Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2005)
P3ge 8 Spilyay Ty moo, Wqrm Springs, Oregon August 18, 2005: Recall supporters gather at longhouse By Selena Boite Spilytty Tymoo Several tribal members approached the microphone to speak about experiences in which they felt the Warm Springs Tribal Council had failed them or the tribes dur ing a meeting at the Agency Longhouse on the Tribal Council recall petition pre sented by Lcona Ike, Vanessa Andy, and Arlene Wewa Thurs., Aug. 11. About 30 tribal members attended, along with two As sociated Press reporters. Ike opened the meeting and read off each point of the peti tion. Specific areas of the re call petition included housing, public safety, mental health, range and agriculture, and gaming off the reservation. Regarding housing, there was mention that grant money has been mismanaged while tribal members are in need of housing and have been for years. A non-tribal member said he reported drug trafficking at a nearby home and he was told, "Oh yeah, we know." But when someone reported that his grandson was in pos Petition: issue of judgeship appointments (Continued from page 5) Whether using the tribal code or the tribal Constitution, ulti mately the Tribal Council selects the judges, said Calica. That was stated in a legal opinion from the tribes' legal counsel, he said, and the Tribal Council then made its decision. The Tribal Council plans to make its Ap peals Court appointments on Wed., August 24. ' Calica said that Tribal Coun cil has a full plate trying to work toward achieving the priorities it adopted shortly after its mem bers were elected. Tribal Coun cil has also been working to re store programs and services that had slipped into various stages of noncompliance, threatening the safety and economic welfare of the community. Since taking office in May 2004, the 23rd Tribal Council has fielded many public and pri vate concerns from the tribal membership related to the courts and legal services. Unfair treatment, excessive sentences and minimal responses to bur glaries, violent physical and sexual assaults, child abuse and drugs were common complaints. All of these issues were raised in the formal reviews enacted by the 21" and 22nd Tribal Coun cils. The 23td Council wants more than the same old plans, promises and complacency, said Calica. Other concerns confronting the Tribes' leadership include numerous public safety issues, the Warm Springs Housing Authority's performance includ ing being on HUD's watch list, the pressing needs to fix the Children's Protective Services system, the Early Childhood Education problem of $2 mil lion in grants being jeopardized, mounting financial woes of Warm Springs Ventures, the Community Development Cor poration and High Lookie Lodge. Fixing the joint venture uith Indian Health Services has made for a stressful time for the community, senior management and Tribal Council, Calica said. He also noted that the gaming relocation effort has taken a sig nificant portion of Tribal Coun session of drugs, a search warrant was promptly issued and he was arrested. A tribal member spoke about how the cattle on the reservation arc not at their summer grazing areas in the timber. The question was, shouldn't they be there now, and not here eating their win ter grazing? A tribal member spoke about how he was put on ad ministrative leave based on a rumor, then later replaced by another employee. He was never informed of the on going process. I le received a phone call one day and was asked to come in and remove his belongings. He asked, is this proper protocol? A tribal member got up to speak of the day the three new judges were appointed. Three of the people present spoke against the process of appointing the three new judges. It was questioned as whether all of them should be possibly recalled. Ike said, "No member of Tribal Coun cil stopped this procedure from happening. They should all be recalled." Petitions were available to sign at the meeting. cil time and effort. Calica said the Confederated Tribes need to stimulate eco nomic development. "Develop ment of the commercial code will provide needed protection and regulation of the reserva tion business climate and tribal member rights." Calica said, "Equally impor tant is to have an effective court system to resolve disputes or business relations to promote the financial security and welfare of our people. Feeding a sense of political instability now will show others only that we are capable of being our own worst enemy. "We may face uncertainty and frustration as individuals and as a community. However, our elders and ancestors faced even greater challenges. They ac cepted those challenges with a sense of hope, faith, and pur pose to create the community we call home." EAGLE -TECH PC installation and service for most PC desktop and Network Installation and Management Office Wireless systems Peripheral Service Data backup and recovery service Network Security Microsoft Office Support Internet Security Planning to Protect Against Online Certified staff including Microsoft Certified Professional, A, Cisco, Linux TECHNICAL