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About Siletz news letter. (Siletz, Oregon) 1989-1997 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1995)
2 March 1995 Chairman's Report From Delores Pigsley CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - DELORES PIGSLEY The election is over an incumbents Jessie Davis and I were reelected not only to the Council but honored to continue to serve as Vice-Chairman and Chairman for another term. JoAnn M iller was elected Secretary, replacing Dolly Fisher who served as a dedicated and valued Council Member and Secretary for many years. We welcom e Reggie Butler, newly elected to the Council. However vicious that campaign was. It is now behind us, There is a mountain o f work before us. The National Congress o f American Indians held their winter conference in DC on the same dates (2/13 & 2/14). Many tribal leaders gathered to discuss the Indian program appropriations and expressed their concerns regarding health care and the various proposals to block grant funds to States. Our tribe sponsored die opening o f the Affiliated Tribes o f Northwest Indians in Portland in February. At the reception the Siletz Feather Dancers, headed by Bud Lane provided traditional songs and dances for everyones enjoyment. The tribe received rewarding comments on their performances. We are very proud o f the dancers and thank them very much for their participation. Our Council members may not always agree but despite our differences - we must treat each other with respect This holds true not only for die council but should be held as the standard for out tribal staff as well. Now that the election is behind us the Council must work cooperatively as a team to resolve issues and move forward on projects o f benefit to our people, Our staff must do likewise. I assure you, as Tribal Chairman, I will continue to do m y part in this effort. TRIBE DEDICATES GAMING/CONVENTION SITE IN LINCOLN CITY It will be another historic event for the Confederated Tribes o f Siletz Indians! In a ceremony to be held on Saturday, February 25th, we will dedicat the site o f our future Gaming and Convention Center in Lincoln City. To help celebrate this historic event, members o f the Tribe, representatives o f Lincoln City and die County will be in attendance. The Siletz Drummers and Dancers will emphasize the cultural and historical significance o f this site and this even t As reported earlier, our target date for die opening o f the temporary facility for die general public is May 25th with a private opening for tribal members on May 24th. Please refer to Jessie D avis's report o f the status o f the gaming project TRIBAL REPS MAKE IMPORTANT CONTACTS IN D .C . On February 13th and 14th, Council members Lillie Butler, Rosemary Landis and I accompanied by Craig Dorsay, met with officials o f the Department o f Interior to discuss our Tribal/State Gaming Compact and with key officials o f the National Indian Gaming Commission to discuss die Management Agreement which we will be submitting to the Commission later this week for Commission review and approval. While in D C , we also met with our Congressional representatives and/or their staffs: Senators Packwood and Hatfield and Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse and newly elected Congressman Jim Bunn. W e brought diem up to date on our tribal issues and projects, specifically, Gaming, Self- Governance, the BIA reorganization, and solicited their assistance on our plans to acquire additional forest land. Gaming Report From Jessie Davis, Chairman Ad Hoc Gaming Committee First of all, I am pleased at being re elected to another term as a Council member and as Vice-Chairman of the Council. But all of you who voted for me know that I am com mitted to work for the benefit of all our children and Elders - and for the future of the Tribe. The Ad Hoc Gaming Commission will continue until our work is completed. We accomplished a lot last year but we still have some work to do. DEDICATION OF LINCOLN CITY GAMING/CONVENTION SITE On February 25th, a ceremony was held to dedicate the site of our Chinook Winds Gaming and Conventon Center in Lincoln City. Officials of the City and County, the Chamber of Commerce and others were in attendance to help us celebrate. Special recognition should be given to our outstanding Tribal Drummers and Dancers who added a great deal to the significance of this event. Our thanks also to Mark Hemstreet for contributing the food for this occasion. PROJECT IS ON TARGET As far as our timelines go, we are still on track. We need to make minor adjustments as we go along but our target is still to open our temporary facility on May 24th to our tribal members and May 25th to the general public. CHINOOK WINDS BULLETIN Copies of the first issue of Chinook Winds Bulletin were*m ailed out to tribal members 18 and over, on February 25th. The purpose of these Bulletins is to give periodic status reports of our gaming project to our members. The first few issues will focus on personnel actions needed for the filling of about 225 gaming center positions. The Bulletin gave detailed position descriptions, eligibility requirements and procedures for filing applications. TRIBE/CITY NEGOTIATIONS Craig Dorsay, Tribal Attorney and Chris Thomas, City Attorney have been exchanging memos to define Municipal service issues including water and sewer, police, fire, emergency, traffic and other services. Work groups comprised of City and Tribal staffs are being identified who will be responsible for defining the issues and arriving at tentative recommendations to be presented to the City and Tribal governments for deci sions. SELECTION OF GENERAL MANAGER The field of candidates for the key position of General Manager was narrowed to three highly qualified persons, each with years of experience in the management of casinos. The candidates were interviewed by the Core Group and John Fultz was selected. He comes to us with impressive credentials including: President and CEO of a diversified gaming and hospitality corporation located in California and Nevada, he has been owner of a full facility casino in Lake Tahoe, high traffic restaurants and retail stores. He has also served on the Board of Advisors, Stanford U niversity Graduate School of Business, Executive Program. Has also has experience in the field of marketing. CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEMPORARY FACILITIES We have negotiated a contract with PCL, to do the construction of both the temporary and permanent facilities. PCL is a development company that has had major construction projects in various parts of the United States including Mail America in Minneapolis, the largest shopping mall in the world. An architect for Chinook Winds Gaming and Convention Center hasn't yet been selected. However, we will be looking at a number of architectural firm s that are experienced in designing casinos including a number of firms with excellent reputations in the designing of Indian gaming centers. Creative Design and Engineering, a firm located in Newport, was selected as the Owner's R epresentative to m onitor the construction of the temporary and perma nent facilities. Creative Design's responsibility will be to make sure the Tribe's interests are protected. Dennis Lowery the engineer of Creative Design and Dietmar Goebel, the architect, will be the Tribe's "watchdogs". SURVEILLANCE CONTRACT Of major importance in the operation of a gaming center is to have a completely reliable surveillance system. We have checked oOt a number of firms recommended by Comstock that deal specifically in surveillance systems for casinos. We will be selecting one of these companies for installation in our gaming centers. Among the firms being evaluated are Desert Hills, Diebold and Trans S ierra.
