Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2002)
P3je10 The Annual Report of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs 2000-01 Governmental Affairs Finance Branch The Finance branch plays an important role in tribal government. It protects Tribal assets while providing accurate financial informa tion and support services. Twenty-eight people are em ployed in the branch with a $1.3 million budget. Sixty percent of the staff is tribal members. With downsizing, the Fi nance branch has upgraded its software to become more efficient. Chief Financial Officer Rawleigh White says if the budget shortfall con tinues at the current pace, certain services will be de layed, and there will be changes in how the services are provided. "One example is the branch now cut ac counts payable checks twice a week instead of three times a week," White stated. Over the last two years, the branch has enjoyed a number of accomplish ments. The branch main tained high reporting stan dards during the downsizing and received their 7'h con secutive Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, the highest form of recognition in government accounting. Other accomplishments include implementing an up graded software package with limited disruption to the Organization; imple menting an approved cash and investment management processes to enable a higher return on cash and invest ments; and working with Warm Springs Power Enter prise, the Tribal Council, and Portland General Elec tric to obtain the financing to purchase one-third inter est in the Pelton Hydroelec tric project. In the future, White said the branch had some specific goals to help the Organiza tion. He said they would like to coordinate revenue fore casts and expenses within the ' organization, helping tribal departments understand their monthly budget re ports. Another goal is to maximize investment re turns in a low return envi ronment through appropri ate investment policies and cash flow analysis. White also said he thought there was a need to provide quar terly training to the opera tional departments. The branch will continue to gain efficiency from the accounting software to help offset the downsizing effects over the next four to five years. Another goal is to maintain good working rela tions with enterprises of the tribes. The Finance Branch pro vides the tools to manage ment, so they can properly allocate their limited re sources to assist in attaining Tribal Council priorities. When asked about the branch's biggest challenge in the next decade, White said the biggest challenge is to communicate effectively and assist other departments in financial training so there will be a more efficient or ganization throughout tribal government. On a sad note, former Chief Financial Officer Norma Smith passed away November 25, 2001, at her home at Upper Dry Creek in Warm Springs. She was 63. Ms. Smith was the second woman from the Confeder ated Tribes to earn her col lege diploma. She graduated from Lewis & Clark College in 1961. She was employed by the tribes for over 39 years and was the chief financial officer for the tribes when she was placed on Medical Leave status in mid 1999. Internal Audit Compliance Office This small branch performs reviews of the capability of in ternal control systems and the effectiveness of program deliv ery systems to determine .whether goals, objectives and the desired results of the orga nization are achieved in an ef fective and practical manner. This small two-person en tity operates with a budget of $160,000. The budget downsizing that the Organiza tion has been undergoing in recent years has affected the .operation of this branch in a couple of ways. One is the freezing of a position that isn't being filled. This affects the number of internal audits that can be performed. In turn, this limits the asset protection func tion that is part of the scope of duties and responsibilities. In the last couple of years, the Internal AuditCompli ance branch developed an an nual audit and compliance plan to assist in their efforts to review Organization delivery systems. They have evaluated programs as to how they relate to the organizational strategic plans. The branch also has pro vided assistance to branch managers on internal control issues, and completed a num ber of audits of various depart ments and programs. looking to the future, until another source of tribal in come is available, the budget situation will continue to erode away the services that arc being provided by this small branch. It will affect the qual- ity and quantity of work be ing provided. However, the staff still pur sues significant goals like pro viding systematic reviews and independent appraisals of the internal control systems, re viewing and appraising all de partment, operations and pro grams for the adequacy and effectiveness of the systems of control. Other goals are to assist management in providing as surances that the operations are effective and efficient; iden