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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2004)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the editor: Where do I start? Sounds like poor management, and not just at the casino either. I just found out today the tribe has no more money for Contract Health and I can no longer receive the physical therapy that I need, or any tribal member. This is not right! Who manages the money? The money comes from the government, why can’t money come from the casino? From the sounds of it, the casino is doing well enough to make two multi-million dollar purchases. By the way, is the casino paid for in full yet? Here it is July and nobody can see a doctor outside the clinic. OHP (Oregon Health Plan) is not taking anybody unless they are under 18 or pregnant. Granted, some people have insurance from their jobs, but what about those who don’t have insurance? What ddthey do if they are injured and placed in the hospital? How can a tribe tell their people, “Sony, we are broke”? From the sounds of it, Grand Ronde is doing something right. What are we doing wrong? It’s not just the casino or the clinic, it’s everything that is going under. The casino has a habit of hiring the wrong people to either manage a department or the whole building. I am not the only one to see this either. Members from other tribes work at the casino and see the CTSI as whiners. Tribal members who work at the casino use the fact that they are tribal To the editor: Each biennium, The Legislative Commission on Indian Services updates its Oregon Directory of American Indian Resources. This publication is available on-line at http:// www.leg.state.or.us/cis and is used globally by tribal and state govern ments, in addition to the public, to access information on Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes and state tribal government-to-government relations, as well as basic resource information related to programs and services for Indians in Oregon. CIS solicits and selects artwork from Oregon’s tribes for use in each directory. We suggest submissions of artwork be in the media of photography, 4 □ Siletz News □ over everybody’s head to get what they want and council approves some of this too. If the casino is going to advertise “Equal Opportunity Employer,” that needs to be done, which it is not. Yeah, equal if you are tribal. I just wish other people would speak their minds, but they don’t because they are afraid if they do, they will be fired. I understand that the casino was built to help the tribe and open up oppor tunities for the tribal members. But it’s the tribe and its members who are going to sink the casino. It all boils down to poor management skills and practices. More details will be spoken at the next General Council meeting. George Blacketer __________________ To the editor: Members, it has come to my atten tion that the council has chosen not to provide funding this year for the dental care of out-of-area tribal members. This doesn’t make sense. Dental care is a need of all tribal members, regardless of where we live. If funds are limited, then they should be distributed evenly. We all have teeth, hopefully, and we all have the right to vote in tribal elections. Frank B. Fisher, MD Toothless in California drawing, or computer design. Artists will be informed if their work will be used, and work will be returned at the request of the artist. The deadline for submissions is rolling, but the cutoff will occur sometime in the fall. Submissions can be mailed to Jeana Harrington, Legislative Commission on Indian Services, State Capitol Room 167,900 Court St. NE, Salem, OR, 97301. Please feel free to contact me at 503-986-1067 or jeana.harrington ©state.or.us if you have questions regarding submissions. Sincerely, Jeana Harrington Commission Assistant August 2004 TLC Attitudes of Gratitude There’s an old saying, “Make hay while the sun is shining.” Besides its literal meaning, it also refers to taking advantage of a situation when it presents itself or the opportunity will be lost. TLC took quick action when an opportunity arose to “adopt” three mature rhododendron shrubs, which fit right into our A&D grounds beautification project. These shrubs, almost tree size, look as though they have been on site for a long time. We are very grateful to David and Nadine Stillwell of Newport for sharing these prize plants instead of cutting them down to make way for a new fence. We are appreciative too, to Marci Taylor for use of her pick-up to move the 1,000-pound giant, and to the JOBS crew - Sammy Hall, Dell Hall, and Joe Luledjian - for digging it out with help from David Stillwell. We’ll all enjoy the flowering beauties next spring! Also thanks to the young men mentioned above and additions to the crew - Kyle Towner, Mike Justice, and Mark Tom - for planting additional shrubs and sprucing up the grounds with a weed eater and lawn mower, plus watering all those plants to get them established and keep them alive. We appreciate Public Works for temporary use of shovels and Arlen and Lenny for helping unload the giant rhodie. Also, thank you to the Bob Jones family of Camp 12 for loaning two tow chains to move that big bush into place. What a project! We received support from several entities in the community and some from out of our immediate area. John Spence brought frozen steelhead filets and roast on one of his journeys; Bonnie Crawford and Joanne Miller donated a bunch of sheets, pillowcases, and towels; and Michele Rowan supplied a number of personal care items. Delores Waggner of Oregon Coast Quilters Guild brought another lovely patchwork quilt; Lynn Whitlow donated food items and a box of kindling; Siletz Valley Partnership supplied food items; and Laura Henderson donated covered bowls, a thermal jug, books, and other miscellaneous items. We’re very appreciative of a dona tion brought into the Logsden Store by a community member. Carol was busy in the store and didn’t see who left five boxes of soaps, cotton balls, Q-tips, playing cards, lip balms, sunscreen, and a variety of other items. Also food items were left from other community mem bers. We are blessed! Thanks also to the A&D staff for continued support of TLC activities. And a thank you to those folks whom we cannot do service without: our volunteers! Much appreciation to Alice McCain, Lisa Brown, Joan Hartung, Brycann Mickey, Linda Tough, and Jackie Ashley. TLC needs dedicated women to interact with residents and be emotional security force sleep-over volunteers. The work is not hard but your presence is so important to the residents. Please call Lynn at 541-444-8238 or 1-800-922-1399, ext. 1238, if you are interested in volunteering, donating items, or would like more information. TLC Says Goodbye to Volunteer Linda Tough has been a regular overnight volunteer at the Women’s Transitional Living Center for about two years. She covered many Sunday nights in that time. Because of her increased business (Kustom Kleaning) demands and family responsibilities, she cut back her volunteer hours to every other Sunday night. At the end of June, she regretfully resigned from her volunteer position because, “I’m grateful to have been of service for a while, but my life is just way too busy!” Linda’s service has been much appreciated and her absence will leave a void that needs to be filled. Linda has referred a couple of women to train as volunteers. New volunteers were trained in late July, but there is always a need for additional women to fill in. Call Lynn at 1-800-922-1399, ext. 1238, or 541-444-8238 if you are interested in being of service. Best wishes to you, Linda. Thank you. You will be missed!
