Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
September 16, 2015
Vol. 40, No. 19
September – Wanaq’i – Summer - Shatm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Council preparing 2016 budget proposal Health
The 2016 tribal budget process
is under way. Tribal Council met
last week with Finance, the depart-
ments and enterprises, working to-
ward a proposal to present to the
membership.
Members can expect the budget
message in the mail later this month.
The initial presentation by Fi-
nance and the secretary-treasurer
had some good news, and some
points of concern, as voiced by
Council members.
The draft budget proposal as
presented is a balanced budget, as
required by the Twenty-Sixth Tribal
Council.
The current Council has adopted
two budgets—for 2014 and the cur-
rent year—that were the first bal-
anced budgets in several years: This
was a needed correction from years
of unbalanced deficit budgets.
Based on last week’s initial pre-
sentation, potential budget cuts for
2016 would appear to be much less
severe than the cuts required over
the previous two budgets, when the
overall general fund expenditures
were reduced by several million
dollars, or about a third.
The 2015 budget turned out to
have a small surplus, partly because
the final loan amount for the Warm
Springs Academy was slightly below
what had been budgeted.
Some added revenue is a wel-
come change during the current
budget process. But the general fund
is still recovering from the previous
deficits.
New revenue is expected from
the carbon sequestration program
of the Natural Resources Branch
and Warm Springs Ventures. The
specific amount of this revenue is
not yet known, as the tribes are still
in the process of marketing the car-
bon sequestration credits.
Councilman Orvie Danzuka,
who works in Forestry, said the
Countyline 2 fire burned into acre-
age initially identified as part of the
carbon sequestration acreage.
There are options as to how
to address this, he said, to be dis-
cussed with Ventures and Natu-
ral Resources.
Senior pension, other items
Other points from last week’s
Council meeting on the budget
presentation:
Ensuring the future of the
Senior Pension is a Council pri-
ority. The 2016 budget should
include funding to keep the Se-
nior Pension solvent for the fore-
seeable future, said Councilman
Carlos Smith.
See BUDGET on page 3
Former judge Smith is new Secretary-Treasurer
Glendon Smith joined tribal
management last week full-time
as secretary-treasurer.
Smith served seven years as
an associate judge on the Warm
Springs Tribal Court. Tribal
Council appointed him to the S-
T position a few weeks ago.
Glendon spent a few days ear-
lier this month finishing up his
court work, while moving to the
secretary-treasurer position.
He came on board full-time
as S-T just as the budget presen-
tations were beginning at Tribal
Council. “This will be a challenge,
and a chance to apply what I’ve
learned over the years,” Glendon
was saying recently.
Glendon Smith, S-T
Making sure the tribes have a
balanced budget is a priority, he said,
along with finding new revenue, cre-
ating jobs and new housing on the
reservation.
Glendon is a life-long resident of
the reservation. He graduated from
Madras High School in 1998, then
went to Central Oregon Commu-
nity College, where he received an
Associates of Arts degree.
He earned a Bachelor’s Degree
from Oregon State University in
2008, then a Master’s Degree in jus-
tice administration from the Univer-
sity of Phoenix. He has Certified
Training in Tribal Judiciary Skills-Ju-
dicial Development from the Na-
tional Judicial College in Reno.
Glendon lives in the Sidwalter
area of the reservation.
The secretary-treasurer is re-
sponsible for the implementa-
tion of the political, financial
and governmental actions of the
Tribal Council.
The S-T oversees manage-
ment of the tribes’ financial af-
fairs, safeguards tribal records
and assets, and fulfills the re-
sponsibilities delegated through
the Tribal Constitution and Man-
agement Plan.
Glendon is the twelfth per-
son to serve as secretary-trea-
surer of the Confederated
Tribes since the position was
created in 1938.
matter at
river sites
Up to 3,000 people, including
families, are living along the mid
Columbia River, at in-lieu fishing and
other nearby sites. The area is
roughly from Cascade Locks to
Hermiston.
Children of the families need
access to education, good food, a
safe home and medical care. The
families may qualify for Expanded
Medicaid and other assistance.
Many of the people are tribal mem-
bers. Some may be homeless.
The area is under law enforce-
ment jurisdiction of the Columbia
River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Enforce-
ment, a branch of the Columbia
River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
The county jurisdictions—Hood
and Wasco counties—are available
to provide social and other services.
Warm Springs tribal health liaison
Caroline Cruz has been meeting with
Inter-Tribal Fisheries Enforcement,
the BIA and others regarding how
best to meet service needs of the
people living at the river sites.
It is important, she said, to en-
sure the safety of the children, to
make sure they are in safe homes,
going to school, receiving their shots,
eating well, etc.
The situation has come about
over the past 50-plus years, really
since U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
inundation of Celilo Falls with The
Dalles dam.
See IN-LIEU SITES on 3
Plan for
youth center
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Students arrive at the bus drop-off area at the Warm Springs Academy; sports practices at the academy started this week.
T here are about 650 students
attending the Warm Springs Eagle
Academy, grades k-8.
The students and parents are
getting used to a new schedule at
the academy, with classes starting
at 8:55 a.m., and buses arriving
shortly before. Breakfast is then
served in the classrooms, making
for an easier transition to the start
of class.
Parents can still drop students
off starting at 7:45 a.m., as there
are student activities, including lan-
guage, offered until classes start.
Meanwhile, athletics practices
began this week: Fall sports for
grades six through eight are foot-
ball, volleyball and cross country.
The first Eagles football home
game is coming up.
The academy sports schedules will
be posted soon. Listen to KWSO for
the latest.
Health and Human Services and
the tribes are looking to develop a
youth center at the old War m
Springs elementary school.
Some renovation work needs to
be done to the building before this
can happen.
There is a chance the work could
be done by early next year, said
Alyssa Macy, tribal executive deputy
director. A funding source could be
Indian Health Services, she said.
The Community Health Educa-
tion Team (CHET), Prevention, and
Culture and Heritage would be able
to move to the renovated rooms.
This would help to bring the de-
partments that serve youth to a cen-
tral location. The Warm Springs
Boys and Girls Club is already
housed nearby, in the re-built build-
ing next to the former elementary
school gym.
This part of the elementary
school was renovated after the fire
some years ago that burned down
the old gym. Also as part of the
overall plan, the tribal Records De-
partment would relocate to the room
that was the library at the previous
elementary school.