The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians

For Immediate Release: (July 11, 2017) The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians recently broke ground on a $20 million tribal government administration building to be completed in summer, 2018.  

According the Tribal Chairman Bo Mazzetti, the band needed to combine government offices in a permanent building.  Last year rain damaged the temporary administration offices, forcing the staff to evacuate and re-open in another temporary complex.

“We have come to the end of the line with investing in semi-permanent buildings that really don’t meet our current needs,” said Mazzetti, who added that the council had resisted building a permanent administration complex, preferring to invest in tribal services and reservation infrastructure first. 

“It’s time to build a permanent space. Centralizing government operations in one location will, not only improve government operations and communication, but also save on the cost of moving, replacing and remodeling temporary offices.  After 17 years, our government services have grown, with staff and administration scattered throughout the reservation. Some are housed in outdated, and not very employee or work-friendly buildings. “

The two-story, 43,000-square-foot complex will house tribal law enforcement, human resources, finance, legal, and administration departments, with additional conference and training rooms.  Tribal council chambers will be on the second floor.  Architectural elements include a lobby and entryway with raised ceilings and lighting for an airy, open feel, along with modern energy efficient applications throughout. The interior design will be comprised of rich textures and patterns adapted from tribal basket weaving art, and the historic use of wood and stone as building materials.

“In addition to improved functioning, we are going to use this opportunity to make an artistic statement about our culture by incorporating elements that reflect Luiseño tribal art and with accents featuring natural building materials and indigenous landscaping,” noted Mazzetti.

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The new administration building will be located on Valley Center Road, north of the tribal fire department.  In addition to $5 million in road improvements, including a turn lane, the site will have two parking areas to accommodate employees and visitors.

The Worth Group is providing architectural services, with the Hearne Company, a division of W.E. O’Neil,   General Contractor. Joe Martinez of Sierra Building Solutions is Construction Manager.

The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians has committed $300,000 to the Palomar Health Foundation capital campaign to fund expansion of emergency services at Palomar Medical Center Escondido.

Specifically, these funds will go toward building out Pod D, the unfinished shell space inside the Emergency Department that will feature new patient treatment rooms, with state-of-the-art medical beds, monitors, technology, and lifesaving equipment, along with additional clinical support space.

According to Bo Mazzetti, Rincon chairman, this is not the Band’s first contribution to the Palomar Health Foundation. However, it is the first to the Emergency Department expansion campaign.

“When considering how to make our donations meaningful to the North County, we wanted to make an investment that benefits as many people as possible,” said Mazzetti. “A contribution to meet increased emergency capacity at Palomar Medical Center Escondido was an obvious solution because at some time almost everyone is likely to need emergency care either for themselves or for family.”

“Convenience, skill, and timing is important to saving lives in a serious emergency,” Mazzetti said.  “Rincon members, like others in North County, look to Palomar Medical Center Escondido for our care and we believe it is important to support the Foundation’s goal to provide the highest level of treatment.”

According to Dr. Jaime Rivas, Emergency Services Medical Director at Palomar Health, the Emergency Department sees an average of about 300 patients per day and expects that number to climb in the future. The Emergency Department currently has 52 licensed beds increasing to 66 once Pod D is completed by the end of this year.

“One of the many benefits from the increased capacity will be to allow the entire treatment team to better experience the joy of medicine,” Dr.

Rivas said. “Happier doctors will translate to better care and overall satisfaction for patients.”

Dr. Rivas added that he expects wait times to decrease in the emergency department. When originally opened in 2012, the Emergency Department expected to serve about 60,000 patients annually but has been serving more than 100,000.

As North County’s only Trauma Center, Palomar Medical Center Escondido treats victims of car accidents, heart attacks, strokes, snake bites, head injuries, and everything in between.

The Rincon contribution will be made over three years, with installments of $100,000 contributed annually.

Tishmall Turner was recently elected vice chairman of the Rincon tribe. In that capacity, she attended President Trump’s inaugural and met with the new Secretary of the Interior designate Ryan Zinke and the White House Tribal Advisor.

She also attended the inaugural ball sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Like many members of Indian Country, Turner is closely watching the new administration for signs of whether it will be pro or anti-Indian, or somewhere in between.

Tishmall (which means “hummingbird”)  grew up on the reservation and lived most of her life there. She attended local schools and graduated from Orange Glen High School. She obtained a BA and Master’s in business administration. She attended college at Palomar Community College and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the University of Phoenix.

Her day job is as tribal liaison at Cal State University San Marcos. As she describes it, “I serve as the point of contact for tribes hoping to work with the university and to the university to expand its initiative to tribes. She personally advises the president of the university on these matters, and is the first of only two such advisers in the Cal State system.

She has worked about twenty years in Indian Country. “I bring a lot to the table for relationship building and working with people in socioeconomic development,” she says.

Her goal as vice chairwoman is “to continue economic and social development for all of our tribal members and to continue to build programs that are centered on the welfare and safety of not only the reservation but the surrounding communities.” She points out that the Rincon Tribal Fire Dept. station answers mainly off-reservation calls: 98% are not on Rincon.

“We continue to build on those successes,” she says. “We support our local school district, Rotary, Palomar Health; we help anyone who lives in this area. We think that’s beneficial.”

One of her goals as vice chairman is to promote economic diversity. Like many tribes, Rincon sees the wisdom of not putting all the tribe’s economic eggs in the gaming basket. So, not so long ago the tribe opened the Travel Plaza and became the first tribe in America to own a 7-11 franchise. Last fall it opened SR-76, the first tribal brewery in San Diego County, which operates near Harrah’s Southern California Resort’s porte-cochere entrance.

“We are working on opening an RV park within the next two years,” she said. The facility will have room for about 100 spaces and have the attendant amenities associated with such a business.

The tribe is also invested in several manufacturing companies, mainly in the Western U.S. One manufactures off-road ATV’s, another manufactures cordage (i.e. rope) and a third manufactures plastic cards.

“We have to be diversified and take advantage of any business that promotes and maintains sovereignty as a tribe,” she says. “I grew up when we didn’t have gaming.” She grew up and got her education, but always knew that she wanted to come back and serve her tribe:

“I wanted to make my community a better place.”

Turner is an avid outdoorswoman who likes to golf, hike at Mammoth, go to the beach and be the auntie to her nieces and nephews. She has written children’s books in her tribe’s language, books that have been illustrated by a local Luiseño artist. She doesn’t speak Luiseño, but relied on a member of the tribe who did speak the language to help put her words into that tongue.

“I believe in uniting our tribal membership and share common goals that will preserve the tribe for generations to come. I believe our language, culture and education are crucial to maintaining our sovereignty,” she says.

Although she is new to the tribal council she is not new to serving her tribe. For the last eight years, she has been vice chairman of the tribal economic corporation, which oversees business ventures outside of the casino. She was also donations chairman of the Donations and Sponsorship Committee that she describes as “the tribe’s PR arm” for six years.

Because she can’t wear two hats, she is resigning from both positions to serve solely on the tribal council.

“It’s an exciting time to be in a leadership role for Rincon because we are achieving such great success. We’re planning a new tribal administration building in June, which will be near the fire station.”