Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2013)
r P.0. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 ECRWSS Postal Patron A u g u st 7, 2013 Coyote News, est. 1976 Vol. 38, N o. 14 A u g u st-S h atm -S u m m e r-S h atm Council votes against Cascade Locks Tribal Council voted last week to end the pursuit o f a casino at Cas cade Locks. T h e m ajority o f the C ouncil voted in favor o f a three-part m o tion. The three parts are as follows: One, withdraw the tribes’ Cas cade Locks fee-to-trust application, subm itted to the D epartm ent o f Interior. Two, withdraw the gaming com pact regarding a Cascade Locks ca sino, submitted to the state o f O r egon. T h ree, dissolvè th e C ascade Locks negotiating team. The vote on the m otion was 6- 2-2. ■ In favor were Council members Reuben Henry, Kahseuss Jackson, Scott Moses, Evaline Patt, Carlos Smith, and Wasco Chief JR Smith. C ouncilm an Sm ith m ade the motion to discontinue pursuing the Cascade Locks proposal; seconded by Chief JR Smith. Voting against the m otion were Warm Springs Chief Delvis H eath and Paiute Chief Joe Moses. C o u n cil m e m b e rs O rv ie D anzuka and Raym ond T sum pi abstained from the vote. The Council members voting in favor o f the m otion voiced concern about the am ount o f m oney— ap proximately $29 million— the tribes have spent on the Cascade Locks proposal. On-going monthly expenses have brought thè matter to the forefront, as the tribes are facing a serious financial challenge, including sig nificant cuts to general fund pro grams. The gaming board has also rec ommended that the tribes stop pur suing the Cascade Locks project, said board chairman Jason Smith. “The board has been dealing with this for quite awhile,” he said, “and we’ve come up with that recom m endation... There is no light at the end o f the tunnel with Cas cade Locks.” Form er gaming board m em ber and former Congresswoman Eliza beth Furse spoke to Council about the Cascade Locks project. “It is my belief that the Interior D epart m ent is n o t going to make a fa v o ra b le d e c isio n o n C ascad e Locks,” Furse said. The department, for instance, is aware o f the lawsuits that would follow a favorable decision for the tribes, she said. Gov. Kitzhaber is also an op p o n e n t o f th e C ascade L ocks project. “But the issue isn’t even with the Governor, but rather with the Interior D epartm ent,” Furse said. The tribes: should stop spend ing money on Cascade Locks, and instead focus on the actual assets o f the tribes, namely Indian Head Casino and K ah-N ee-Ta R esort and Spa, Furse said. Chief Joe Moses said Council action to stop pursuing a Cascade Locks development would be con trary to the referendum passed by th e m em b ersh ip . T h e C ouncil should follow the will o f the people, he said. Council Chairman Eugene Aus tin Greene Jr. said he has heard con cerns from tribal members at re cent meetings regarding Cascade Locks. However, he said about 70 to 80 members were in attendance, while the entire membership is over 5,000. A t this point Councilman Smith asked S ecretary -T reasu rer Jake Suppah to provide Council with the actual language o f the G orge ca sino referendum, which the m em bership passed in May o f 2002. The referendum question reads as follows: “Shall the Tribe be authorized to finance, construct and operate a gaming casino on Tribal trust lands in the Columbia River Gorge, on such terms as the Tribal Council shall determine; provided that any borrowing shall be the obligation only o f the casino enterprise and shall n ot risk any other Tribal as set?” Councilman Smith said the ref eren d u m refers specifically to “trust lands” and the Confederated Tribes have no trust land at Cas cade Locks. Continuing to spend m oney at Cascade Locks is n o t authorized by the referendum, he said. The tribes have trust land east o f H o o d River, which would qualify for gaming. T he east H ood River site was the origi nal Gorge casinò proposed de velopm ent site. Cascade Locks entered the' ? discussion after H o o d River residents protested against the proposal to develop the east H ood River trust property, while Cascade Locks residents, and H ood River County, were recep tive to development at Cascade Locks. O ver the past 11 years, the tribal funds spent at Cascade L ocks have com e fro m the tribal gaming enterprise, as stated in the referendum. However, said Councilman Scott Moses, this has put “other tribal assets” at risk, as there has been loss . of revenue to the general fund and the programs and depart ments o f the tribes. Reviewing a financial state m ent about the Cascade Locks ex p en d itu res,.. C o u n cilm an Kahseuss Jackson asked about approximately $108,000 spent