President: Past President Justin Leland
Sgt at Arms: Not Jason Cater!
Greeter: Jordan Kaufmann
Prayer: Amy Travis
Flag Salaute: Jorge Barrientos
Announcements:
The next Rotary happy hour will be on October 24 at 5:30 at Mexicali. Please join us!
Justin led us in a game of Where in the World is Rotary ? It was California. We are the fifth largest economy in the world, but more importantly, have eight national parks – thanks Justin!
Program:
Today’s speaker was chairman Octavio Escobedo, III from the Tejon tribe. The Tejon Tribe is a sovereign native nation with a government to government relationships with the United States of America. It has 1359 tribal members and operates under an adopted constitution and bylaws. It’s governed by an eight person executive council that is voted on through tribal elections. Their purpose is to provide services to tribal members, including social, educational and cultural services.
The Tejon tribe is the only Tribal nation that is currently recognized in Kern County. After their Tejon Tribal leaders spent more than a decade petitioning the federal government for recognition, they finally received Tribal re-affirmation in January 2012.
The Tejon Ranch is 175,000 acres. In 1917, the US filed a land claim against TejonRanch seeking to restore land to the Tribe. The United States lost its case in the Supreme Court however, the Tejon members refused to leave the land. The court decision allowed them to stay on the land as cowboys and ranch workers. In 1922, the Bureau of Indian Affairs established a tribal school on Tejon Ranch. In 1962, seeking to have tribal members leave the land, Tejon Ranch refused to allow the tribal members to repair their homes. Following an earthquake, the final tribal members moved off of the ranch. In 1979 the BIA committed an administrative air by omitting the Tribe from the federal list of recognized tribes. It wasn’t until 2011 that Tejon Tribe was reaffirmed for eligibility of Bureau of Indian Affairs services, including the right to have land into trust. In 2014, the Tejon tribe submitted an application to the BIA requesting a 306-acre parcel be taken into the trust for multiple purposes, including gaming. In November 2016, Kern County and the tribe agreed to an MOU for services for the parcel, which includes up to $200M in services, a police substation, and purchase of vehicles. In 2022, the land was taken into a trust and in December 2023 there was groundbreaking on the upcoming Hard Rock Casino.
The Hard Rock is being developed through a joint venture with Hard Rock and SCCR. It is two phases with each phase costing approximately $500 million. The first phase will open in 2025 with 2500 slot machines and 42 gaming tables; a future phase 2 will be an additional 3000 slots, 80 tables, 400 room hotel, 10 restaurants and bars, and a 2800-seat hard rock live amphitheater.
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