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Acquisition Dept./Serials
Knight Library
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1299 University of Oregon
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75
. S68
v. 36
no. 14
July 13,
July 13, 2011
7 oyote News, est. 1976
Vol. 36, No. 14
L O I A V V v j « j
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
July - Pat’ak-Pt’akni - Summer - Shatm
50 cents
£011
Harsh budget news for 2011-12
B y Dave M cM echan
S pilyay Tymoo
Balancing the tribal budget this year
and next year could require employees
to take one unpaid day off per pay
period. This would be similar to fur
lough days implemented by other units
of government within the state.
The furlough-day proposal has been
suggested by tribal staff during the past
two budget planning cycles.
Implementing furlough days is one
suggestion that Finance presented last
week to Tribal Council and branch and
department supervisors. Council so far
has taken no action on the suggestion.
M eanw hile, Secretary-T reasurer
Jody Calica and Chief Operations Of
ficer Urbana Ross are asking for other
cost-saving proposals from department
and branch supervisors to ensure that
tribal budget expenditures do not ex
ceed projected revenues.
Part of the problem is that revenue
from tribal investment has not come
in as anticipated, due to the economy,
said Finance Director Michael Collins.
Revenue from Power and Water
Enterprises, and Forest Products Indus
tries are also factors in the budget
shortfall.
As a result, as Collins states in a July
m
m
5 memo to Secretary-Treasurer
Jo dy Calica: “The current 2011
budget of the Confederated Tribes
is in financial jeopardy and imme
diate action is needed.”
Collins and Calica then presented
a list of possible actions to Tribal
Council: “One furlough day per pay
period is taken (by tribal employees)
to save the tribes $33,935 per day...”
See BUDGET on page 7
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Dave McMechan/Spilyay
The construction crew poured the foundation of the building last week and earlier this week.
Casino
progress
Bit by bit, tribal members in hard
hats are making progress on the site
of the New Indian Head Casino along
Highway 26 in Warm Springs.
Planners hope to open the tempo
rary casino on January 1, 2012. Travis
Wells is the project engineer for the
construction of the new facility.
The Job Creations Department is
working with contractors to make sure
that tribal members have the opportu
nity to be trained and placed into con
struction jobs. Tribal Council Chairman
Buck Smith said the new casino, being
close by the highway, is expected to
increase gaming revenue to the tribes.
Kah-Nee-Ta’s expansion into the
community is expected to attract up
to 75 percent of its business from
visitors who drive within one hour
of Warm Springs.
Blaze
burns over
1,300 acres
B y D uran Bobb
S pilyay Tymoo
Officials are investigating the cause
of the Upper Dry Creek fire, which
burned over 1,300 acres and forced the
evacuation of dozens of families from
their homes last Thursday.
A ccording to officials, 2011 has
been Oregon’s wettest spring in 117
years. Under the right conditions that
means fuel for fires.
William Wilson with Fire Manage
ment said the cause of the Upper Dry
Creek fire is not known, but a lack of
recent lightning indicates it was human-
caused. The fire started on the west end
of Upper Dry Creek Road, pushed by
40 mph winds.
The emergency tone-out was sent
over police radios at 1:10 p.m. Flames
spread rapidly southwest through the
Dry Creek neighborhood, endangering
up to 30 homes. The first house in the
fire’s path belonged to tribal elder
Maxine McKinley.
The family sat in their car at the end
of their driveway and watched as their
home was swallowed in thick smoke.
They were evacuated for their own
safety.
At 2:30 p.m. highways 3 and 26 were
shut down as emergency personnel be
gan back-burning.
As many as 250 firefighters battled
the blaze, assisted by the Princville Hot
Shots. Concerned about the smoke haz
ard, fire chief Danny Martinez ordered
an evacuation, and tribal offices were
closed. The home that Forrest Tewee
has lived in since the early 1980s burned
in the fire. An abandon structure was
destroyed. By 8 p.m. that evening, the
worst was over and crews began mop
ping up.
Council reviewing
Story Corps in Warm Springs investment practices
StoryCorps is recording interviews in
Warm Springs through July 30.
StoryCorps is a national nonprofit
organization dedicated to recording,
sharing, and preserving the stories of
Americans from all backgrounds and
beliefs.
The StoryCorps MobileBooth is in
Warm Springs through July as part of
the group’s cross-country tour.
The M obileBooth, an Airstream
trailer outfitted with a recording stu
dio, is parked next to Warm Springs
Fire and Safety, 2112 Wasco Street.
Reservations for interviews can now
be made by calling StoryCorps’ 24-
hour, toll-free reservation line at 1-800-
850-4406.
O r visit storycorps.org.
StoryC orps has partnered with
KWSO to record interviews in Warm
Springs.
One-hundred and twenty interviews
will be conducted with residents from
the local community and Central Or
egon area.
KWSO will air a selection of local
interviews recorded in the StoryCorps
MobileBooth, and create special pro
grams around the project.
Segments of select interviews may
also air nationally on NPR’s M orning
Edition. With participant permission, all
StoryCorps interviews will be archived
at the American Folklife Center at the
Library of Congress.
B y D uran Bobb
S pilyay Tymoo
The Investment Advisory Com
mittee for the tribes will meet in
August to draft a new investment
policy statement based on input and
reco m m en d atio n s from T rib al
Council. “This will be our marching
order,” said Secretary-T reasurer
Jody Calica said.
The committee plans to search for
possible ways to increase returns on
investments.
The investm ent accounts in
clude the scholarship, senior citi
zen pension, tribal pension, the
BIA loan repaym ent, GNC, and
revenue reserve funds.
In certain funds, the return was
less than one percent. However, the
IHS Deferred Revenue Account per
formed quite well over the last year,
returning 7.8 percent.
“If we got that same return on
the restoration funds, we’d have $2.2
million,” said Calica.
Low return on investment, due
to the economy, is one reason why
the tribes are facing serious budget
cuts.
Revised strategy
Erin Dickey and Virginia Lora of StoryCorps are in Warm Springs gathering
stories through July 30.
Ryan Harvey and Nick Wood
ward, financial advisors from RV
Kuhns and Associates, who manage
the funds for the tribes, had several
recommendations.
For example, they believe that
sw itching the scholarship funds
from an aggressive to a more con
servative portfolio w ith a more
fixed income would remedy some
o f the problems seen in the past.
US Bank advises on the trust fund
account.
“W hat w e’ve seen in the past,”
Woodward said, “is that siblings
w o u ld receiv e v a stly d ifferen t
amounts based on the m arket re
turns. If we ease the market tran
sition to a more conservative port
folio, this should work much bet
ter.”
He said, “N ot too long ago,
Tribal Council was asked to pass
a resolution to move funds into a
better m anagement structure or a
different portfolio in order to get
a more positive retu rn ... At the
current spending rate, we need to
change the horizon from ten to
seven years.”
Tribal Council acts as the Invest
ment Advisory Committee chair.
O ther members are Ken Smith,
Scott Clements, Ventures CEO Jeff
Anspach, and Jody Calica.
The committee will draft the in
vestm ent p o licy statem ent and
present it to Tribal Council in Sep
tember.
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