Page 10
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
March 30, 2016
Agency District candidates
John Katchia Sr.
Jeff Sanders
I have worked in tribal
government for 49 years.
I worked all my adult life
for the tribes, from 1960
to December 2009, in
one capacity or another.
My years of employ-
ment include six years as
a line supervisor within
the department and/or
offices, and 10 years as a
department head supervi-
sor (six or more offices or
departments supervised).
I served eight years as a
general manager with
over four or more depart-
ments. This totals 24 years
of work experience as a
supervisor or manager
within the tribal organiza-
tion.
I have received over
200 hours of manage-
ment training that was spe-
cifically related to senior
management. This train-
ing included but was not
limited to strategic plan-
ning, executive manage-
ment courses, executive
forum training, total qual-
ity management, work life
training, team building,
BIA budget training/
workshops, general man-
ager workshop training,
budget training and inter-
nal audit.
I am a lifetime mem-
ber of the Elliott Palmer
VFW Post 4217, with ser-
vice in Germany in the
U.S. Army, serving in the
Sixty-Eighth Armored
Division, 1957-1959.
In addition to organi-
zational training I have
been a part of other or-
ganizational related com-
mittees and appoint-
ments:
I served 21 years on the
Jefferson County 509-J
School District Board of Di-
rectors. I served a number
of terms as the board chair-
man, in addition to being on
the 509-J budget committee
for 21 years. I also served on
the Education Service Dis-
trict budget committee.
I have been elected to the
Oregon State School Board
Association, and served two
4-year terms. I held the po-
sition of secretary treasurer,
vice chairman, president-
elect, and president of the
Oregon School Board Asso-
ciation. While on this board
I was also appointed to the
National School Board, as
the Oregon minority repre-
sentative for the state of
Oregon.
I have served on the tribal
Alcohol and Drug Council
for 20-plus years, and was
chairman for nine years. We
administered a $600,000
grant from the Robert
Woods Johnson Foundation
for Substance Abuse Preven-
tion.
The governor of the
state of Oregon appointed
me to two 2-year terms on
the state Alcohol and
Drugs Council. This coun-
cil has the oversight re-
sponsibility for reviewing
all state agencies, depart-
ments, programs and ser-
vices on alcohol and drug
matters.
I have served on three
Oregon State task forces
on education and school
board issues, minority is-
sues, and state Vocational
Rehabilitation reform.
I also served as the co-
chairman for the Jefferson
County Community Task
Force on race relations be-
tween Native American
and Hispanic, and the non-
Indian communities.
Positive changes I would
like to see in War m
Springs over the next 10
years:
Development of a
positive cash flow from
current and future tribal
enterprises.
To have tribal mem-
bers with four-year college
degrees, and/or two-year
AA degrees that reflect the
needs of tribal govern-
ment, its enterprises, and
private business needs of
the community.
Solutions to, or signifi-
cant results to our drugs
and alcohol problems, with
partnerships between
tribal programs and ser-
vices, Indian Health Ser-
vices, and outside alcohol
and drug providers.
Jeff Sanders
Jason Smith
Good day, Warm Springs.
My name is Jason Wesley
Smith. I am a 49 year old
Wasco tribal member (2451).
My truly amazing wife Snuffy
is a Umatilla tribal member
who was raised on the
Yakama Reser vation. We
have two beautiful daughters
who are 27 and 23. Both of
them have recently graduated
from college. We are very
proud of the accomplish-
ments that our children have
achieved, and grateful that
they strived to please their
parents and come home for
a bit after college. This means
so much as a parent.
My parents are Buck and
Susie Smith of Warm Springs.
They are very well known in
our community. I believe I
have the best parents in the
entire world, and I’m so
proud to be their son. I lost
my brother, Troy, in 1983,
and can’t imagine our relation-
ship and partnerships if we
were given the opportunity to
grow into adults together. My
family is a huge part of who
I am; my late grandparents are
Dorothy and Stanley Smith
Sr., and great grandparents
are Anne and Wesley Smith
of Dry Hollow.
I also have a brother and
sister, Butch and Lori Smith
of Madras, along with my
nieces, nephews, aunts and
uncles that are all a part of
me as well. Last, but probably
first, are all my favorite cous-
ins. I want to name them all
but not enough ink (aye). As
you can see, I am very fam-
ily oriented, and think family
is the cornerstone and back-
bone of our reservation. We
should strive to become one
Big Happy Family.
Education/work history
I graduated from Madras
High School in 1985. I went
on to receive my Bachelor of
Science Degree from Oregon
State University in June of
1991. I started working for
the tribe in September of
1991 as a Range Specialist for
the Range and Agriculture
Department. After seven or
eight years in that position I
was promoted to the Range
and Ag Manager from within
the Branch of Natural Re-
sources. I have been work-
ing on the range my whole life
as a rancher with cattle and
horses.
In the ‘90s I served two
terms on the Range and Ag
Committee. I also served on
the Inter-tribal Agriculture
Council (IAC) Board of Di-
rectors for eight years, and
five years as the vice presi-
dent of the Northwest Inter-
Tribal Ag Council (NWIAC).
From 1999-2006 I owned
and operated the very well
known Deschutes Crossing
Restaurant.
I have served as the Warm
Springs Baptist Church trea-
surer for 12 years. I have
been the president of the
Warm Springs Rodeo Asso-
ciation since the early 2000s.
I was appointed by Pres.
Obama to the Farm Service
Agency Oregon State Tech-
nical Committee.
One of my lifelong com-
mitments has been being a
member of the Professional
Wild Horse Racers Associa-
tion (PWHRA) for 33 years.
