LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
I wanted all your readers to know
what a hard-working and dedicated staff
member they have working in Contract
Health. Her name is Selina Kissinger.
She has gone above and beyond what
should be expected of her. She has made
my life so much easier and done things she
did not have to. I hope her boss and co
workers all have a chance to read this so they
can realize what an asset they have working
with them, and to know she makes all their
jobs much easier for them. Thank you so
much, Selina.
Kenya Ransier
To the editor:
“The Chief Judge shall promulgate rules
of pleading, practice, and procedure
applicable to any and all proceedings of the
Tribal Court, consistent with the provisions
of this Constitution and requirements of
federal law.”
This is from the current Siletz
Constitution. It’s a good provision, especially
this part... “consistent with the provisions
of this Constitution and requirements of
federal law.” In other words, the rules and
procedures for Tribal Court must comply with
Siletz constitutional law and federal law.
That will be deleted from the
Constitution if those who have advocated for
the constitutional changes have their way.
The advocates of this are Craig Dorsay, tribal
attorney; Delores Pigsley, Tribal Council
chairwoman: Gerald Ben, tribal councilman;
and an apparent majority of the Tribal Council.
This change, in addition to one that will put
Tribal Council at the head of the Tribal Court
and another to make themselves (Tribal
Council) a non-representative body of the
general
membership,
will
make
a tyranny.
The question for me is what can be
done to tribal officials such as these, when
their work results in the abrogation of nearly
each constitutional protection for individual
Siletz Tribal members? The gravity of the
situation cannot be overstated here. Just the
action of proposing to revoke Siletz
Constitutional law is comparable to those
organizations who lobby the U.S. Congress
to revoke and abrogate Indian treaty rights
from federal constitutional law.
In my opinion, the proposed
constitutional changes by Tribal Council and
the article written by Dorsay in March are
intended to destroy the future of the tribe.
The Tribal Council needs to retract these
amendments.
Cynthia Viles
4
To the editor:
The article in the May issue regarding
the sad state of our Contract Health Services
(CHS) budget should be of major concern to
all members. Having been involved in the
health care issues of the tribe for many years,
I have some comments, questions, and
insight I’d like to share with you.
First, if your family is solely dependent
on contract care and you are being asked to
purchase health care insurance elsewhere,
you need to know that, according to the tribe’s
own CHS user’s guide, Alternative
Resources, you do not have to use your own
financial resources or sell valuables or
property to qualify for alternative resources.
Secondly, there is a rule that if you live
within a 25-mile radius of an Indian Health
Service-funded clinic such as Chemawa,
Grand Ronde, or Siletz, you must utilize
these facilities for health care services. Now,
according to the May newsletter article, if you
live within a 40-mile radius of one of these
clinics, you will be required to go there for
services. Did I miss something? When did
staff
request
a
waiver
of
the
25-mile rule from the Indian Health Service
to change it?
Why didn’t anyone take responsibility
for writing the article in the newsletter? Who
is responsible for what has happened to the
health care dollars and other program dollars
as well?
To the editor:
What’s up with Chinook Winds Casino?
Believe me, that’s the $50 million question.
Last year, Chinook Winds Casino
grossed over $50 million, but only had a net
income of $1.3 million. The casino industry
standard for net revenues is about 20 percent
of the gross. In this case, the casino net profit
should have been at least $10 million.
This would have been money for
revenue distribution that should have
exclusively benefited tribal members. This, of
course, is not the case. Considering the fact
that the distribution plan is totally at the whim
of Tribal Council, they will undoubtedly
squander it with the help of the tribe’s
administration and casino managers. Tribal
Council plans to spend $400,000 for the
health of all tribal members out of the last
distribution plan, a figure that is almost the
same as the amount they plan to spend
themselves from government operations.
One dollar for the tribe to share and one dollar
for them.
Seriously, tribal members are being
ripped off. When I called the casino to confirm
these figures, I was told that the only person
who could give me any information was
Delores Pigsley. I was unable to reach her.
This kind of information is readily
available at other casinos, but not Chinook
Winds. Secrecy is the name of the game
there. Tribal members are shareholders of
Is this anonymous article entitled
“Important Details About Contract Health
Services (CHS)” going to be our “official
notice” of a benefits cut? Or is the official
notice the one mailed to tribal members
postmarked May 16, 2000, entitled “Contract
Health Services (CHS) An Urgent Message”?
Again, no signature, no date, no clear
direction. Apparently, no one is taking
responsibility. In my opinion, Sharon
Edenfield, administrative manager; Brenda
Bremner, general manager; and Delores
Pigsley, Tribal Council chairman, are the
responsible parties for the tribe’s fiscal
management. The buck stops there.
According to a recent letter by Brenda
Bremner, the shortfalls are broader than just
health. According to Naomi Shadwick, long
time accounting staff, it is standard practice
for the tribe to place health funds into a
“general fund” to be spent for purposes other
than health, such as STEDCO. Tribal health
care dollars invested in Dean Witter have
been depleted by approximately $4 million
since 1998.
Health care for tribal members has been
the number one priority of the tribe for many
years. Since the inception of the community
clinic in Siletz, health care for all members,
regardless of residence, has been the goal.
What is the goal now? Is it just salaries for
the administration and no health care
for anyone?
Denise Peterson
Chinook Winds and are rightfully owed an
explanation of what has happened to the
hundreds of millions of dollars mismanaged
or worse from Chinook Winds. Why hasn’t
Delores Pigsley released the annual audited
financial reports of the casino? She sure
loves to send us “confidential reports” by mail
to promote herself or Gordon Dickie, the
general manager of Chinook Winds.
Where is the accountability to tribal
members? Is Gordon Dickie grossly
mismanaging Chinook Winds? Apparently, he
does whatever he wants with no fear of
reprimand from the Tribal Council.
Why is this? Not because members of
the Tribal Council don’t have serious problems
with Mr. Dickie, but because he is protected
by Delores Pigsley. At the last General
Council meeting, most of the tribal members
in attendance had serious concerns about
mismanagement at Chinook Winds. As the
questioning went on, Delores Pigsley
admitted
that
the
casino
was
a disaster.
Gross mismanagement at the casino
and the tribal administration has been at the
expense of tribal members. The future of the
tribe is at great risk. Tribal members should
have more say in tribal affairs, but as long as
Delores Pigsley is controlling the tribe that
will never happen.
Lori A. Johnson