05/05/04

LC040505

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Fess Parker strikes a big land deal with the Chumash Indians and
it sparks a nasty war of words in Santa Barbara County.

Gail Marshall>> The only entity that's playing the race card in
all of this discussion is the tribe and I think that's very
unfortunate. I think they should be very careful.

Val>> And then, will the Supreme Court uphold those same-sex
marriages in San Francisco? A state lawmaker weighs in on the
controversy. Plus, some four-legged teachers and their eager
students.

It's all next on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> We know him best as the actor who brought Daniel Boone
and Davy Crockett to life, but now Fess Parker is in a real life
battle with some of his neighbors in Santa Barbara County. The
fight also involves the local Native-American tribe and, as
Philip Bruce reports, charges of racism are flying through the
air in one of the prettiest places anywhere in California.

Philip Bruce>> For any baby boomer, the experience is almost
surreal. There you are riding in a Hummer sitting next to the
man who launched a million coonskin caps. These days, Fess
Parker prefers a Stetson, but the face and the voice are exactly
what you remember.

Fess Parker>> This ranch really has a lot of hidden areas and,
once we go over this little knoll where the cows are, then we'll
be dipping down into a little valley and basically disappear.

Philip Bruce>> Parker has brought us to a spectacular piece of
property he owns in the Santa Ynez Valley north of Santa
Barbara. It's a living work of art, nearly 750 lush green acres
surrounded by vineyards and rolling hills and dotted with oak
trees. But for all of its beauty, this property has become a
battleground in one of the ugliest fights the central coast has
seen in years and it all starts with the deal Fess Parker has
struck with the Indians, a partnership that could turn this
pristine land into a golf course and a neighborhood of up to
five hundred luxury homes.

Fess Parker>> Quite frankly, those people that are so up in
arms about this, that's just one generation, and a generation
disappears sometimes and then the next group accepts it for what
it is. It's there. It's beautiful, and they have no regrets.

Philip Bruce>> The local Chumash Indians who have agreed to pay
Parker $12 million dollars for the property and then work with
him to develop it are a little puzzled at what all the fuss is
about. Vincent Armenta, the tribal chairman, says his neighbors
were never that picky before.

Vincent Armenta>> It's solid rooftops out there. Some of it
developed tastefully, some of it some people would say not. I'm
not going to judge anybody's taste, but I think this could
honestly be one of the premier places in the area.

Philip Bruce>> The Chumash have been living here for centuries.
Their small reservation lies near the heart of Santa Ynez. Not
long ago, they didn't even have running water, but then they got
a casino and, like so many other tribes in California, their
lives changed forever. It's also when people in this valley
started choosing sides.

Fess Parker>> I'm sad to say -- and I'll call it what I think
it is -- there's a certain amount of bigotry here and that's
been pulled out into the public.

Philip Bruce>> It all came out in a big way last fall with the
publication of this book which focused on the Chumash's rags to
riches story and how outsiders have reacted to the tribe's
changing fortunes. The bombshell quotes came from Santa Barbara
County Supervisor, Gail Marshall. She describes the Chumash as
"not real sophisticated people who don't want to be educated."
Marshall goes on to suggest that the Indians "blow their
gambling revenue buying new trucks" and, she says, "when you get
$300,000 a year for sitting on a couch watching a Lakers game,
you're setting a model for future generations." How do you feel
about those words coming back and are they accurate? I mean,
did you say that?

Gail Marshall>> Well, that's a large discussion. The
discussion of that book, how it was laid out, how the interview
went, do I appreciate seeing those quotes come back to me? No,
I don't. If I had it to do over again, I would characterize my
point in a different way, but there it is. It's out there and
it's used as it's used and, when you're a public figure, you
have no recourse. You sort of tuck in and hope people look at
you and realize that the large body of your work is much
different.

Philip Bruce>> Marshall says her comments were printed out of
context and she claims the author of the book, a UC Santa
Barbara professor, had an agenda. But the supervisor says that
race has nothing to do with the fight over this land.

Gail Marshall>> I think that the only entity that's playing the
race card in all of this discussion is the tribe and I think
that's very unfortunate. I think they should be very careful
about that.

Philip Bruce>> The Chumash leader says he's all too familiar
with the kind of comments that are attributed to Marshall. He
says he and other tribal members have been targets before and
that's especially true now since they've announced the deal with
Parker.

Vincent Armenta>> I'm not saying the whole community is like
that because I have a tremendous amount of good friends in the
area, but I believe the individuals that don't like the tribe
are actually the ones that are causing the animosity through
false statements and whatnot that they put out there. But if
it's there, it's there. We're going to have to deal with it and
we will.

