Eventually we met with the Tribe, who announced that they were planning to solicit lessees from a Wall Street Journal ad, and we could submit our offer along with them. Through our attorney, we began working with an international company that prepared proposals. After submitting our proposal, we were eventually informed that we were not among the finalist, we later learned there was only one other applicant….it was the group whose proposal contained our documents, and they were the group that was awarded a lease, Havasu Ventures.  Unlike us, they did obtain a long-term lease.
          There was a conflict between Havasu Palms, Inc. and the Tribe, as to the actual final day of our lease.  Our attorney believed it was May 31, 1999, and they believed it was May 2. On May 4, 1999, the Chemehuevi Tribe and members of the new lessees broke into the Havasu Palms store and restaurant, changed the locks and seizing personal assets of Havasu Palms, Inc. They began removing files belonging to Havasu Palms from our office, hauling the boxes down to the docks, and loading them into their boats.  After much protesting, and calling the local sheriff, they finally returned the boxes before the officers arrived.
            The Tribe and the new lessees reopened the store and began selling Havasu Palms' merchandise. Although the local sheriff eventually arrived, their position was not to get involved and they told us we could actively take our property back, and if violence ensued, they would intervene.  Our attorney told us to handle the issue in the courts.
            Even if our lease had ended on May 2, the seizure violated the terms of our lease. Something I repeatedly reminded Christine Lowe (the Tribe's realty officer) during the following weeks. Our lease with the tribe stipulated we could remove our property from the site if we paid a daily ground rent. We had prepaid enough ground rent to cover about 45 days. 
            Early in the initial takeover, officers and an attorney for the new lessee repeatedly demanded Havasu Palms Inc. turn over its tenant list, which was a proprietary customer list of Havasu Palms Inc. Havasu Palms Inc. had leased a tract of land from the Tribe, not a business. The business was the property of Havasu Palms, Inc.  For example, if I lease a building in town, that a similar business rented before me, I might benefit from the location or the goodwill they had established, yet it would not give me a right to demand that previous business turn over to me their customer list, or allow me to use their business name, logo or pitch a product the prior business created, as my own.   Yet this is what happened to Havasu Palms, Inc.
            In mid-May 1999, Christine Lowe, the realty officer for the Tribe gave Havasu Palms permission to begin retrieving our property. Yet, when we began removing the property, this same individual said we must turn over our tenant’s list before Havasu Palms could remove anything. Finally, she recanted her demand and gave us permission to remove the items.
          Days after the takeover, my husband, Don Holmes, went to the hospital with symptoms mimicking a heart attack.  I returned to the lease site (without my husband, who was still under medical observation) with several employees to begin removing Havasu Palms’ personal property.  Our former tenant, Jim Foster, who was now one of the new lessees, began harassing me.  When we attempted to load a forklift, owned by my husband, onto an equipment hauler, he chased away the driver of the equipment hauler, telling me I needed to show proof of ownership.  It was pretty ludicrous, he knew full well my family had been operating the site for over 30 years, and when I realized he might expect me to show him a bill of sale for every item we owned….hundreds of items…..I was overwhelmed, and extremely frustrated.  I called our attorney, and he advised me to leave the park, and let him handle the situation.
            When tribal representatives met with Havasu Palms' tenants to discuss the new lessee they assured the tenants that no one would be evicted. Technically speaking, Havasu Palms would become tenants, as we owned three mobile homes in the park.  About a year after the takeover, the shareholders of Havasu Palms Inc. still owned one lake front mobile home in the park, and they had paid timely monthly rent to the new landlords. In spite of the fact that the rent was current, they seized the mobile home, with the sanction of the tribe.
            When the new park management first seized the mobile home (they broke into it and had the locks changed), I went to the park and called the local sheriff’s office.  The reporting officer ordered the mobile home keys immediately returned to me. Later that week, the officer returned, and arrested the manager of the mobile home park, Bill Cotton; removing him from the premises.  The District Attorney refused to press charges, as the incident occurred on the reservation.
            At first, the attorney for the new lessees agreed his clients would not attempt a retake of the mobile home, agreeing to let the court’s settle the matter.  Yet, the matter never made it to the courts, as the California courts did not want to hear a case involving a business on the reservation. They re-seized the mobile home; at the time, the property was worth over $50,000.
            Havasu Palms’ lease with the Tribe held a clause for arbitration to settle lease disputes between Havasu Palms and the Tribe under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. We filed for arbitration and finally in 2002, an arbitration hearing was held in San Francisco, California. One of Havasu Palms' grievances against the tribe was the tribe's total disregard of the terms of their lease, when they illegally seized Havasu Palms' property, most of which was never returned or reimbursed.  Another issue was the tribe’s failure to negotiate in good faith for a long-term lease, as was repeatedly promised throughout the years.

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Photo: The Havasu Palms store Walt Johnson built, circa 1998