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."
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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
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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
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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