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
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Siletz News
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