tifying the strength and weak ness in management policies, practices, and internal con trols; providing assistance to external auditors; reviewing the integrity of financial and operational information. If revenue short falls con tinue to build it will affect the ability of the program to be effective in the protection of tribal financial and human as sets. The implementation and maintenance of internal con trols will need to be strength ened. Compliance officer Jeff Sanders says that staff training and accreditation must be a higher priority to continue the growth and integrity of the Internal auditcompliance functions. Although this is a small branch with only two employ ees, it docs a big job in protect ing tribal assets and sover eignty. It also enhances and protects the well being of tribal members. The mission statement for this branch outlines an ambi tious agenda that is of great importance to the Tribe and Tribal Council. The branch has four departments, which includes Planning, Vital Statis tics, Records and Legislative coordination. The oldest department in the branch is Vital Statistics. The department is responsible for the records for the mem bership back to the 1940s, along with Per Capita rolls which started in 1943; Census Rolls which date back to 1880; Tribal Election Records from 1938 and birth and death records dating back to the 1 930's. Supervisor Madeline J. Queahpama-Spino has worked in the department for 28 years. Along with Enrollment Of ficer Carla T. Conner-Greene and Secretary Melva Charley, the three women bring a com bined 49 years of experience to perform a multitude of impor tant tasks. The Vital Statistics depart ment is responsible for; (1) co ordinating and distributing the Senior Citizen Pension (2) co ordinating and distributing the Tribal Per Capita and Decem ber Bonus Per Capita checks that are returned because of outdated addresses (3) admin istering Minors Trust Pay ments to the US Bank, and the distribution of the Minors Trust Fund bi-annually (4) as sembling and providing proper documentation for enroll ments and adoptions; so the Tribal Council can determine the eligibility of enrollment of applicants (5) advise and rec ommend to the Tribal Coun cil the trends and history of enrollments and adoptions (6) coordinate, conduct and assist the Tribal Elections Commit tee with all Tribal elections (7) assist the BIA with Secretarial Elections (8) Administer and distribute Funeral Grants and Fire Donations (9) issue Privi lege Tax Permits (sellers per mits) (10) provide demographic data for the Reservation to the Tribal Organization and agen cies for grants, reports, etc. (1 1) assist the tribal membership with verification of enrollment to IHS, BIA, ECE, Schools, and other agencies, so that the membership may qualify for benefits. The Vital Stats department supervised three elections held in the year 2000, and three in 2001. Out of the six elections, two were invalid due to a short age of voters. There were 33 deaths in 2000. Twenty-five adults, 3 children and 2 non member spouses, 2 non-member children and one commu nity member. There were 37 deaths in 2001. See GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS on page 12 "Working with the Tribal Councils By Madeline J. Queahpama Spino, Director of Vital Statistics The first Tribal Council I worked for was the May 1971 April 1974 Council. Olney Patt Sr. was the Chair, Delbert Frank Sr. was the Vice-Chair, and Zane Jackson was the Sec ond Vice-Chair. Amos Simtustus Sr. was the Warm Springs Chief, Raymond Johnson Sr. was the Paiute Chief, and Nelson Wallulatum was the Wasco Chief. The other members were Elmer Quinn, Harold Culpus, Robert Macy, Rita Squiemphen and Orin Johnson. Kenneth Smith was the Secretary-Treasurer, and at' that time I worked for Juanita Bourland. This was when it was called Steno Pool. I enjoyed working with this era of Tribal Councils, because it was a new beginning for some members such as Robert Macy, Roger Suppah and Rita Squiemphen. There were a lot of questions, and the older Council members were very good teachers. It took me a while to get used to the story telling, be cause I thought we were sup posed to be doing business. I learned that this was their way of teaching, because it gave a history of the business on the table. I learned a lot about old politics during that time be cause once the Tribal Council got used to me, they loved to i' Jfy;-rx ' - VV'; -:'.s .1 8 I t .t ,1 i !. : 1 Melva Charley, Madeline J. Queahpama-Spino, Carla T. Conner-Greene, of Vital Statistics. tease me. I loved the sense of humor of each of the Tribal Council members, because when I began I was scared of the "Tribal Council." One morning the heat went out in the building so Juanita asked me to make coffee in one of the 40-cup pots. I proceeded to put in 40 tablespoons of coffee because that's what the directions said. A fire was built in the fireplace and when the Tribal Council came in, they were all teasing me about mak ing them feel