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.