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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2002)
Spilyqy Ty moo, Warm Springs, Oregon SUy2, 2002 Page 3 Police remind residents to license dogs A few weeks ago, after re ceiving several complaints of people being bit and otherwise threatened by stray dogs, the Warm Springs Police began making an effort to more stricdy enforce the tribes' dog control ordinance. The stricter enforcement began after the public was no tified through flyers posted around the community, and announcements over KWSO. Over the past few weeks, the police have captured a number of stray dogs from various neighborhoods in and around Warm Springs. The focus has been on dogs that were seen by officers as vicious, or had been reported by residents as dangerous, said Don Courtney, Chief of Po lice. There is more awareness of the threat of dangerous dogs, said Courtney, following the recent vicious dog case in Cali fornia. In that case, the own ers of dogs that killed a woman were convicted of murder. "We don't want to wait un til a tragedy occurs," said Courtney. Because of the more stringent enforcement, dog owners should make an effort to have their pets licensed, af ter getting the animals the nec essary shots. For information, call the tribal sanitarian Nancy Collins at 553-4943. While providing greater safety to the community, the stricter enforcement of the dog ordinance has had at least one unfortunate consequence. Rose Kirk lost her pet dog because police thought it was a stray. The dog had been in the yard by her home when it was picked up, said Kirk. She said that police should compensate her for the loss of the animal, which was still only months old, and was not at all vicious. Remains to be turned over to tribes A 100-year-old skull that was found near Alfalfa is to be turned over to the Con federated Tribes, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Department. The skull was found in a rock crevice by youths on April 5. Upon discovering the skull, the youths told a par ent, who then contacted the sheriff's department. The sheriff's department then coordinated a quarter mile sweep of the area where the skull had been found. Many more bones were found during the search, but all bones except for the skull were deter mined to be those of ani mals, mostly livestock, said Detective Sgt. Gary Decker, of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Department. The skull was inspected by the State Medical Examiner's Office, which determined the age and ethnicity of the individual, a Native American. The Medical Examiner's Offfice was then to contact the BIA, which would then contact the Confederated Tribes for repatriation of the remains. Investigation brings four arrests Selena BoiseSpilyay Many dog owners came to the recent pet vaccination clinic at Fire and Safety. Above, a young dog waits his turn for a shot. Vote: need for revenue prompted referendum (Continued from page 1) Revenue can be invested in the reservation, creating jobs and growing the local economy. Regarding the issue of whether to build at the Gorge or on the reservation, Coun cilman Raymond Tsumpti said, "You have to ask yourself, Do you want to make a large investment with the chance to make a lot of money, or do you make a smaller investment and make less money?" A casino at the Gorge would cost about $165 million to construct. That is a large investment, but estimates indi cate that a Gorge casino would generate as much as $15 mil lion during the first full year of operation. The $15 million would be profit, after operat ing expenses and debt pay ment, for the tribes. The an nual profit is expected to in crease after the first year. Because of the potential for serious profit, financing the construction phase would likely not be a problem. Clements said that financial institutions already are con tacting the tribes. The Tribal Council voted 5 2 on Monday of this week to hold the gaming expansion ref erendum on May 21, 2002, which is a Tuesday. Councilmen Zane Jackson and Raymond Tsumpti voted against the proposal, while council members Ron Suppah, Bernice Mitchell, Brenda Scott, Carol Wewa and Chief Joe Moses voted in favor. Council Chairman Olney Patt Jr. did not vote, as the chair votes only in case of a tie. Patt is a sup porter of the Gorge proposal, as are the council members who were not in attendance for the vote on the referendum. Councilman Jackson has spoken against the idea of building at Hood River, though he has spoken favor ably of Cascade Locks. Jackson also has advocated building a new casino on the reservation. Councilman Tsumpti said he is in favor of building at the Gorge, but did not approve of some wording, regarding con struction financing, of the resolution and referendum pro posal. After the vote to hold the referendum, Council woman Bernice Mitchell said, "Whatever we decide, I hope that we all are thinking of the future of our children, and what would be best for them." A Warm Springs man was one of four suspects arrested on drug charges, following a year long investigation. Eduardo Cuevas, 39, of Warm Springs was charged with delivery, manufacture and possession of a controlled sub stance. He was taken into cus tody on April 16 in Madras, and was held on $35,000 bail. Cuevas was arrested along with three non-tribal mem bers, Filiverto Meza-Meza, Marco Perez-Delgado and Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza. Suspect wanted on warrant The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has a felony warrant out for Wendell Switzler, 37. Switzler is a suspect in case involving a woman who alleg edly was pushed from a mov ing vehicle on the Warm Springs grade. The incident happened about 2 a.m. on April 10. The woman who was injured by the fall from the ve hicle was treated at St Charles Medical Center, and has since been released. The sheriff's department initially had a mis demeanor warrant out for Switzler's arrest, but then added a felony count, meaning Warm Springs police could also act on the warrant. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Warm Springs police at 553-1171, or 553-1172. Information can be reported anonymously. Events: district meetings next week (Continued from page 1) Meanwhile, Simnasho will be holding a district meeting on gaming the evening of Mon day, May 6. Seekseequa will hold a gaming district meeting the evening of Tuesday, May 7. And a general council meeting on gaming is set for May 16. Agency District had not yet set a date. By the time of the May 21 tribal referendum vote, tribal officials will have conducted dozens of meetings on the gam ing question. "There has been a comprehensive effort to in volve and inform the member ship," said Council Chairman Olney Patt Jr. "In the past there have been people who have felt they Resolution explains need for referendum The Tribal Council on Monday, April 29, adopted Resolution No. 10,170, regard ing the referendum on gaming expansion. The resolution pro viding for the May 21 referen dum reads as follows: Whereas, revenues pro duced from timber and hydro electric power have been the main sources of revenue for the support of tribal government services by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Res ervation of Oregon; and, Whereas, those sources of revenue can no longer provide sufficient funds to support es sential tribal government ser vices; and, Whereas, the expansion of gaming operations is required, in order to produce revenues necessary for the continuation of essential tribal government services; and, Whereas, the eligible voters of the Trilnr have twice before voted in favor of tribal gaming; and, Whereas, in order to pro duce sufficient revenue, it is necessary that new tribal ca sino be built off of the Warm Springs Reservation, closer to the Portland Metropolitan Area; and, Whereas, revenues gener ated at a casino operation off of the reservation can be uti lized to fund essential tribal governmental services and fund activities that will provide continued and expanded em ployment on the reservation; and, Whereas, these circum stances have been explained to the tribal members at a scries of meetings, in order to fully inform the tribal members so that they may vote on the ques tion of casino expansion off of the reservation, at a referen dum election currently sched uled for May 21, 2002, now, therefore, Be it resolved by the twenty second Tribal Council of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, pursuant to Article VI of the Constitution and By laws, that a tribal referendum shall be held on May 21, 2K2, and that the following question shall be submitted to (he eli gible voters: Shall the Tribe be autho rized to finance, construct and operate a gaming casino on Tribal trust lands in the Co lumbia River Gorge, on such terms as the Tribal Council shall determine; provided, that any borrowing shall be the obligation only of the casino enterprise and shall not risk any other tribnl assets? Yes or no. would be voting on a done deal," said Patt. "In these meet ings they are finding out that is not the case. The question is still very much up to the people." In the May 21 referendum, there will be approximately 2,100 eligible tribal member voters. Of the total, about 600 - nearly a third - are off-reservation absentee voters. Secretary-Treasurer Charles Jackson emphasized that the absentee voters need to be a part of the gaming expansion discussion. Toward this goal, the tribes are planning to hold meetings on gaming expansion in Port land, and possibly in Eugene, towns where a number of tribal members arc living. The hope is that the absen tee ballots will be mailed on Friday of this week. These bal lots must be returned by elec tion day, May 21, 2002. Bridge work done ahead of schedule ' " The Mill Creek Bridge project finished ahead of j schedule last week, allowing the re-opening of Highway 26 through the reservation. The bridge renovation project was initially sched uled for completion on May 3, but the workers com pleted the job on April 25. The project began on April 1. From that date through April 25, the high way was closed during the weekdays from Warm Springs up to the Simnasho turnoff. The bridge was open on the weekends. During the closure time, passenger vehicle traffic used routes 3 and 9 through Simnasho. Truck traffic used the route over highways 97, 197 and 216, through the Maupin area. The work that ODOT did on the bridge involved replacement of the deck of the bridge. i r : i W ' Lrj,,,.! j :(., ;.!. ,. j. j: The Mill Creek Bridge, under repair last week. Housing: proposal would clarify Authority's role (Continued from page 1) That is not a new idea, said Fucntcs, but it is one that so far has been very difficult to achieve. In recent weeks, Fucntcs and the Tribal Council have discussed changes that should help in addressing some initial housing issues. For instance, Fucntcs has proposed a resolution that would clarify the roles of the Warm Springs Housing Au thority, and the executive di rector of the Housing Author- The resolution cLmfics that the Warm Springs Housing Authority is designated as rep resentative of the tribes in housing matters Ik-fore federal and other housing agencies. Currently, there is a ques tion whether the Housing Authority is designated as fully representative, with authority to receive funds on behalf of the tribes. The proposed resolution also states that the Housing Authority, as the Tribally Des ignated Housing F.ntity, "will administer all housing funds appropriated within the Warm Springs Housing Authority budget, establish policy guide lines for the executive director to follow, and will be the sole responsible party for perfor mance of the executive direc tor." Another provision of the proposed resolution says: "The executive director of the I lous ing Authority should be re sponsible for the development of appropriate policies, proce dures, supervision of staff, bud get management of the daily operations of the Housing Authority and report directly to the Housing Authority Board of Directors." A final provision of the draft states that the Housing Authority board and the ex ecutive director, Chct Van Pelt, will work on an update of the Tribal Housing Code. The update proposal would then be brought to Tribal Council for review and pos sible adoption. In an introductory section of the proposed resolution, Fucntcs briefly summarizes some of the problems that the tribes are facing in regard to housing. "In a nutshell," the sum mary states, "the primary is sues continue to he (he tribes' inability to construct new homes and repair units fast enough to keep up with the housing demand on the reservation." Other problems, the sum mary states, include "the non payment of rent by a signifi cant number of renters, and a diminishing pool of qualified members who can attain a housing loan from credit." If you don't have money coming in from renters and buyers of homes, then you have less funding to work with in maintenance of existing homes and construction of new ones, said Fucntcs. As a result, federal funding for new housing construction is two years behind, "and be cause not enough homes are built on an annual basis, this situation will continue to get worse until something is done to correct core deficits." These arc just some of the many aspects of the housing situation, said l'ucntcs. I