at home with my Cowboy Coffee. Needless to say, I was fired from making coffee. As time went forward, I re newed my friendship with Larry Calica, who later be came my boss. I enjoyed the time I worked with Larry be cause we could analyze any thing that was going on with the Tribe just by bantering about it until something made sense. Sometimes he would one-up me, and sometimes I would one-up him. I have lost many dear friends during my time working for the Tribe, but Larry was like a mentor to me. He was always pushing me to do my best, and when I thought I was doing my best he would push me harder. I Ic believed in our tribal mem bers, and we lost a good leader when we lost Larry. When Edith Danzuka hired me as the enrollment officer in 1974, I was honored to work for her. I had always admired her because she had worked for the Tribe so long. Who would know that I would be sitting in her seat 28 years later. I have enjoyed working with all of the Tribal Councils I have worked with. Each Council has its own personality, as does each indi vidual Tribal Council member. This has made for some inter esting changes in the trends of enrollments and adoptions. The Personnel Department This branch has the respon sibility of managing all person nel matters for the tribal orga nization with a staff of three people. The staff is 100 tribal member. branch took on the added re- the need for an update of the sponsibility of managing the personnel Policy to be current Tribes' Rose Garden Suite with legislative and judicial without any additional fund- changes that affect the Tribe as ing. an employer. This project was transferred He would eventually like to The branch has a budget of from Tribal management. In produce an employee hand just over $250,000. Because of 2001, there were 141 events at book for each Tribal employee. the Tribe's economic down- the Rose Garden that were at turn, the Personnel Branch has tended by over 2,200 tribal eliminated two positions membersemployees, through attrition in the past The branch offers a multi three years. Other causalities of tudc of computer classes the slow down include the an- through Central Oregon Com- nual Employee Picnic, reduced training money for the organi zation, and a reduction in ser vice awards. Due to budget cuts, the staff has become an integral part in downsizing discussion group strategies. Since 80 of the munity College. Courses in Federal Employment laws, Family Leave Medical Act, Executive Management train ing, and specific vocation courses with some offices are also offered. In their normal course of work, the branch Tribal budget is comprised of processed over 2.3(H) personnel wages and salaries, a number transactions for the year. There of tactics have been discussed were a total of 767 urine analy- including consolidation of sis samples taken, of which 6 some offices to reduce dupli- or 49 tested positive. cation, hire freeze, vacancy list ing, and other cost-savings al ternatives. The branch has enjoyed nu merous achievements despite its small number. In this time Looking to the future, Benson I Icatli said they would strive to maintain the status quo with a small work force. In different capacities, I tenth has been in Personnel since This would increase their level of awareness of the personnel manual. When funding is available, Personnel will transfer em ployee personnel files to a I lu man Resource Inventory Sys tem. Plans arc to have elec tronic employment applica tion on the Internet that the job-seeking public can use. The functions of Personnel are varied and support the Tribal Council goals in a num ber of ways. Recruitment, staff ing, and compliance with com pany policy of the Personnel Manual are all critical. Other areas of stewardship include the Tribal Member Preference Policy, Drug Free Workplace policy and compliance with applicable Federal Employ ment laws. Director said the Tribe must trim the workforce and at the same time maintain or enhance work skills. Within the next three years, about fifty em ployees will be eliminated from the Tribal budget. Offices will be streamlined or consolidated. "This reduction-in-force will require a dislocation package for affected employees that in clude severance, training, relo cation, and transition into other jobs," Heath said. Ac cording to I leath, both current employees and the job-seeking group need to enhance and di versify their current job skills. "As an employer, we must re evaluate the workforce skills bank, by identifying key skills and competencies. We need to revive the employee perfor mance appraisal. We need to integrate skills and compe tency inventory for training and succession planning. The salary table must catch up with inflation, as we arc losing val ued professional and technical staff to other employers who pay more. This 'brain drain' When asked about the next has a negative impact on the of doing more with less, the June 1, 1983. Heath mentioned five to ten years, the Personnel Tribe," Heath said.