Philip Bruce>> In Santa Ynez, all the racial talk makes people
angry. They say it ignores what's really at stake and that's
the future of a prime piece of open land that could soon be
converted into Native-American territory. C.J. Jackson, head of
the local concerned citizens group, says that would make the
property off-limits to taxes, regulations and any control from
the outside.

C.J. Jackson>> I don't think it's a fair characterization to
say that the community wanted the tribe not to succeed. I think
that nothing could be farther from the truth. They are our
neighbors. They have been our neighbors. We wish them to
continue to be our neighbors. But the processes have removed
the dialogue and removed the sharing and the participation that
we feel is inherent in any good community and in any good
community planning effort.

Philip Bruce>> Jackson and others are also upset with Fess
Parker. They say, by striking a deal with the Chumash, he's
making himself exempt from the regulations he'd normally face as
a developer. But Parker, who's fought his share of land
battles, is unfazed.

Fess Parker>> From my point of view, it's no one's business
really. I reiterate that the voters gave the tribe the right to
have their casino and the federal government has given them
many, many other fine assists. I don't think it really matters
what our plan is. They're going to oppose it.

Philip Bruce>> That said, there is much bad blood over the way
the last Indian project played out here. Locals say that the
Chumash misled them about the size of the tribal casino.
Critics have called it massive, an eyesore that's out of scale
with the neighboring village. The publisher of the local paper
says that many of the townspeople feel as though they got
burned. Now they're watching Parker and the tribal chairman and
trying to decide what they think of this newest proposal which,
so far, remains very basic with few details.

Jim Buckley>> At this point, it's just a handshake deal. Both
of these guys are solid guys, so they've put a handshake on it
and it will likely happen unless something, you know, further
develops. Lots of people are nervous. This is a slow-growth
community.

Philip Bruce>> But for the Chumash Indians, the land and the
deal with Fess Parker represent a chance to recapture part of
their legacy. Beyond the talk of building a golf course and a
new hotel, the heart of the plan is building new homes for
tribal members and the Chumash leader says it isn't fair for
outsiders to try to stop that.

Vincent Armenta>> To say I moved here, this is mine, nobody
else do anything, don't touch anything, I've been here for two
years, five years, ten years, fifteen years, that's not a fair
statement. That's not a fair statement to make. And who has
the right, really, to say that?

Val>> Parker may have his hands full with the land deal, but he
has taken time out to clean out his closet and next week he
travels to Washington, D.C. to donate his coonskin caps and
buckskin jacket to the Smithsonian. By the way, in case you're
wondering, Fess Parker turns eighty this year.

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Toni Guinyard>> In recent years, California residents have had
to decide for or against legislation that would alter the rights
of same-sex couples. We've gone from debating civil unions to
witnessing gay marriages. It's an issue that Assemblyman Paul
Koretz has paid close attention to for quite some time. We
asked him to share his thoughts with Life and Times.

Paul Koretz>> It's really the last frontier of the civil rights
movement, in my view, and we've made some gradual progress and
then, in the last few years, we've made tremendous progress. I
did a bill in 2001, the AB 1338, which would have created civil
unions for same-sex couples in the State of California.

Toni Guinyard>> You didn't get a lot of support for that then?

Paul Koretz>> Well, that bill wouldn't have gotten out of its
first committee honestly. We didn't even bring it up. Then for
Jackie Goldberg's AB 205, the domestic partnership bill which
was very similar, to pass and be signed into law in the State of
California, I thought was a huge leap forward. Then not long
after to actually see marriages being performed in San Francisco
and thousands of gay and lesbian couples getting married,
including some good friends of mine, it was great to see. We've
made so much progress, but however the courts rule, the fact is
that we're now at the point where the majority of Californians -
- and I think pretty close to the majority of residents of our
entire country -- now see this as not a big issue.

Toni Guinyard>> But a lot of people do see it as a big issue,
see it as a moral issue, see it as downright wrong.

Paul Koretz>> Well, I think it is a moral issue. I think
anything other than equal rights for every citizen of this
country and of this state is immoral and I think it's time that
that changes. The response of support that we've seen has been
so dramatic, especially in California where this has been going
on. I'm incredibly encouraged. Thirty years ago, I wouldn't
have dreamed that we would have made this much progress and
gotten to this point where we are a hair away from having full
equality occur in California. Having George Bush as a backup
saying, well, civil unions are okay, but not marriage? I mean,
for a conservative Republican to be saying that they would go
that far even in opposing marriage is a huge step forward.

Frankly, the strong response that we've gotten against Bush's
proposed constitutional amendment that even people that disagree
don't want to put discrimination into the Constitution, that
again I think is a huge step forward. Everything has been very
positive and, if you look at polling on the issue, you'll find
that it breaks down by age. The younger people are, the more
accepting they are. They now know a lot of people who are out
gay or lesbian. Their elected officials that are. Their
friends, their relatives. It's just a matter of time before
this will be a no-brainer in society.

