Barona, Sycuan and County Representatives Approve More Than $3 Million for Local Projects to Benefit San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CA, Jun 16 (MARKET WIRE) --
The Barona Band of Mission Indians and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay
Nation, and other representatives from the Indian Gaming Local Community
Benefit Committee, recently announced local recipients of more than $3
million in grants from Tribal money paid into the State Indian Gaming
Special Distribution Fund.

"These grants will greatly help the neighborhoods in San Diego's East
County and I would like to thank Barona, Sycuan and the entire committee
for working together to fund so many worthwhile projects that will benefit
our community and our fellow San Diegans," said County Supervisor Dianne
Jacob and chair of the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee.

The committee assessed grant applications from throughout the county and
selected several local communities and public safety projects to fund.
Representatives from the groups receiving grants were present at the
meeting.

"The Barona Band of Mission Indians is proud to share a substantial
portion of this year's funds with emergency services agencies that
protect and serve us in what are often very dangerous conditions," said
Edwin "Thorpe" Romero, Tribal Chairman of the Barona Band of Mission
Indians. "And, with so many government budget cuts in these critical
needs areas, we really wanted to allocate the grants where they are
needed the most right now."

After assessing the needs of local communities and the recommendations of
the Indian Gaming Local Benefit Committee, the following projects
were
selected:

County: Water Tender for County of San Diego "Fleet" -- $140,000
County: Water Tender for Intermountain Fire Station -- $140,000
County: Regional Fire and Public Utilities Training Center --
$1,352,553.53
County: Interface Fire Engine for Campo -- $212,500
County: Department of Public Works Street Sweeper -- $225,000
County: District Attorney Tribal Liaison Program -- $116,518
County: County Sheriff PERT Program -- $109,860
County: County HHS - Adult Protective Services -- $340,356
County: County HHS - Spirit of the Family -- $160,000
El Cajon: Police Department Video Monitoring and Recording System --
$13,650
El Cajon: Street Resurfacing -- $95,000
San Diego: Helicopter Fuel Servicing Vehicle Procurement/Acquisition --
$179,325

"Sycuan is proud to once again assist in approving these critical
grants for public safety and other critical services," said Sycuan Tribal
Chairman Daniel Tucker. "I would like to thank Chairman Romero and
Supervisor Jacob, as well as the other members of the committee, for
focusing the grants on projects or services that might otherwise suffer
from state and local budget cuts."

The members of the Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee include
San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis,
Sheriff Bill Kolender and County Chief Financial Officer Don Steuer.
Tribal representatives on the committee include Edwin "Thorpe" Romero,
Tribal Chairman of the Barona Band of Mission Indians; Sheilla Alvarez of
the Barona Band of Mission Indians; and Adam Day of the Sycuan Band of
Kumeyaay Indians.

The Special Distribution Fund was created after California voters
overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1A, an amendment to the California
constitution which authorized the State to enter into compacts with Indian
Tribes for limited forms of gaming, in March of 2000. The compacts require
tribes, which were engaged in gaming in 1999, to pay into the Special
Distribution Fund. During the compact negotiations, Barona and Sycuan
worked together to ensure that a portion of the money the Tribes pay into
the fund would be used to directly benefit San Diego County.

CONTACT:

Barona
Sheilla Alvarez
619-402-0182

Sycuan
Adam Day
619-994-4855

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