Seneca City Counsel seeks attorney input on church abatement

A formal letter from an attorney by the name of Wyatt Baum was received at the ONAC KM "South Valley Sanctuary" today announcing he has been asked by the Seneca City Council to review the situation before the council as to whether or not the city should pursue an abatement action against the land.

According to the letter, a deadline of July 17th 2017 has been set requiring church leader Sachem Joy Graves to formally establish communication either with he or the city to address and attempt negotiations as to the disposition of the church land. According to the city, the issue of concern is in the structure which used to be a house is now in what they feel to be a "Danger to the community."

Church Mecautea (warrior soldier) High Counsel Emissary 'Wolf Brotha" Minter who received the notification, "The position of our church is simple, if the people of and within the city simply honor the fact being that it's private property and stopped illegally and criminally trespassing on it, there would be no Danger to them, would there be?"

We asked Wolf Brotha what the churches plan regarding the property is and he replied "We are going to get it cleared and ready to host sweatlodge ceremonies for our members." We asked him what the churches projected time-frame is to achieve the goal and he said "We've projected to be ready by 2018, of coarse the city would have to stop cock-blocking our efforts."

The letter from the attorney noted having notified Graves of the situation and action being considered but church officials insist that no notice was ever received regarding the land or that the city suddenly had issue with it. "In 2014 we began working on the goal for the sanctuary but the county sheriff jumped in illegally victimizing us and the land and ultimately I was court ordered that I could not work on or even be at the property for almost a whole year" said "Scott" Martin, ONAC KM member and "Custodian" over the sanctuary now under fire. "The city people were really mad at the sheriff for it, saying they were happy to see us making effort toward getting it up to parr, they were pissed that he stopped us."

Another church member whom we didn't catch his name stated that last year he personally almost single-handedly "took down" the structure on the lands that was in the worst condition. Neighbors confirm that it was vandalism by city residents to the land that has left it in the dire straights condition the city now suddenly has urgent concerns about. "That girl Joy and her family practically rebuilt both houses that were on the land when they bought it back in 1999, but as soon as she closed it up and left in 2003, the thievery began, and it didn't stop until everything salvageable was taken, then it just sat for about 5 years. Then in 2014 they came out and had a ceremony and a few months later they started working on the land until sheriff Palmer jumped in and over-stepped his bounds, ultimately halting the progress. Now it seems that every time they make effort to improve the condition of that land, the officials around here make sure to quickly stop them, and are now trying to punish them for not having gotten it done, it just doesn't seem right."

Church spiritual leader Sachem Graves says that despite their filing "multiple complaints" about the theft, even going so far to Show the sheriff's deputies where some of the stolen items were, ultimately they refused to take any form of action other than to "make a report" and pointed them to the city for action. Graves says the city would then point she and her family back to the county stating it was the sheriff who would have to take action as they lack the ability and resources needed to properly police the city. Back and forth this would go for a number of years until ultimately it was apparent no effort would be made to stop the theft or be done to initiate any sort of legal accountability, so ultimately Graves said she and her father told them "Since we cannot stop you from stealing our houses, please at Least make sure you don't leave them in a hazardous condition" but says just as when they were told to stop because there actions were criminal, they didn't and that ultimately that is why the structures are in the condition they've been in since. "We haven't opened the land up for ceremony because we want to make sure it's presented properly and that it's safe for people to be moving around, we've been trying to get it to that point, as of 2014 only church members are authorized to be upon the property and those who have been there have been there with the goal of improving it."

Thank you for your continuing interest and support for our church, please stay tuned for further updates about this and other ONAC related news.