Toni Guinyard>> But is that polling in the State of California
or are we talking about polling nationwide?

Paul Koretz>> It's the same nationwide. California tends to be
more supportive, but the polling breaks down by age. If you're
in your sixties and seventies, you're less likely to be
supportive. If you're in your teens or in your twenties, you're
so used to this by now. You know celebrities that you see on
television that are gay or lesbian. You know your elected
officials. You know somebody, some cousin, some friend. You
know people who are gay and lesbian and you realize that they're
no different than anybody else and they really shouldn't be
discriminated against.

One thing I would say is that I commend Mayor Gavin Newsom for
his incredible courage in taking the step of performing
marriages for same-sex couples in San Francisco. It's not
something I would have ever thought of. I think it was a
brilliant strategy and a very courageous move on his part and
one which even some members of the gay and lesbian community had
some doubts about. It was a very bold step. It could have
backfired, but I think it's one that we'll look back
historically ten or twenty years from now and say that was the
step that moved this last great civil rights issue forward to
complete equality, which I think we'll see in another ten or
twenty years.

Toni Guinyard>> Some people are calling it political suicide,
though.

Paul Koretz>> Well, if you commit political suicide doing
something as important as this, you can be proud of the short
political career, but I think it will be quite the opposite. I
think this is such a courageous step that it will be recognized
for what it is and I expect his political career will go much
further than this as a result of that courage.

Toni Guinyard>> What do you say to critics who believe that
this move to accept same-sex marriages violates Proposition 22,
which this state overwhelmingly approved?

Paul Koretz>> Well, my understanding is that it's an open legal
question because -- I'm not an attorney, but my understanding of
the law is that it applied to acceptance of out-of-state
marriages, so not particularly relevant to whether we do
marriages in this state and whether we accept the San Francisco
marriages, for instance. I think it is an indication, almost a
poll as it were, of where Californians were at the time.

Toni Guinyard>> Are you concerned about the marriages that have
taken place in this short period of time once the California
Supreme Court hears arguments on this?

Paul Koretz>> Well, I'm actually somewhat encouraged by the
idea that there already are thousands of people that are now
married because it makes it tougher for the court to sanction
discrimination and take away those marriages than just to say,
well, theoretically, people aren't being allowed to marry. Now
they've seen thousands of people, they've seen their faces on
the news. They may even know some of them personally. To say,
well, we invalidate your marriage, we're taking that away, we're
returning to a discriminatory situation, I think that's going to
be that much harder.

Toni Guinyard>> Assemblyman Paul Koretz, I thank you so much
for sharing your thoughts and spending a little time with Life
and Times.

Paul Koretz>> Well, my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
by mail at this address:

Life and Times
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Los Angeles, California 90027

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Val>> Kids and animals may go together naturally, but doing
what comes natural is not necessarily safe around unfamiliar
dogs. Well, now one organization is teaching youngsters how to
be safe around pets and, as Vicki Curry tells us, the training
also helps the animals as well.

Vicki Curry>> It's all too common. Thousands of dogs and cats
stuck in overcrowded cages. About 60,000 animals end up in Los
Angeles city shelters every year and about half of them are
killed to make room for more. But many of these animals don't
need to be here.

Darlene Schwartz>> In the shelters today, so many of the
animals people think are strays that are walking the streets and
actually the majority of the animals have been turned in by
their owners and most of the time it's because of behavioral
problems or the people don't pick the right pet in the first
place and they're not able to keep the commitment to that
animal.

Vicki Curry>> One local group is working to help owners with
that commitment. Pet Orphans Fund has been rescuing dogs and
cats for thirty years. Now they're trying to cut down the
number of homeless pets by teaching children about responsible
pet ownership.

Darlene Schwartz>> "Now we're going to teach you today about
animals, about being kind to animals and being safe around
animals. How many of you have a pet at home? Oh, you've got
lots of pets. Should you think of them as a member of your
family? Yeah, you should and you need to take care of them just
like your parents take care of you."

Darlene Schwartz>> We have four different age-appropriate
presentations. For the younger kids, we focus on dog bite
prevention since that's one of the major reasons that children
go to the emergency room. Sometimes it's not with a stray dog.
The majority of the time, it's with their own dog.

Darlene Schwartz>> "Should you go up and try and touch this
dog? What's the dog doing? Do you like to be bothered when
you're eating? Do you want people taking your food? No, well,
the same thing with dogs."

Vicki Curry>> The students this day are a group of first and
second graders at Langdon Avenue Elementary School in North
Hills. They're learning to be safe around animals by learning
to understand them.

