LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
In April 2004,1 wrote a letter to the
Tribal Council in regards to the Shilo
purchase. As of June 10, 2004,1 have
not yet received a reply to my letter or
answers to my questions.
I thought that the Tribal Council
listened to the general membership and
had the common courtesy to answer our
questions. Maybe they thought there
was no need to reply.
I think that the portion from my
letter below does have questions (in
bold) that could and should be
answered. As tribal members, I believe
we have a right to ask and the council
as elected officials should be able to
answer these questions.
The letter stated that you had begun
a 60-day due diligence period to inspect
this property so that you would be able
to make an informed decision. Now, in
just a few weeks, the council decides
to buy it? What happened with the
researching of this purchase? Could
Mr. Hemstreet be pressuring the tribe
to hurry up and purchase this property
at such an overpriced amount?
Why is it so important to pur
chase this property right now? How
old is this structure? How much
money will have to be put into it? The
patrons of the Shilo Inn, whether
To the editor:
Wow - I don’t know where to
begin. I just ended my two-week temp
job. I have been employed with the
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz, in the
Accounting Department, since July 1996.
I started out being asked to temp as
the accounting clerk trainee and I just
moved my way up to a bookkeeper
position. And quite frankly, I thought
that I was going to just waltz my little
butt out and not look back.
Well it didn’t happen like that. I
have made more friends than I realized.
Thank you.
So at this time, I want to thank all
of my accounting people. I want to say
thanks for putting up with me for so
long and giving me the chance to grow
with all of you.
I have to say that my early-morning
girlfriends will be missed a lot. To Debbie
4
□
Siletz News
□
owned by the tribe or anyone else,
will probably more than likely patronize
Chinook Winds.
I have read in the tribal newsletters
many times how the Tribal Council
encourages the general membership’s
input, that you want to hear from us,
but when it came to this large a
purchase, the general membership
was not allowed to have any input.
Why not?
Our casino would have been paid
for soon and why could we have not
waited a few years before we go into a
$46.5 million debt. We all know that
there are many needs among our people
and especially for those who don’t
reside in the 11-county service area.
I still think that when it comes to
purchases this large that the general
membership should have some input.
Surely I am not alone in this concept.
I just wish that our “elected” Tribal
Council could have at least responded
to a tribal member’s letter, who lives
over 1,100 miles away and cannot
attend meetings. In fact, any tribal
member should receive acknowledge
ment from our “elected” officials.
Sincerely,
Carlotta Lane
El Cajon, Calif.
To the editor:
The Tribal Council is putting to the
vote of the membership a constitutional
amendment on an employee being on
the Tribal Council. I worked for the Siletz
Tribe in Contract Health and resigned
the position on becoming a Tribal
Councilman in 2001. Holding two
positions within the tribal system will
certainly hinder one job or the other.
The Siletz Tribal administration
allows employees to take one-half hour
for exercise, be it walking, using an
exercise machine, etc. I did not take
advantage of this program as an
employee because I felt it would take
me away from the job I was hired to do
and that was a service to the membership.
My contact with the membership as an
employee was by telephone and I felt I
needed to be available. An employee
cannot do service to the membership if
they are not available.
Being a Tribal Councilman also has
many duties. The Siletz Tribe is currently
a multimillion dollar business, plus
working with programs that service
the membership.
In 1997, I asked the then general
manager to start meetings with staff and
council on program goals. The staff at
that time came to the council with one-
year goals. We are not a tribe that can only
plan one year for our future. We need to
look into the future for our membership.
I feel it is important that council has
the many meetings because of business,
budget, land use planning, and planning
for the future. If a councilman is an
employee, the many meetings that
council has will take that employee
away from their duties.
I realize that a councilman also
needs employment and I supported
taking to the membership a vote on full-
time council pay, and that vote failed.
The tribal judge implied that the present
council was maybe rich or retired, but 1
am neither rich nor eligible to retire.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is
responsible for holding a constitutional
election, but the Tribal Council at date
of this letter had not heard when that
election will be held. The membership
will have the opportunity to vote on a
Siletz Tribal employee being a
councilman. I encourage you to vote.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs will
hold the election and you will have to
sign a signature card for the bureau.
This signature card is not the same as
for Siletz Tribal elections. Be sure to
sign and return that signature card.
Again, I encourage you to vote.
Lillie Butler
To the editor:
- for being a very patient person with
me. She has helped me in so many
ways. To Stephanie - she is the sunshine
in my day. She has been a great person
to work with, very gifted in all she has
done for the department.
To Cheryl - well, she is my very
special friend. We have had a lot of
good times together. I will miss you and
all our talks. You have a strong shoulder.
I have had the pleasure of having
Karen as my supervisor for quite some
time and I appreciate all that she does
for the tribe and the department and the
dedication that she puts forth. To Kelly
- well, I will miss your whistling, singing,
and playing Name That Tune. (LIAR)
And for all the others in the depart
ment (Sharon E., Trish, Pam, Gregg,
Jack, and Darlene) - I have enjoyed
working with you and having all those
July 2004
potlucks, for whatever reasons we used,
a lot of good food. And to Christie -
she is my Baber girlfriend. I will see
ya’ out there, riding hard and fast as we
can. I have enjoyed working with you.
Oh, I think that is all of the people
... no no, I forgot one. The New Guy,
you know, Dan. Well, he knows I know
him. He is my friend. I will miss all the
B.S. we used to do and probably still
will do. We are two of kind, like two
peas in a pod. Well, maybe not...
And last but not least, Wilbur
Metcalf (joke) lol. I will miss you the
most, no more chit-chatting. Wow - not
sure how I can handle this, you are, iiiii
... you know where they are.
So tell me when you see me, ‘k, one
more time - for our friend, Benz ...
Violet Lafferty-Moore
In recent weeks, I have had tribal
members come up to me and tell me
they saw my daughter in Siletz News.
Though I am very proud of Kristen, I
can’t take the credit for raising her since
I am her aunt. The thanks go to my
brother and sister-in-law, Henry and Jan
Downey, and Kristen’s grandparents,
Buck and Mary Jean Downey.
Both my niece, Kristen Downey,
and my sister, CSM Denise Kraxberger,
appeared in Siletz News in June. I am
very proud of both of them and I love
all my nieces (3), nephews (4), daughter
(1), and grandson (1).
I also want to give a shout out to
my dad, Buck Downey. Happy
Birthday, Dad ... love you.
Thanks,
Jolyne Downey