Despite Protests, Vote Is Urged to Restart Road Job

Brushing aside protests from Native Americans, county Public Works Department officials plan to ask the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to allow construction crews to go back to work on a section of Santa Rosa Road outside Camarillo.

Construction was interrupted in December after archeologists said they found a Chumash cremation chamber and other human remains. About five weeks later, archeologists working the site uncovered a series of round, smooth stones that may have been involved in some sort of burial ritual.

Local Native American groups said that based upon preliminary evidence, the site could be an ancient Indian cemetery containing the remains of scores of deceased who at one time may have called the Santa Rosa Valley area their home.

Following the discoveries, county officials have generally expressed an eagerness to finish the road improvement project. But Native American representatives said the road construction should be a secondary concern in comparison to the site’s “archeological and sacred significance.”

“These people don’t know what they are ruining,” said Richard Angulo, president of the Thousand Oaks-based California Indian Council/Chumash. “This area is a sacred place to us and they seem determined to destroy it. Once it’s gone, you can never replace it.”

W. Butch Britt, the county’s deputy director of public works, said that during the supervisors meeting on March 15 he will ask the board to endorse the following set of findings:

* That the site does not meet the necessary criteria under state law in order to be classified as an “important archeological resource.”

* That the site does not qualify under state law as a Native American “sanctified cemetery, place of worship, religious or ceremonial site or sacred shrine.”

* Approve the resumption of road construction work at the archeological site using the services of a qualified archeologist, Native American monitors and by using earth grading machines that will excavate only 1 1/2 inches of soil at a single pass.

Britt, who said archeological work at the site has cost the county more than $20,000 so far, said work will be suspended if further grading at the site uncovers other remains or artifacts until the items can be removed and reinterred according to tribal custom.

“Based on what we have discovered there, we think it’s time to get back to work,” Britt said. “If additional remains or artifacts are found we will see that they are treated properly and with respect.”

Britt said that because not all of the supervisors are scheduled to attend Tuesday’s board meeting, county officials decided to hold the item over until the March 15 meeting.

“We realize that this is a controversial issue,” Britt said. “We wanted all the board members in attendance if possible.”

News that the Public Works Department will ask the supervisors to endorse the findings infuriated Larry Myer, executive secretary of the California Native American Heritage Commission in Sacramento. Myer said the Public Works Department’s request amounted to a “slap in the face” for all Native Americans.

“We are very disturbed and saddened to hear that the county wants to resume work there,” Myer said. “The (archeological) work that’s needed there is just starting. This isn’t something that can be rushed. The county’s actions are premature.”

Construction on the 11-mile two-lane road initially started in 1990, Britt said. The $5 million project is designed to widen and improve safety on the two-lane 90-year-old country road. Officials estimate that an estimated 10,000 commuters use the road daily.