Darlene Schwartz>> "Animals need the same things we do. Do
animals have feelings like we do? Okay, somebody raise their
hand and tell me what feelings do people and animals have that
are the same?"

>> "They're sad."

Darlene Schwartz>> "Sad, yeah. Animals get sad. Now what does
the dog do when it's sad? How do you know it's sad? What does
it do? Somebody show me. Yeah, they kind of whimper. Yeah,
exactly. Do you know how to say hello to a dog? How do you say
hello to a dog? Hi? Do you think that they understand you?"

>> "You have to speak dog language."

Darlene Schwartz>> "You have to speak dog language? Do you
think if we bark, they're going to get that?"

Vicki Curry>> The kids also learn which dogs are safe to
approach.

Darlene Schwartz>> "Should you go up to this dog? Yes, you
could. Why? Somebody raise their hand and tell me why is it
okay. Why is it okay?"

>> "Because you can ask the owner if you can touch it."

Darlene Schwartz>> "Oh, very good, excellent."

Vicki Curry>> What seems like basic information can be new to
some children.

Darlene Schwartz>> "If you wanted to pet the dog, they have to
have an owner, right, adult owner, a collar, a leash. You need
to ask permission. You have to say may I pet your dog? You put
your hand out, you let the dog sniff you."

Darlene Schwartz>> We'll go to schools sometimes where the
children don't even know what the word collar is, collar or
leash. They say rope and a chain. So that gives you an idea of
how those animals are being treated.

>> "May I pet your dog?"

Darlene Schwartz>> "Oh, very good, okay. You're going to let
him sniff you, remember? Put your hand out. Very good."

Vicki Curry>> The practice what they've learned about dogs with
puppets.

Darlene Schwartz>> "Oh, very good. Okay, he's ready to be
petted. Where are you going to pet him? Where he can see your
hand. Yeah, you can pet him there. Oh, very good."

Vicki Curry>> And then they get to try with a real dog.

Darlene Schwartz>> "Now everybody gets to work with Victoria.
Now we're going to come up to Susan and what are you going to
do?"

>> "May I pet your dog?"

Susan>> "Yes, you can. Get right in front of her."

Darlene Schwartz>> "Yeah, get right in front of her and give
her your hand. Oh, look at that. There you go."

>> "May I pet your dog?"

Susan>> "Yes, you can. Come real close, real close. Oh, there
she goes."

Darlene Schwartz>> They're just like little sponges. They just
pick it all up and it's tremendous. That's the best is seeing
the looks on their faces, how excited they are, and you just get
that joy that they're getting it, that they're actually learning
it.

Darlene Schwartz>> "You can get down like this and go ahead and
pet her on the side. Isn't she soft?"

Darlene Schwartz>> The children were so excited about what they
learned, they went home and told their parents that their
parents wanted now -- these children know more about dogs and
how to be safe than they did. So we're going back and talking
to a parent-teacher meeting.

Vicki Curry>> The program for older children focuses on spaying
and neutering and pet ownership.

Darlene Schwartz>> We even have a section where we let them be
the adoption counselor. We have stories about six people who
come to them and trying to see what their lifestyle is, how much
time they can devote to the pet. Also, they realize that they
cost money and they take work and not everyone should be a pet
owner. So it's really important for them to pick the right pet
so they can fulfill that. The important thing is the lifetime
commitment, you know, for as long as that animal lives. That's
your commitment to that animal.

Vicki Curry>> Pet Orphans Fund works to make their presentation
interactive and leaves materials for the students.

Darlene Schwartz>> "You guys learned so much today and I know
there's a lot to remember, so we're going to help you to
remember. Everybody is going to get a package and, in your
package, you're going to get your very own certificate, okay?
This shows that you've been to this class and you learned all
about dogs and about being safe. But before you write your
name, you need to promise to do what it says on the certificate.
I'm going to read it to you and you tell me if you can promise
to do it. It says, "I will always be kind and gentle to all
animals and treat my pets like a member of my family". Can you
do that? Very good. You guys were an excellent class. Give
yourselves a big hand."

Vicki Curry>> Pet Orphans Fund hopes that, by teaching these
children some kindness and common sense, they may one day be
able to get out of the business of rescuing animals.

Darlene Schwartz>> You can reach so many more people when you
educate them and we know that, when we've reached that one
person, it doesn't stop there. You know, they're going to go
home and talk to their parents about it. They're going to talk
to their friends, their family, so we know we've reached more
people. It's important because we want to be part of the
solution to the problem.

Val>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at
Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times, a former child actress is
crusading for animals but stirs up old pain about the death of a
child.

>> I'm sorry if they have been drawn back in, but I don't feel
that I drew them back in. The whole controversy of killing
these coyotes drew them back in.

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.