Anticipating that this might occur, the Tribal
to the minutes, requesting instead that a verbatim
Council had arranged for tribal member Keith
transcript be prepared and sent to the
Taylor and Tribal Law Enforcement Officer
membership. A motion was passed,
Norman Counts to act as Sergeant-at-Arms.
recommending that all General Council minutes
They did a good job at keeping tensions from
be prepared verbatim.
escalating. But, the interruptions continued.
The Council’s Executive Secretary had
And, when the majority began demanding that
prepared paraphrased minutes of all the audible
Pat assume the position of Chairman, I intervened.
discussion from the meeting. Verbatim transcripts
With apologies to tribal members who were
will be expensive to prepare, substantially
increase the number of pages to read, and likely expecting to declare their candidacies and noting
the unproductiveness of the proceedings, I
result in little or no change to the substance of
Bonnie Petersen, Tribal Council Vice-Chairman
adjourned the meeting. This was a difficult but
what was said. Tribal members can arrange with
VICE-CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
the Council Executive Secretary to listen to the necessary action. In my opinion, if the meeting
had continued it would have deteriorated to the
tapes of General Council meeting to clarify
On November 7,19981 had the opportunity
level that it reached at the August 1st meeting
statements in the minutes.
to chair the General Council meeting (Chairman
and that was not an option.
A majority vote also approved
Pigsley was attending a funeral). I was very
Clearly the Constitution was written to ensure
recommending Pat Duncan to fill the current
disappointed with the outcome of this meeting.
that Tribal Members would have a voice in their
Tribal Council vacancy. This was followed by
Traditionally General Council meetings are held
another advisory recommendation that Pat be government through the powers of voting,
to share important information with the
initiative, referendum, recall, meeting as a General
recognized as the Tribal Council Chairman.
membership, to approve the previous General
Following that vote, Pat Duncan walked to the Council and making advisory recommendations.
Council minutes, to listen to Tribal Member
front of the room, apparently expecting to be These last two rights are not ensured when the
concerns and to hear the Chairman’s report.
seated as Chairman and a member of the Tribal agenda can be derailed, conducting business is
Also, it’s customary for tribal members to
Council upon passage of an advisory disrupted and dissenting viewpoints cannot be
announce their candidacy for Tribal Council at
heard.
recommendation
the November General Council meeting.
The Tribal Council will consider and respond
As a former member of the Tribal Council,
The Tribe’s Constitution provides guidance
Pat knows that votes ot the General Council are to all the advisory motions passed on the
for conducting General Council meetings. It sets
advisory in nature.
These advisory November 7th, as well as the conduct during that
the number of and dates when these meetings
meeting. I am confident that we can find ways
are held, provides that the Tribal Council set the recommendations are discussed at the next duly to ensure the rights of all tribal members are
called regular meetings of the Tribal Council. At
agenda for General Council meetings, and states
that time the Tribal Council decides whether to protected—regardless of whether they are in
that tribal members can make advisory
carry out the recommendation or refer it to the attendance or not.
recommendations to Tribal Council. While it is
General Council for vote at then next General
not laid out by the Constitution, the Tribal Council
Election.
has always asked the General Council to approve
Our Constitution is set up this way in order
the agenda and the minutes of these meetings.
While the Constitution intends that business to protect the individual rights of all the
will be conducted at General Council meetings, membership. Depending on the subject, the
advisory recommendations at the November 7th
that was not the case on November 7th. Once
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
the meeting came to order, it was clear that Pat meeting were favored by anywhere from 38 to All letters received will be printed except those
57 voters. There are 2061 tribal members
Duncan and tribal members supporting her
eligible to vote. At the most these votes which are known to be slanderous or racist.
wanted to advance a separate agenda. These
Please type or write legibly, no profane language
represented
less
than
2%
of
the
eligible
voting
members held a majority at the meeting and so
will be printed. The Siletz Newspaper and Tribal
membership. If the Constitution provided that
controlled the voting.
Government accept no responsibility for
General Council votes be binding on the Tribal
A motion was made to limit the agenda solely
Government, than you could always have a vocal, statements made in the Letters to the Editor. The
to Tribal Member Concerns. At my urging
opinions expressed are those of the individual
organized minority affecting the rights of the
approval of minutes and allowing candidate
writing it. Letters that are excessive in length
majority.
statements was added. But, this revised agenda
The last item I want to address is the conduct may be edited for length as approved by Tribal
eliminated a critical presentation on Gaming
of people during the meeting. Pat Duncan and Council Resolution #96-142. AU letters must
Compact negotiations. In fulfilling Tribal
include your name, address, and signature.
several
supporters
had
the
opportunity
to
express
Council’s commitment to memberships input on
Send letters to.
gaming, Chinook Winds management were on concerns and viewpoints. During the time they
Siletz News
held the floor the audience accorded them aspect
hand to present options for 1999 financial
P.O. Box 549
and heard them out uninterrupted. But, tribal
projections. Tribal members missed this valuable
Siletz, OR 97380
members who dissented with the majority were
opportunity to hear information about the impact
Phone: (541)444-8291 -or-1-800-922-
interrupted and shouted over. Several tribal
and the direction of gaming.
1399, ext. 291.
members told me they didn’t want to bother with
A motion to approve the August 1M General
Fax: 1-541-444-2307.
sharing their views because they felt intimidated
Council minutes failed. Clifford Case disagreed
e-mail: newspaper@ctsi.nsn.us
with statements attributed to him. He did not by these behaviors. Other tribal members felt Please note: The General Manager of the Siletz
that presenting the facts would be a waste of
specify what he objected to or offer any revision
Tribe is the Editor-in-Chief of the Siletz News.
time.
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