Hollister - A key lawmaker has asked a congressional subcommittee to review allegations of fraud in tribal politics among local Amah Mutsun Indians.
The request by U.S. Representative Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, comes one week after the Free Lance reported that federal officials relied on alleged forgeries in adopting a neutral stance toward a leadership dispute in the Amah Mutsun Indian Tribe.
Valentin Lopez, head of one of two rival councils claiming to represent the 500-plus member group, says the documents could help shape the future of the tribe and Sargent Ranch, thousands of untouched acres north of Hollister considered ancestral lands. Rival leader Irenne Zwierlein, whom Lopez claims benefited from the forgeries, dismisses the allegations as groundless and irrelevant to the tribe's efforts to gain federal recognition, the first step necessary to placing Sargent Ranch under Indian sovereignty.
Pombo, who was traveling and unavailable for comment, has referred the matter to the Office of Native American and Insular Affairs. The congressional office reports to the House Resources Committee, which Pombo controls as chairman.
House Resources spokesman Brian Kennedy said the office would perform "due diligence" on the fraud allegations. He stressed that the matter has not risen to the level of formal committee action, when House Resources members request a full investigative report for delivery in the context of an official oversight hearing.
"This would be a very informal, fact-finding, background-gathering project," he explained. "Once the experts at that office are satisfied that they have a full picture, they will brief the chairman."
The Office of Native American and Insular Affairs is made up of three policy experts and a clerk. Office director Chris Fluhr confirmed he has received the matter for review, but would not detail what the research would involve.
Pombo has said he will not move forward with any legislation to expedite federal recognition of the tribe until an investigation is complete. As chairman of House Resources, he has the power to bottle up any legislation affecting tribal affairs, including a bill that would fast-track the Amah Mutsun's efforts to gain recognition.
In July, U.S. Representative Mike Honda, D-San Jose, introduced legislation that would force the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to review the tribe's petition for acknowledgment within a year. Without the bill (HR 3475), the petition could sit on a shelf at the backlogged agency for a decade or more.
"Congressman Honda would certainly defer to the wisdom of chairman Pombo," said Jennifer Van der Heide Escobar, Honda's chief of staff. "Our goal in this is to get an expedited review for the tribe. Anything that is going to help the tribe get a timely determination certainly sounds appropriate."
Pombo and Honda say they have worked with both the Lopez and Zwierlein factions, and have no intention of choosing sides in the leadership dispute. BIA officials say they will continue to communicate with both groups until the tribe's petition comes up for review, at which they will anoint one of the factions as the tribe's official representative.
The decision could have a profound effect on the tribe and its lands.
Zwierlein has struck a multimillion-dollar development pact with Sargent Ranch managing partner Wayne Pierce, a high-profile developer, to open up the land to large-scale development. He has previously failed to gain county permission to build golf courses and hillside homes on the property, but the deal with Zwierlein could allow him to sidestep county zoning laws. Everything hinges on the tribe gaining federal recognition and placing the land under Indian sovereignty.
Rival leader Lopez has not discounted the possibility of development, but said his faction hopes to preserve the vast majority of Sargent Ranch. He says Zwierlein has no authority to negotiate development deals for the tribe, and claims that her leadership is based on forged documents - a charge Zwierlein denies.
In late July, Lopez disclosed a forensic analysis he commissioned backing up his allegations. The analysis found that two forged letters were sent to federal officials five years ago, after Zwierlein resigned as tribal chairwoman and formed a new governing body.
Zwierlein welcomed Pombo's request for a review of the forgery allegations.
"I support any action that will provide for timely consideration of our petition for federal recognition," she said. "If the Committee's investigation will expedite that process, I wholeheartedly support it. In addition, I am confident that any investigation will conclude that I had nothing to do with these allegations. I remain concerned that those calling for investigations do not seek the truth, but instead are engaged in a coordinated smear campaign to undermine our long quest for recognition."
She also has said the alleged forgeries are irrelevant given the BIA's policy of remaining neutral in all leadership disputes - regardless of the existence of forgeries.
Lopez said the government has a responsibility to treat charges of fraud seriously under any circumstances. He reserved judgment on Pombo's efforts until the nature of the investigation unfolds.
"If they concentrate on those forgeries and allow us to identify other documents that we know are absolutely forgeries and try and determine the impact of the documents on the petition, that would be fine," Lopez said. "But if they're going to go in there and do an informal perusal, that is not acceptable."
Serdar Tumgoren/Staff Writer
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