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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2006)
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT the fact that our tribe has been success ful in accomplishing these objectives. I appreciate the fact that the two councils had an opportunity to meet and that another joint meeting will be held. The Siletz Tribal Council always has endeavored to deal with the city in a spirit of honesty, cooperation, and respect. I am hopeful the mayor and City Coun cil will reciprocate in that same spirit. During the meeting on the fee-to- trust issue, we took the opportunity to briefly clarify for the City Council the current fee-to-trust process as admin istered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and identified the trust status of the parcels that the tribe currently owns in Lincoln City. Joint Meeting of Siletz and Lincoln City Councils On Aug. 26. the Tribal Council and the Lincoln City Council held a joint meeting, the first such meeting that our two councils have ever had. What hap pened before the primary election will help explain how that joint meeting came about. Mayor Lori Hollingsworth had made what our Tribal Council and oth ers took to be misleading statements about the tribe’s fee-to-trust efforts. Specifically, in her State of the City report to the Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 10, the mayor said, among other things, that “The tribe’s fee to-trust eroded the tax base. That’s a fact, not a political statement.” Although the mayor claimed her statements were taken out of context, they were - whether intentional or not - misleading. She offered no credible explanation for her comments, nor did she ever give any credit to the enormous positive contributions the tribe has made to the economy of Lincoln City. The mayor failed to garner suffi cient votes in the primary and faces a November run-off. It was not long af ter the primary that she requested a meeting with the Tribal Council. We agreed, but at the meeting the mayor made no mention of her public statement about the tribe’s fee-to-trust. Instead, she suggested a joint meeting of the two councils to discuss matters of mutual interest, specifically naming tourism and tsunami preparedness as agenda items. Although we felt that the mayor’s offer to meet with us to be disingenu ous, the Tribal Council took her sug gestion at face value and agreed to the joint meeting. We were disappointed that the mayor did not offer to clarify or apologize for having made her negative and mislead ing public comments, but felt that a joint meeting could be of benefit to both councils. We set our agenda items for that first meeting. The meeting was held Aug. 26 at Chinook Winds. When the discussion came to the city’s general fund and taxes, I felt it important to broach the subject and appropriate to discuss the contributions that the tribe and casino have made to the city, county, and state of Oregon. I said the Tribal Council was con cerned about the mayor’s statement to the media in which she blamed the tribe for not paying its share in pursuing its fee-to-trust objectives and specifically having a negative impact on the city's General Fund. I pointed out that we were paying the city, annually, the ne gotiated $175,000. Further. I stated that we contribute to the city in positive ways, perhaps not directly to the general fund, but signifi cantly nonetheless. The tribe and casino management make purchases locally to benefit Lin coln City and county businesses. In fact, I pointed out that about $32 million Delores Pigsley generated by our casino benefits Lin coln County and Lincoln City annually. Beyond that, 85 percent of all our charitable funds go to Lincoln County and of those funds, 59 percent is edu cation-related. (Information distributed to City Council members is reprinted on page 4.) In her State of the City address be fore the chamber, the mayor also stated that unlike some surrounding cities, “Lincoln City is not in crisis.” She spe cifically cited increases in business occupation taxes, new annexations, increases in transient room taxes, and a carry-over of $2.3 million this com ing year. Although the mayor said, “We are in a strong position and I feel very proud about that,” she failed to ac knowledge that many of the accom plishments she cited in her report to the chamber can be attributed to the tribe’s enormous economic impacts. As a tribe whose treaty reservation - hundreds of thousands of acres - was demolished by unwarranted federal ac tion. instigated by the non-Indians’ huge hunger for Indian land, the tribe's right to restore a land base under the U.S. government’s fee-to-trust program is of vital importance to our tribe's present and future social and economic welfare. The record shows that ever since the tribe was “restored” in 1977. our pursuit of fee-to-trust objectives has been rea sonable and modest, always with respect for and fairness to local governments. If the mayor had had any concerns about the tribe's