals are members of the Big 4 tribes themselves- a small number of California Indians which, based on the actions of Macarro and his cronies, is getting smaller.

OP: In KNBC's WITHOUT A TRIBE, Macarro was caught lying in the FIRST 15 seconds of the piece. During a General Meeting of the Temecula Band, Macarro, is clarifying a petition brought forth by CNIGA President Anthony Miranda to stop all disenrollment activities, he said, when asked if this included the Hunter Family, "ALL MEANS ALL" and yet, he conspired with his tribal council to unconstitutionally eliminate the Hunter family. (Pechanga Constitution and Bylaws.