SERVICE TO THE WARM SPRINGS & MADRAS AREAS Secretary - (Editor' note: Thtst fol lowing observations on tin recall effort are from CharUs 'JoJy' Calica, the tribes' secretary-treasurer.) Tribal resolution 4229 does not provide the proper or rel evant legal and policy basis for the actions being sought in the petition. It was passed in 1976 for a very specific and unrelated matter. Kvcn if Resolution 4729 were the proper basis, the peti tioners have purposely by passed the Tribal Council in di recting the matter to the Agency superintendent. In one instance, there is the potential that confidential per sonal information from court and credit records was illegally obtained and publicly disclosed. This sets a very dangerous pre cedent. Addressing the specific points mentioned by the recall petition ers: Point one: Tlx Tribal Coun cil has inirsted multi-million dollars in rtstarch to dmop a tribal casino at Cascade jcks that could not be built because the Cascade Ijocks site is land in trust to Yakama Nation and failed to notify the membership of the multi-million dollar lost in vestment. Response: The Tribal Coun OFFICE NOW OPEN THRU LUNCH p7 CM fjgl What this means to you... ' " ' We can lake care of all your Automotive Ri L Treasurer cil has been acting under two tribal referendum to pursue gaining. The second referendum was passed by a solid 80 per cent margin that selected the Columbia River Gorge location over several other locations in cluding a Highway 26 location. The proposed site is owned by the Port of Cascade Iocks. It was never owned by the Yakama Nation and was never in trust. The multi-million dollar invest ment loss is unproven specula tion, and thoughtful opposition could have been raised on the two supplemental budgets to stop or regulate any spending authority for the gaming initia tive. Point two: The Tribal Coun cil has operated in special interests of specific individuals and families uith failure to provide for all tin member ship equally. Response: That allegation is too vague and general to offer valid or accurate responses. Point three: Members of Tribal Council retain compensation from employment in addition to re ceiving council compensation benefits: i.e., travel dollars, special per diem, and full salary for employment. Response: Tribal Council has had employees as members for over 30 years. By policy, mem bers must choose either Coun cil pay or their regular pay. Tribal II H I AUTOMOTIVE & TOWING "Done Right The FirstTlme" & Maintenance Needs! NEW or OLD VEHICLES. J Eagle-Tech Systems now offers cost effective on-site business PC and Network Services in the Warm Springs and Madras area. ; responds voters were aware of candi dates' employee status during the election. Council travel costs arc known through annual bud get meetings. Point four: Tribal Council re cently appointed the Tribal Court Judges uitwit following proper pro tocol as outlined in tte Warm Springs Tribal Code. Response: Tribal Council in structed staff to advertise for nine appeals court judges, two associate judges and a chief judge as early as February. A four-member nomination com mittee was selected during that same time period. It was not able to meet because of scheduling of the non-member participant called for in the tribal code. The Council members were pro vided candidates' applications and the ratings sheet based upon the tribal code, tribal manage ment plan (R-9793) and the job descriptions that were last ap proved in 1993. Tribal Council had the options to: 1) do noth ing; 2) continue to wait for the committee to meet; 3) appoint a different committee, or 4) pro ceed with appointments based upon the tribal code and tribal Constitution. With the advice of legal counsel, Tribal Council se lected the judges. Point five: Tribal Council ap pointed three Judges not properly suited CALL 475-6663 "Se habld esparto!" Repair t laptops Threats to petition for tin positions. Anita Jakson was removed from tin Public Safety Gen eral Manager position by Public Safety Reform referendum. Marie Calica has been investigated for mis management of grant and tribal fund ing. Barfiara Jim has interfered uith the administration of justice in re gards to debts. Response: The 1999 Public Safety Referendum was only directed at freezing the Public Safety budget proposed for the year 1999. It did not direct or validate any considerations for personnel actions. legally and ethically, there was no basis' found to disqualify any of the five tribal members who applied for the associate judge positions. Assessing moral judgments with out solid evidence is inappropri-. ate and could be considered slanderous. Points tlx and seven: The Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Op erations Officer have failed to perform duties in accordance uith his or her job description to ensure the tribes stay within tribal policy, and failed to prop erly report that to the membership. Response: These positions are Tribal Council appointments confirmed by tribal resolutions.! At the present time, there are' no policies or procedures to recall the person in either po-: sition. Have a great berry harvest