fee-to-trust actions, I said we could have discussed them before they became public. Although 1 expected a response from the mayor to my comments, none was forthcom ing - no offer of an apology for or an explanation of her public statements about the tribe's fee-to-trust. While the Tribal Council always pursues our fee-to-trust objectives with the best interest of the tribe as a para mount consideration, we are at the same time mindful of the need to mitigate as much as possible whatever impacts there may be on the environment, municipal services, and taxes. We are proud of City Budget The joint meeting offered an op portunity for city officials to explain the city’s budget. Of the 30 different funds with separate accounts, the city’s General Fund is available for use at the City Council's discretion. It was reported that the city's plan was to build a surplus over the past two to four years, but it was forced to spend the surplus for current needs. The City Council holds an annual workshop to discuss what it can do to increase revenues. By 2010. we were told, the city must have a plan to decrease expenses and increase revenues. The provisions under which various city funds can be used were explained, i.e., the General Fund. Planning funds. Open Space funds, etc. Tsunami - Natural Disaster Preparedness Tsunami preparedness, which was on the agenda, is a topic of major im portance to us all. Unfortunately, many people pay little or no attention to natu ral disaster preparedness until it's too late. The city, however, has done a very good job of getting informational ma terials out to the public. The alarm sys tem was faulty but a secondary system is being reviewed and budgeted by the city at $35,000. Tourism It was agreed that both the city and the tribe have a vested economic in terest in developing tourism. One of the problems is that Lincoln City tourism is seasonal. Issues inhibiting tourism and ideas to promote more tourism were dis cussed, including the need for more space for indoor activities, opening of shops in the evenings, attracting more ethnic events, etc. It was reported that special interest centers enhance tourism, such as the glass foundry that opened last year and attracted 75,000 people wanting to make their own glass floats. Also ex pected to open soon are a culinary cen ter at city hall and a training center for hospitality services. Interest in American Indian muse ums also was noted as needing to be developed. It isn't a moneymaker, but cultural museums do attract tourists. One suggestion was to help im prove the artifact collections of the North Lincoln County Historical Mu seum. There is interest in promoting tribal culture as part of the Lincoln City Cultural Center at DeLake School, which was purchased by the city. Water Rights An important agenda item was dis cussion of water and water rights. The sources of water, the complexities in volved in developing adequate water supplies, and its use were discussed. It was reported that 100 percent of the city's water comes from Schooner Creek. There isn't sufficient water for fu ture use. while Kemville/Lincoln Beach/ Gleneden Beach have excess water. Various issues were discussed, in cluding developing a secondary source of water during winter, rebuilding the holding facility damaged in 1999. the state issuance of a permit to transfer wa ter from Kernville to Lincoln City, and the need for developing water avail ability for the next 10 years. When the issue of the need for more information regarding Schooner Creek was raised, it was agreed that the tribe needed to be included in future discussions. Final Comment on the Joint Meeting Although the mayor's failure to comment on her public statements criti cal of the tribe’s fee-to-trust efforts was troubling, this first joint meeting of the councils was cordial and informative. It set the stage for the next joint meet ing, scheduled for March 2007. Spe cific items were suggested for the agenda. Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians The tribe hosted the annual ATNI conference at Chinook Winds. Thirty- one tribes were present, which was the second-largest annual meeting ever held. We had the first half-day to present information about our tribe. Charles Wilkinson was there to discuss our tribal research and the book he is writ ing about our history. Our staff made presentations on some of our innova tive programs and our general manager reported on the tribe's economic de velopment activities. Many important issues came for ward that affect all tribes. Committees met and formulated resolutions that were discussed and passed by the Gen eral Assembly. A highlight of the meeting was the salmon dinner held for all attendees at the Siletz Tribal Community Center on the second night. After dinner, attend ees were entertained at the Dance House by some of our Feather Danc ers. We received wonderful comments about the dinner and dance. A big thank you goes out to all our staff who assisted in making the con ference a success. October 2006 • Siletz News • 3
