CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Tribal Meetings and
Contacts in D.C.
During the week of March 2, Council
Member Bud Lane, General Manager
Brenda Bremner, Tribal Attorney Craig
Dorsay and I attended the National Con
gress of American Indians in Washington,
D.C. Chris Lundberg, our STBC attorney,
also was in town and joined us for some
of the visits. We also attended other of
ficial meetings, including contacts with
our own legislators.
As most of you know by now, the ad
ministration’s stimulus package has been
a hot and controversial topic of congres
sional and national concern.
The Obama administration has been
relying on the success of the fiscal stimulus
package of $787 billion as well as counting
on the administration’s efforts to revive
many of the nation’s floundering banks.
Also of high priority for Obama, in addition
to rescuing the banking system, is creating
millions of jobs, revitalizing the housing
market, restructuring the auto industry and
overhauling financial regulations.
But as the Washington Post said in its
March 9-15 Weekly Edition editorial, “We
live at a time of extraordinary economic
distress and extraordinary economic un
certainty. Most of the surprises lately have
been on the down side.”
So while the stimulus package has
been a major topic of concern, the adop
tion of a new continuing resolution was
critical. The 2009 Omnibus Bill was
passed March 10 and will fund the gov
ernment through Sept. 30, 2009.
In kicking off the NCAI meeting,
the director of the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs was present to explain the process
of how the appropriated funds will flow
to Tribes.
As for the '09 Omnibus appropria
tions bill of $410 billion, the Democratic
leadership had to prevent amendments
that would have undermined the bill, the
sole purpose of which was obviously to
block passage of the bill.
The effort included an amendment
by the senator of South Dakota who at
tempted to provide an additional $540
million for Indian Health Services and
Major Denise Kraxberger of the Oregon
National Guard. Her commanding offi
cers, peers and Gov. Ted Kulongoski cited
her achievements during her 35 years of
service in the Guard.
Along with her family, friends and
hundreds of others, Robert Kentta and 1
attended and bestowed upon her, on behalf
of the Siletz Tribe, a gift of a Treaty blan
ket. It was indeed a proud and memorable
occasion for Robert and I.
We should all be proud of Denise, who
serves the state, country and our Tribe in
her capacity as a National Guardsman.
Terrill Award
Delores Pigsley
Indian water projects. According to
Mark Phillips, Tribal lobbyist, although
everyone knew the money was needed,
the actual intent of the amendment was
to significantly change the bill already
agreed on in its final form. It would
have forced the bill into conference, he
said, “where it could be further changed
and politicized.” To prevent that, Senate
Democrats had to reject the amendment
with all other amendments proposed
mainly by the Republicans.
There were many notable guest
speakers at this year’s NCAI that included
not only congressmen but also Cabinet
members, including secretaries of the
Interior, Housing and Agriculture, ap
pointed by the president.
While in Washington, we visited our
congressional delegation, including Sens.
Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden. We provided
information and asked to have our Tribal
initiatives considered in this Congress.
One initiative is to allow the Tribe to
enter into 99-year leases with businesses and
the second is to have decisions on requests
to take land into trust made in the regional
office vs. the central office in D.C. Both ini
tiatives require congressional legislation.
Kraxberger Retirement
It was truly a pleasure to attend the
retirement reception for one of our own
Tribal members, Command Sergeant
Kikumoto’s
Resignation
As most of you know, Jim Kikumoto
resigned as general manager of Chinook
Winds effective Feb. 28 (see story on page
21). Jim did not announce any immediate
plans for the future, but said he would
stay in the community for a period of
time, adding, “The time is right to move
on to pursue my other interests, including
spending more time with my family.”
During the eight years under Jim’s
management, the casino was very success
ful. We were grateful for the increase in the
casino’s revenues that enabled the Tribe to
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Siletz, OR 97380-0549
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2
The Siletz Tribal Council and the Si
letz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund
were recently invited to attend an honor
ing dinner hosted by the North Lincoln
Hospital Foundation. We were surprised
to learn that the Tribe was being presented
with the Terrill Award, which recognizes
organizations for their contributions to
the hospital and foundation over the past
several years.
Through the Tribe’s charitable dona
tions program, the Siletz Tribe has con
tributed more than $99,000 to this worthy
organization that helps fund Samaritan
North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City,
one of five hospitals of Samaritan Health
Services, which is based in Corvallis.
I accepted the award on behalf of
the Tribe and the committee with much
gratitude.
•
Siletz News
•
April 2009
Editor-in-Chief: Brenda Bremner
Editor: Diane Rodriquez
Assistant: Natasha Kavanaugh
Deadline for the May issue is
April 10. Submission of articles and
photos is encouraged. Please see the
Passages Policy on page 23 when sub
mitting items for Passages.
Member of the Native American
Journalists Association
allocate significant funds annually to vital
Tribal programs and services.
While general manager, Jim played
a significant role in the acquisition of
a first class ocean-front hotel and golf
course, transforming Chinook Winds into
the Oregon coast’s premier luxury resort.
We are also grateful for the fact that Jim
was recognized for his active participation
in, and positive contributions to, the non
Tribal city and county communities.
Although we will miss Jim’s leader
ship, we are fortunate to have Sar Richards
as interim general manager of Chinook
Winds. As stated in my news release of
March 2, “1 expect a smooth transition ...
we will continue to ensure that leadership
is committed to creating a positive environ
ment for team members and guests.”
Sar is a Tribal member who will serve
while the position is advertised and filled.
Sar is knowledgeable of federal, state and
Tribal gaming regulations, having served as
a gaming commissioner for the Siletz Tribe
for three years before being hired by Jim for
his Chinook Winds management staff.
I have every confidence Sar will
continue to pursue our performance ob
jectives and make every effort to execute
our key initiatives effectively.
Kortlever Retirement
Our agency superintendent, Ron
Kortlever, announced his retirement in
March. Ron served admirably in this
important position.
He was honored at a retirement lun
cheon by BIA Regional Director Stan
Speaks, his peers, employees and other
agencies, along with our Tribe. We wish
Ron well in his retirement. Stan said the
position will be advertised and the Tribes
will have input on filling the vacancy.
A BIA superintendents meeting was
held the following day at Chinook Winds.
I welcomed our guests and was able to sit
in on part of the meeting. The stimulus
funds also were discussed at this meeting
as was the process by which they would
become available to Tribes.
Expulsion Hearing
We as a Tribe cannot and should not
allow our elected officials to speak out
in a manner that embarrasses the Tribe.
The making public of a racist statement
that offends our youth, elders, employees,
customers and our Tribe has triggered an
expulsion hearing against Lisa Brown.
The statement along with other gam
ing-related charges of violations evolved
in addressing the matters in an expulsion
hearing held March 19 in Siletz.
The motion for the hearing was
passed Feb. 21, 2009, at a Regular Tribal
Council meeting.
The hearing that started on March
19 was continued on March 28. Based
on the evidence presented, the Tribal
Council voted to expel Lisa Brown from
the council. The information presented
at the hearing is part of the record and is
open to the public.