in 2012. H e also asked about a re cent feasibility study costing oyer $20,000. T rib a l a tto rn e y D e n n is K arnopp said a part o f that ex penditure was for a feasibility study for a w ater-park at the Cascade Locks site. See GAMING on 7 Kah-Nee-Ta coming back after fires Two fires in July— one inside and one outside— came at the w orst possible time o f year for Kah-Nee- Ta Resort and Spa. The middle o f summer is the busy time o f year at the resort, which had to close down as a result o f fires. The goal is to fully re open by 'August 24, in time for Labor Day Weekend, said Kah-Nee-Ta general manager Carlos Smith. The lodge is scheduled to re-open this week, oh Friday, August 9. The kitchen, though, will likely riot be ready until the A ugust 24 target date. The Kah-Nee-Ta G olf Course is open for business, and will host the Kah-Nee-Ta Invitational later this summer. The restoration work at the lodge is expected to cost over $1 million, Smith said. The kitchen fire caused some damage, while water from the emergency sprinkler system also caused significant damage, he said. The sprinkler system was very effective, and saved the lodge from extensive fire damage, Smith said. The water went through five floors, from the ro o f down to the base ment. The loss o f business due to can celled reservations is estimated at another approximately $1 million, Smith est ¡mated. - Dave McMechan/Spilyay Clean-up work at the conference room area of the lodge. The companies doing the clean-up and restoration hired Kah-Nee-Ta employees to assist with the work. The kitchen fire happened on Thursday, July 18. T h e kitchen h o o d , w hich rem oves airborne grease from the air above the cook ing area, was the ignition point o f the fire. Flames burned into the ro o f area above the kitchen before the sprinkler system and Fire and Safety personnel extinguished the fire. The lodge was evacuated after the kitchen fire. Guests remained at the Village for a time, until the Sunnyside T urnoff fire broke out on Satorday, July 13. The resort followed its fire re sponse plan, deciding at that point that full evacuation o f all guests was warranted. “That was a good decision,” Smith said, “because the roads were closed a short time later.” See KNT on 7 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 5 0 cents Change at tribal court Tribal Council m et this week to discuss thé Tribal Court, as a va cancy on the court will open soon. C hief Judge Susan A lexander will be leaving at the end o f thi§,, month. She has been the chief iudg® o f the W arm Springs Tribal C ourt for the past three years. There are four judges serving ori th e T rib al C o u rt: C h ie f Ju d g e A lexander, and Associate Judges Walter Langnese, Lisa Lomas and G lendon Smith. Tribal Council on T uesday re-ap p o in ted A ssociate Judge Smith to his position. Tribal Council discussed whether the court could go from four judges to three, with one o f the existing’ associate judges becoming the new chief judge. A nother option would be to ad vertise for a new chief judge. A rec om m endation from A lexander is that the court include a licensed at torney. Councilman Raymond Tsumpti said the tribal budget process for 2014 could determine the num ber o f judges on the Tribal Court. “Rev enue will dictate the decision,” he said. Judge Alexander said she may be able to w ork through the rest o f this year to help with the transition, if Council feels it necessary. Councilman Kahseuss Jackson said the transition should be made as cost-efficiently as possible. Councilman Tsumpti said there may be form er tribal judges in the community w ho could serve on an interim basis during the remainder o f this year. O ver the past couple o f years, . she said, the number o f Tribal Court case openings and closings has in creased significantly. In 2012, for instance, the num ber o f case open ings increased by 23 percent, and case closings by 22 percent. Probate review, and an em pha sis on legal due process to all par ties are reasons for the increase in ease activity, Alexander said. Some im provem ents in the operation o f the court could be lost if the num ber o f judges returns to three, she said. O ther agenda items ■ Council has a num ber o f other im portant issues on the agenda for August. Some o f the items include: R eduction in w ork hours and 638 contracting; gaming with the G am ing C om m ission; and tribal elections, specifically Ordinance 44. O ther items: C om m ittee appointm ents, the tribal budget to date; Warm Springs F o rest P ro d u cts In d u stries and C om posite P roducts; C over O r egon, the Personnel Policy Manual and management plan. (For the fu ll Council agenda seepages 2 and 5 o f this publication.)
