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Tribal Chairman's Report
From: Delores Plgsley
Agreement Finalized for
Construction of Permanent Gaming
Center
As a result of the hard work of the Ad Hoc
Gaming Committee under the chairmanship of
Jessie Davis, documents for financing the
construction of the Chinook Winds Gaming and
Convention Center were signed on Thursday
March 21, 1996 in Salem, Oregon.
Involved in the signing of the numerous
documents were Jessid Davis and myself
representing the T ribal Council^ Steve
Erickson, Senior Vice President of Miller &
Schroeder and Stacy Dodson, Senior Vice
President of the U.S. Bank of Oregon. Acting
under authority delegated by the Area Director
of the BIA to the Acting Siletz Agency
Superintendent, required documents were also
signed by Gary Varner.
The Agreement
negotiated with M&S and the USNB represents
From Jessie Davis
a major accomplishment that means significant
financial benefits to the Tribe.
We must not forget that Chinook Winds is
a culm ina tion of a w hole series of
accomplishments by the Tribe.
In a short
period of time we have:
* acquired prime coastal property in a
major resort town
* achieved congressional action requiring
the Secretary to take the Lincoln City
property into trust as part of the
Tribe's reservation as of 1980, thus
qualifying it for gaming under IGRA
* negotiated a compact enabling the Tribe
to operate a temporary gaming facility
to generate funds for the permanent
center
* Successfully negotiated financing of
terms exceptionally advantageous to
the Tribe
officials on matters vital to our Tribe.
Council member Bensell Breon and Elder's
Program Representative Wayne Case and j
visited with, and provided updates on Siletz
progress and issues to Senator Ron Wyden,
Senator Mark Hatfield's staff, Congresswoman
Elizabeth Furse and Congressman Jim Bunn.
We specifically solicited their support for our
land acquisition bill and for an amendment that
will define our service area.
Of
m ajor
im p ortan ce
du rin g
our
Washington trip was a meeting with Chairman
Harold Monteau and Executive Director Tom
Acevedo of the N a tio n a li^n d ia n Gaming
Commission. This was a follow-up to contacts
made by Jessie Davis earlier to urge them to
review and act upon our Consulting Agreement.
NiGC determ in ation that our proposed
agreem ent was a consulting and not a
management agreement was needed. Without
this, we could not have proceeded with the
construction of our permanent gaming center.
While in Washington, I had the oppor
tunity to testify before the House Interior
Committee on Indian Affairs in support of BIA
and IHS funding of Iridian programs. The
Committee on this particular day was chaired
by Congressman Jim
Bunn from
our own
congressional d is tric t
There are burning national issues fueled by
anti-Indian forces that are of great concern to
the National Congress of American Indians and
the National Indian Gaming Association. These
anti-Indian forces are not only committed to
undermine Indian gaming but to diminish Indian
rights and tribal sovereignty.
As Tribal Chairman, I strongly urge our
members to become politically active and to
vote for candidates that understand Indian
issues and are supportive of Indian causes.
Membership to Help Plan for Use of
Gaming Revenues
As Jessie Davis reports in greater detail
in the Chinook Bulletin, the Ad Hoc Corhmittee
is launching a major effort in April to get
Tribal Member input on how the revenues from
the gaming center should be used. Although
basically governed by the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act, the Tribe has a great deell of
flexibility .to prepare and?.Implement a detailed
plan within broad parameters set forth in IGRA.
As Chairman, I urge all our members to be
involved in the preparation and implementation
of our plan.
Contacts Made In Washington. D.C.
Our tribal delegation spent a productive
time in Washington D.C. during the National
Congress of American Indian Convention. In
addition to attending' sessions of critical
national importance to tribes, we took the
opportunity of making contacts with federal
,
c° /n City.
Construction on Target
We are only three months away from Grand Opening of the Chinook Winds
Gaming and Convention Center!
Construction started just five months ago on our 156,000 square foot facility.
Despite encountering some horrible weather, amazing progress has been made -
we are on target!
AdHocComm itteeSuccessfullyNegotiatesFinancingandConsulting
Agreements
On Monday, March 17, 1995, Miller & Schroeder and the U.S. National
Bank signed documents agreeing to provide $31 million to the Siletz Tribe for
the construction of Chinook Winds.
Miller and Schroeder, Financial, Inc., is a nationally established firm that is
headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in Denver, Seattle, Pasedena and
other locations. The firm has completed over 2,700 financing projects in 42
states totaling $25.7 billion. It ranks nationally as one of the top fifty managing
underwriters of tax exempt bonds and one of the top twenty-five managing
underwriters of taxable revenue bonds. M & S has completed over 127
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Chinook Winds Permanent Facility under construction and as
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it looked the last week in March______ ,
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transactions totaling $271 million in gaming related enterprises, including
$95 million in the last year alone.
At the Tribe's request, the Management Agreement between the Tribe
and Comstock was returned by the National Indian Gaming Commission
without Commission action. Tribal officials reported to Harold Monteau,
NIGC Chairman, that thé Tribe would be submitting, in its place, a
Consulting Agreement for Commission review as required.
The Consulting Agreement with Comstock under which the Tribe will
pay a fixed fee for specific consultative services, was hand carried to VIGC