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Spilyay Tymo
iyo te News, est. 1976
November 30, 2011
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Spilyay tynoo
Voi. 36, No. 24-
November - Anaku Ipach’aanxa Yaàmash
General Council meets on 2012 budget
By Duran Bobb
S pilyay Tymoo
Tribal Council presented the 2012
proposed budget to members at a Gen
eral C o un cil m eetin g held at the
Simnasho Longhouse last week.
Council members, the chief opera
tions officer, secretary-treasurer and
staff were on hand for the presenta
tion. About 100 other tribal members
were present.
Secretary-treasurer Jody Calica went
through some recent changes that were
made to the proposed budget. The
changes were to be presented for
Tribal Council consideration the fol
lowing day.
At the General Council meeting,
tribal m em ber Randy Sm ith asked
about the operating budget for Warm
Springs Ventures.
Finance officer Mike Collins ex
plained that as of January 1, Eagle Tech
Systems would be taken out of Ven
tures, and would return into the tribes
as a department once again.
“T he re a so n in g b eh in d th a t,”
Collins said, “is Eagle Tech has been
costing the tribes by having them
(Eagle Tech) provide service to us.
The tribes were actually subsidizing
them to provide a service at a cost.
So it would save us to bring them
back under the tribes.”
Revenue issue
Calica said the tribes are work
ing on a list of projects which could
possibly raise revenue. “We have
to stop talking and figure out how
we’re going to make the ideas work,”
he said. “There has been one work
ing session and another one is
planned for December to get some
of these ideas launched.”
See GENERAL COUNCIL on page 7
Casino Update
Dedication
day set in
February
By Dave McMechan
S pilyay Tymoo
Tribal Council heard an update
last week on various aspects of the
gaming enterprise.
The Council met with new Indian
Head Casino general manager Ken
Billingsley, and the newly-hired gen
eral manager of Kah-Nee-Ta, Carlos
Smith.
Construction of the casino is pro
gressing as planned, and the gaming
board announced that February 4,
2012 will be the dedication day for
the new casino. A grand opening will
happen later in the month.
Tribal Council then toured the
building with Billingsley, Smith and
other staff.
New GM
B illin g sle y com es to W arm
Springs from Phoenix, Ariz., where
he was working as the regional di
rector for the National Indian Gam
ing Commission. He held that posi
tion for the past 11 years.
Billingsley grew up in the Warm
Springs area. He has spent half of
his working life in the casino indus
try. His responsibilities have included
overseeing compliance with the In
dian Gaming Regulatory Act (TGRA)
of 1988 for over 55 casinos.
He has Worked closely with 33
different tribes in the Southwest re
gion. He is a member of the Lakota
S pilyay Tymoo
Tribal Council earlier this month
participated in an economic develop
ment session at Kah-Nee-Ta.
Jim M anion, m anager o f Warm
Springs Power and Water Enterprises
and member of the Business Invest
ment Revolving Fund committee, re
minded the group of the critical rea
sons for these discussions.
“Tribal Council believes something
needs to be done,” he said. “This meet
ing was convened as a result of those
discussions.”
Manion explained how the tribes are
now starting to see some of the ben
efits of entering into a partnership with
PGE for ownership and operation of
the Pelton-Round Butte facilities. In the
Over the past year, Je ff Anspach,
ch ief executive o fficer for W arm
Springs Ventures, has been working on
the feasibility of conducting unmanned
aerial systems test flights on portions
of the reservation.
On a map showing Federal Aviation
Administration restricted airspace, the
reservation has relatively few areas
where air traffic is prohibited.
“That’s unusual for such a large area
that is relatively close to a metropoli
tan market,” Anspach said. “It really
gives the tribes a competitive advan
tage. There is no doubt that we are
geographically relevant as it pertains to
the unmanned industry.”
Anspach went on to say that these
unmanned aerial systems, or drones,
have very little impact over areas of
flight. At an altitude of 500 feet, the
systems are barely detectable.
One step which needs to be taken is
to recruit a public entity to sponsor a
flight on tribal lands with the Depart
ment of Defense.
Twenty other states are looking at
similar projects, Anspach said.
