Agenda Item # 11.4 - Bill James | Received 08/15/2022 August 15, 2022
Re: Item 11.4 – Sargent Ranch
Dear Mayor Blankley and Members of the Gilroy City Council,
The Santa Clara County Democratic Party stands with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and its supporters,
including environmental and community organizations, elected officials, and other civic leaders, in
urging you to adopt the resolution you will consider this evening to support the protection and
preservation of the Amah Mutsun cultural heritage, protect local wildlife and the environment, and
avoid adverse traffic, visual, and other local impacts by urging Santa Clara County to reject the proposed
Sargent Quarry Project.
We call on you to uphold the Indigenous Rights of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to maintain and protect
their religious and cultural sites as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Right of the
Indigenous Peoples. Preserving Juristac is a necessary and significant step in addressing the historical
and continuing dispossession and destruction of the Indigenous Peoples of Santa Clara County.
The recently issued draft EIR on the proposed project confirms the concerns that we and others have
raised as to the impacts on the rights and cultural heritage of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the
potentially devastating environmental impacts.
I enclose a Resolution adopted by the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee on this subject
on July 11, 2019, and urge you to adopt the resolution you are consider this evening to join others in
urging Santa Clara County to reject the Sargent Quarry Project.
Sincerely,
Bill James
Chair, Santa Clara County Democratic Party
Resolution to Protect Juristac
WHEREAS the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is composed of descendants of Indigenous peoples
who inhabited their ancestral lands in the Greater Monterey Bay region for thousands of years
and hundreds of generations before they were forcibly removed and taken to Missions San Juan
Bautista and Santa Cruz; who experienced three periods of colonization under Spanish,
Mexican, and U.S. Californian rule, in which the colonizer attempted to dehumanize the Amah
Mutsun and destroy their culture, spiritual beliefs, and environment, and in which the colonizer
stole their land and waged genocide to the point that their population decreased by over 96%;
and
WHEREAS the creation story of the Amah Mutsun tells them that it is their responsibility to take
care of Mother Earth and all living things, and the surviving descendants of the Amah Mutsun
are working to restore their indigenous knowledge and practices so they can honor their
ancestors, fulfill their sacred obligation to Creator and heal from their historic trauma; and
WHEREAS the Sargent Ranch Management Company has applied to the County of Santa
Clara (File #10747-15P), to obtain the permits necessary to commence operating a quarry that
would destroy Juristac: the most sacred ceremonial site of the Amah Mutsun, the traditional
home of their spiritual leader, and the location of known cultural resources, including burial
grounds; and
WHEREAS the proposed quarry threatens to disrupt the natural ecosystem in an area that has
remained relatively undeveloped for thousands of years, that is home to threatened and
endangered species, that is an important wildlife corridor connecting the Santa Cruz, Gabilan,
and Diablo Ranges, and that is situated within a sensitive watershed; while other areas of
Juristac are already suffering environmental damage, including the use of injection technologies
for oil extraction; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Santa Clara County Democratic Party supports the efforts by the
Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to protect their most sacred ceremonial site, Juristac, to restore their
culture, and to recover from their historic trauma; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Santa Clara County Democratic Party urges the Santa
Clara County Board of Supervisors, Planning Commissioners, and other relevant government
agencies to affirm the cultural, spiritual, and conservation values of Juristac by denying Sargent
Ranch Management Company the permits necessary to operate its proposed quarry; and will
make this known to the Supervisors and other relevant agencies by letter before the end of July
2019.