Siletz news /, March 01, 2002, Page 4, Image 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
I am a hereditary chief, Tututni, Rogue River from my great-grandfather,
William Charley DePoe, whom Depoe Bay, Ore., is named after. I wear the
chieftain headdress to carry on the tradition of my great-grandfather, grandfather,
and father, whom I promised on his last hour I would carry on for him.
I am writing to show my concern for the lack of respect shown to the chieftain
headdress by a certain activity coordinator. This is the second time I have been
told to be on somebody’s waiting list when I call the Siletz Tribal office to tell
them I want to participate in one of their functions (Coos Bay Honor Day).
I wonder what my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father would say if
somebody told them to be on somebody’s waiting list. I am not calling to get a
handout; I learned a long time ago to take care of myself.
I feel better now that I got this off my mind.
Hereditary Chief Che-Wes-Cla,
William DePoe Jr.
To the editor:
I would like to thank all of you who supported me in the last election. Because
of you, I am even more determined to continue working to ensure that our Tribal
Council will be accountable to the membership.
In accordance with the election ordinance, tribal members are now allowed
to view the poll book. After reviewing the official record, there are a number of
areas that are inconsistent and questionable.
For example, there are two instances where it was noted that tribal members
submitted two votes each, both votes recorded on different days. Of the 1,695
registered voters, only 1,666 ballots were supposedly sent out; yet, there were
ballots that were mailed out and received by non-registered voters.
Not all non-registered voters were sent registration cards. Do you know if
you’re a registered voter? Did your vote count? If you didn’t vote, are you marked
as having voted? I urge you to contact the Election Board, whether you voted or
not, to determine if the official record is accurate in your case.
Some other issues I would like to point out are:
Our elders were sent tax form 1099-misc for the gaming distribution payment
of $541 and the elders’ bonus of $101.35. Couldn’t the Tribal Council have created
a program to treat eiders’ payments as non-taxable, such as for utility assistance?
Or, why didn’t the Tribal Council supplement the bonus to cover the taxes? With
this year’s bonus being taxable, our elders are actually getting less than they have
in the past.
Lillie Butler had made a motion to double the bonus to $200, but it was voted
down. Incidentally, my uncle received a tax form 1099-misc for $642.35, yet he
did not receive the $541 payment because he did not send in a copy of his Social
Security card that matched his first name on the enrollment records. The tribe
obviously had his Social Security number in order to issue the 1099. When
confronted with this impropriety, the tribe has since sent him a check for $541.
(For those of you who have not sent in a copy of your Social Security card, you
can cite this situation.)
The Tribal Council failed to treat all tribal members fairly when TANF and
General Assistance clients’ checks were withheld when they received the $541.
Our most needy tribal members, in actuality, received far less than other tribal
members did.
Finally, I want to commend Reggie and Lillie Butler for their commitment in
always working for the good of all our people. My heart goes out to my relatives
for the devastating loss of their precious grandson.
Sincerely,
Pat Duncan
News
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To the editor:
Thank you for supporting me in this past election. I was not only pleased
with the results, but also by the number of tribal members who took the time to
vote either by mail or in person. This year, more people voted than ever before!
Thank you for showing the confidence you have in me.
If anyone has any questions or needs any information or assistance, please
don’t hesitate to call or write:
Jane John
4746 Monarchy Drive
Phone: 503-363-7528
Salem, OR 97301
Fax: 503-587-7272
To the editor:
I would like to thank each and every one of you who voted for me in this past
election. It means a lot to me that you took time from your life to share some
time with me when casting your vote. I will do my best to ensure that I will be
thinking of the tribal member first when making decisions. I have always tried to
be fair and honest in my decisions and I will continue to do so.
There are a lot of major issues in this coming year. Thank you for allowing
me to be part of preserving our inherent rights as a tribe. If you have any questions
or concerns, you may contact me at:
Jessie Davis
4729 Clark Ave. NE
Phone: 503-390-5009
Keizer, OR 97303
E-mail: jl_davis41 @ msn.com
To the editor:
It truly touched my heart to know how many tribal members voted for me in
the Tribal Council elections. Thank you! I am grateful for every single vote.
Unfortunately, on Monday following the election, there was a problem. The
numbers of ballots that Dave Bartels, election director, announced at the time of
the election did not match the written version posted in the tribal offices. To
make a long story short, Mr. Bartels admitted he had made a mistake. This mistake
should have been reported to the Tribal Council immediately and was not.
With this disturbing news, a small group of tribal members and myself began
looking at the poll book. During examination of the poll book, almost 70 mistakes
were found. This is horrifying to every single tribal member who cast a vote in
this election. The following are some examples of what we discovered while
examining the poll book.
One of the ballots my sister, Denise Peterson, hand carried to the poll, we
later discovered had already been marked in the poll book as being received by
mail. What ballot was counted instead of the real one? What happened to the real
ballot? How many other ballots did this happen to?
This happened twice, according to the poll book, so did each of these voters
have two ballots placed in the ballot box? This alone would have changed the
outcome of the election.
The only way you can catch this is to either have your ballot hand-carried to
the poll or vote in person and then look into the poll book to see if there is a
discrepancy. If you didn’t vote and there is a ballot recorded in the poll book with
your name on it, the only way you would know is to look at the poll book.
There are ballots in the poll book from tribal members not registered to vote.
The mistakes are too numerous to be printed in this letter. The proof of these and
many other mistakes are all in the poll book.
During the appeal time for tribal members, neither the poll book nor the
ballots were available as per our election ordinance. This violates the constitutional
rights of every single tribal member.
If you are interested, the poll book is available to tribal members in the tribal
offices or you can request a copy. Again, to those who voted for me, thank you
for your precious and greatly appreciated vote.
Lori A. Johnson