The next step in the process is to
begin tribal member outreach.
—
b y D u ran Bobb
School video
makes bold
statement
*
Council members and staff toured
the new casino with Indian Head
general manager Ken Billingsley
and Kah-Nee-Ta general manager
Carlos Smith.
Sioux.
Billingsley stated his commitment to
employing tribal members at the casino.
The final goal, he said, is to have 100
percent tribal em ployees at Indian
Head. Currently, the tribal members are
50 percent of the Kah-Nee-Ta and
Indian Head staff.
Billingsley said his approach to mak
ing the casino profitable begins with
customer service. A good quality expe
rience for the customers is the main
thing that will keep them coming back,
he said.
See CASINO on page 7
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Council economic development discussion
By Duran Bobb
Drone project
has potential
near future, he said, the biomass project
should also see some activity.
“We hope by the middle of next
month w e’ll be ready to bring final
agreements to Tribal Council, and bring
that project forward,” he said.
The Business Investment Revolving
Fund (BIRF) has had good and bad
comments, Manion said.
“BIRF is working in a number of
ways,” he said. “It’s bringing the man
agers together, so each knows what the
other is up to. There’s an opportunity
for dialogue.”
Manion went through the figures on
what has gone out of the BIRF fund
to the casino, into equity investments,
and the teleco. He informed Council
that payment has also come back into
the BIRF fund.
Clint Jacks, economic stewardship
advisor, went through the policy and
procedures a tribal m em ber would
need to follow in order to utilize the
revolving loan fund. “The fund is
supplemental to both the CDFI (Com
munity Development Fund Institution)
and tribal Credit fund.”
“People who see another person
running a business can think it’s easy
to be successful and make money,” Ted
Brunoe said. “They want to start their
own business and make money. One
of the things we’re doing is starting a
facilitator for the process. That facili
tator will identify if the individual is
sincere about starting a business.”
“In m y m in d ,” C o un cilm an
Raymond Tsumpti said, “we’re trying
to get members who are looking for
an opportunity to get started. I’m not
trying to downplay existing businesses.
However, I think some sort of prior
ity thinking here needs to be applied.
If we start helping existing business,
then we’re losing the confidence of
the members who would like to go
into business for themselves. It’s the
same old thing: Who you are, what
your last name is.”
The econom ic develo pm en t
team then heard a presentation on
several ideas which included the
B ear S p rin g s p r o je c t; an u n
m anned aircraft and other un
manned vehicles center o f excel
le n c e ; and an id e a fo r a
motorsports arena.
In other recent tribal economic
news, Kahseuss Jackson met with
Council to discuss his new position
as coordinator o f the Economic
Stewardship program. This is a key
position in implementing the stew
ardship plan.
When the Jefferson County School
District 509-J recently released a video
designed to generate pride am ong
teachers and staff, it unexpectedly went
viral on the Internet.
The short film, titled b eliev e it or
N ot, features teachers, staff and stu
dents from various grade levels sol
emnly reciting some of the uncomfort
able stigmas that have been tied to the
rural school district.
Their statements are punctuated
with written captions scrolling along
beneath.
M idw ay through the video, the
captions begin scrolling in reverse,
and they are re-stated by teachers,
staff and students to take on an en
tirely different meaning: The result
is a dramatic and surprising flip that
portrays a positive picture o f educa
tion in Jefferson County.
“We didn’t initially intend for this
video to be public,” said Melinda Boyle,
director of curriculum. “We’ve been
showing it to select audiences and the
response has been so amazingly posi
tive. It seems to have taken on a life
of its own.”
The Jefferson County School Dis
trict 509-J has historically faced chal
lenges with state test scores and aca
demic performance. As a result, the dis
trict has battled some difficult stig
mas— sometimes within their own com
munities and often from those in sur
rounding areas.
Improved test scores
While the district recognizes there
is still a lot of work to do, dramatic
im provem ents in academ ic perfor
mance have taken place over the past
several years.
Last year, 509-J launched a program
to support students who were not meet
ing state benchmarks in reading and
math. This year, students’ reading grade
levels across the district are higher than
they’ve been in five years.
See VIDEO on page 4
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