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Profile The military precision of fighting fires honed Steven TeSam’s skills as Viejas tribal Chairman



The Military Precision of Fighting Fires Honed Steven TeSam’s Skills as Viejas Tribal Chairman

VIEJAS INDIAN RESERVATION , Typical business administration programs do not call for physical labor in a climate that puts ashes in your eyes.

But the U.S. Forest Service can teach a lot about teamwork, strategy, allocating resources and making firm decisions.

Eighteen years as a Forest Service firefighter, as well as a dozen years’ experience in tribal government, have prepared Steven F. TeSam for the top spot with the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians.

TeSam, 40, succeeded Anthony R. Pico as Viejas tribal chairman in December. Pico retired from the post after 18 years.

The Viejas tribe’s enterprises include a casino and outlet center, which it owns and operates on its reservation east of Alpine. The tribe is a majority shareholder in Borrego Springs Bank. It also has two recreational vehicle parks.

Looking at challenges the same way a firefighter looks at his challenges makes sense, TeSam says. Immediate questions include the sorts of resources and expertise needed for the job.

As he talks, TeSam does not come across as a know-it-all. Far from it.

A person in charge at a fire scene can easily call in helicopters, air tankers and engines he does not need. Or do the opposite. His attitude may be, “Oh, we can pick this up, no problem,” TeSam says. “And the fire gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and you have to call in more people.


Learned From Mistakes

“Sometimes you make a mistake, but at least you made a decision. That’s the attitude. And we learn from (mistakes).

“So we’re still learning. I’m still learning also. Nobody’s perfect. I’m not perfect.”

Work in the fire service has given TeSam a “strong team focus,” says Penny Culbreth-Graft, Viejas’ tribal government manager.

As a former assistant city manager for San Diego and a manager in smaller cities, Culbreth-Graft has dealt with a variety of elected officials.

Her current boss “seeks and desires consensus,” she says, adding he is “not typically a high confronter” and is “pretty subtle in style.”

“He’s a super guy,” said George Vanek, chairman of the county’s community planning group in neighboring Alpine, adding TeSam is “a very conscientious individual.”

The leader is “a little on the quiet side,” said Vanek, who has lived in Alpine for more than 50 years, and said he has known TeSam by reputation since the chairman was a boy.

“He doesn’t have to prove who he is or how capable he is. That goes without saying,” Vanek said. “He doesn’t have to blow his own horn.”


Lifelong Reservation Resident

TeSam is a lifelong resident of the Viejas reservation , which by his own account is rare.

“Some people live in town for a period of time,” TeSam says.

He graduated from Valhalla High School, then went to work. College was not an option, and the best opportunities were in the work world, he recalls. And the tribe was not as prosperous then as it is now.

After volunteering with the Sycuan Fire Department, TeSam followed his brothers into the firefighting division of the Forest Service. He stayed 18 years, attaining the title of lead forestry technician, before leaving in 1999.

He was stationed in Alpine, Descanso and Ramona, and was a member of a hand crew called the Laguna Hotshots. As a fire engineer, he drove one of the Forest Service’s green trucks.

The work involved lots of travel during fire season. There was work near San Bernardino, in the Sierras and out of state.

“We were in Yellowstone for 30 days,” TeSam says.

He spent one 30-day stretch battling a 120,000-acre fire , an area half the size of the city of San Diego , in wooded country near Yosemite National Park.

“It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a timber fire,” he says of the 1987 blaze, actually several lightning fires that merged into one. “You’d just have a different adventure every day, because the fire was moving so far away from where you were yesterday.”


Military-Like Precision

Fire agencies respond to such big blazes with military-like deployments. The Forest Service can turn parking lots and high school campuses into fire camps overnight. Specialists show up to handle all aspects of the effort, from overall strategy to equipment distribution, payroll, meal service and public information.

In the same way, TeSam says, he consults specialists when taking on big projects , attorneys, perhaps, or someone with a background in local government administration.

“In business, that’s what I try to do , ask for different advice from people who might know or maybe went down that road before,” he says.

Expert opinions are as important as doctors’ orders, he says.

TeSam’s role is multifold. He is leader of the 275-member Viejas tribe, which he compares to a family. He is also leader of its reservation, where one tribal government project is improving the local utility infrastructure. The process involves digging trenches, crossing driveways, and warning people in advance.


Providing Facts

“I just try to let people know what I know. Let ’em know the facts,” TeSam says. “I need to have the consensus of people, so we can move things along in the tribe.”

TeSam lives on the reservation with his wife, Christina, and his three sons. Time off from the job is spent watching the kids, he says.

And chairmanship is “basically a full-time job,” TeSam says. “If I’m not here physically, then I’m thinking about my work. That’s the tough part, I think. It basically takes up my time.”

That time includes attending community meetings , particularly in Alpine.

Preparing TeSam for his leadership role was six years on the tribal council, four years as tribal treasurer and, most recently, two years as Anthony Pico’s vice chairman. He and Pico traveled and “did some things before we even had a casino,” TeSam recalls. (The casino opened 10 years ago as a bingo venue.)

The experience was an education.

“In those days we were getting, I bet, hundreds of proposals for , you name it. Anything you can think of, just about, here,” TeSam says, indicating the reservation.

“I remember we used to meet up at one of our campgrounds’ RV park. We’d be there until 2 or 3 in the morning, just going through a contract so we understood what it meant,” TeSam recalls.

“I’m glad I did that in those days, because now it’s easier,” he says, adding that legal language has lost its intimidating edge. “I can see how to cut through all those words, to see what the real meat of the proposals are.”


Too Much ‘Pie In Sky’

In the end, the tribe decided most of the proposals it received were “pie in the sky,” TeSam recalls. ” Once you did your due diligence looking into it, you knew you’d never achieve what they were saying.

“It took a while for us to finally get into what we’re doing now.”

By now, the bingo operation is a 238,000-square-foot gaming facility, which Viejas touts as the first California casino to reach 2,000 slot machines.

In several ways, TeSam says, 2001 is a time of transition for the Viejas tribe. He has taken over for the experienced and respected Pico. His tribal council has four new members, including two without previous council experience.

And the business climate is changing.

“Right now we’re analyzing what our competition is doing,” TeSam says. He notes the Barona tribe is starting a golf course and building a hotel, and the Sycuan tribe bought the Singing Hills golf course. “I drove by there about a month ago, and they’re building condos or timeshares next to Dehesa Road there. So that’s something I’m looking at.

“This is a time where we’re going to analyze what we have, analyze what our competition is doing, and create a plan.”

Published reports say the Ewiiaapaayp tribe has plans for its own casino near Alpine, though TeSam does not mention it during an interview.

“We’re always looking for something that will increase our foundation,” he says at another point.

“It just takes time.”

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