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
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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