I have been the president of
the PWHRA the last five
years. I was appointed by
Tribal Council to the Warm
Springs Casino and Resort
Enterprises board for five
years, and served as chair-
man from 2014-2015. I am
also a member of the Na-
tional Tribal Horse Coalition,
which is an organization close
to my heart for the protec-
tion and management of our
tribal horse population since
its inception in 2009, and
have served as their president
since 2011.
Enough about myself, now
I would like to talk about
serving our membership, our
community, and the Confed-
erated Tribes of War m
Springs.
My name is John
Katchia Sr., and I am
seeking your vote for
Tribal Council for the
Agency District. I have
worked in logging, and at
War m Springs Forest
Products Industries.
At WSFPI I worked as
a saw filer, oiler and mill-
wright helper, then as
moulder set-up and qual-
ity control technician. My
other positions at the mill
include quality control su-
pervisor, production co-
ordinator, operations
manager, and chief execu-
tive officer.
On a personal note I
have coached teen club
basketball, t-ball and Little
League baseball.
Tribally I have partici-
pated as Housing board
commissioner, and on the
Timber Committee, and
the WSFPI board.
I have hunted for the
longhouse, first with my
uncles Harvey Tohet and
Perry Greene. Later on
Isaac Mitchell and I were
appointed as head hunt-
ers for the longhouse.
From 1999-2006 I was on
Western Wood Products
Association Technical Ser-
vices, Quality Assurance,
and grade rules commit-
tee.
My wife is Lupe
Katchia. Children are
Damion, John Jr.,
Rodney, Kara Katchia
and Danni Herkshan.
The tribes’ per capita
has gone from $100 to
$25, and a similar event
happened with our Senior
Pension. A number of our
enterprises are teetering
on the edge of bank-
ruptcy. A long series of
events have occurred to
get us in this predicament.
When the membership
voted for the Gorge ca-
sino, the wheels came off.
There were visions of
$100 million a year, with
My vision
When thinking of running
for Tribal Council, I believe
we need to be on a quest to
serve our people. We need
to keep our youth and elders
in the forefront of our deci-
sions. How do we do this? We
do this with Love, Spiritual-
ity and Unification!
We must have love for
one another, and care for all
our people. From the begin-
ning of my existence I’ve al-
ways heard of reasons, ru-
mors and recommendations
of how people should feel,
think or act towards differ-
ent families or groups of
people. In my mind we are
all good people. We can be
slow to anger, and be open
to discussions, with well
thought out solutions before
a quick knee jerk reaction.
We can change our mindsets
to that frame of thinking. We
can help one another over the
hurdle, through the hard
times, on to a promotion,
with our sincere support and
encouragement for the good
will of our people. Our good
will bring others to join our
team.
We as Indian people have
always been spiritual people.
I believe we need to step
back and take a look and see
where, and perhaps why we
prudent budgeting being for-
gotten. The thought process
at the time was the tribe
would easily become fiscally
solvent with gaming profits.
Dollars from the mill and
Power and Water Enter-
prises were greatly reduced
at the time of the Gorge
vote. The price of whole-
sale electricity dropped, and
the price of logs in the mar-
ketplace dropped by as
much as 600 percent.
Spending by the tribe in-
creased dramatically. Mil-
lions were spent to try and
gain favor for the Gorge
casino. The revenue spend-
ing imbalance quickly emp-
tied the coffers of the tribe.
Winning a mismanagement
of the forest lawsuit gave a
brief reprieve. Unfortu-
nately, prudent budgeting
was not done, and the rainy
day buffer was emptied. The
enterprises bank accounts
were drained.
There are bright spots to
look forward to, such as the
cannabis initiative, with a
$28 million revenue stream
anticipated. The cultivation
of hemp should also be con-
sidered.
The Moody and Culpus
farms should be a jump-
start in the use of our se-
nior water rights. Central
Oregon has almost reached
the limits of water usage. It
appears we are in a use-it or
lose-it situation. Groundwa-
ter use has to be considered
also.
have wandered, and strive to
start a path back to where
our Elders have once had us.
Unification is strength. We
are weak if we are divided
and not one. No matter the
district, the tribe, or the last
name, we are still War m
Springs.
Let’s band together and
become the power that we
once were. Let’s forgive and
forget, and remember that
together we can all work side
by side towards success.
Then to the grind, jobs,
jobs, jobs
It seems that “jobs” is what
we’ve been hearing about for
years now. How do we best
create and maintain jobs? By
actively creating our
economy. If we promote eco-
nomic opportunities, support
business developments, pro-
vide education opportunities
and incentives, develop rec-
reational opportunities (just to
name a few), we will be well
on our way.
We need 100-plus small
businesses that make a buck,
or even break even, that will
employ a tribal member or
two. Looking for one silver
bullet that will solve all our
financial problems is maybe
unrealistic. Maybe a franchise
or two, a warehouse, a mall
All the business ven-
tures have sovereignty is-
sues that need close at-
tention. We have circum-
vented our self determi-
nation rights through
NOAA, Marine Fisher-
ies, federal Fish and
Wildlife, gaming com-
pacts, OLCC rules and
regulations.
The various tribal
committees need to have
a greater voice in the ac-
tivities of the tribes. The
committees ensure tribal
member participation in
the tribal government.
They give continuity of
tribal affairs, including
our unwritten laws
(Taman wit). IRMP and
funding agency regula-
tions have made tribal
wants and views irrel-
evant. Put knowledge-
able, credible tribal
people on the commit-
tees and enterprise
boards.
Diversity of opinion
has long been a corner-
stone of our strength.
Like spokes on a wagon
wheel, there are many
paths to the center of
truth or accomplishment.
The world of com-
merce is flowing, moving,
changing. If we are to
thrive, we need to be in
stop with the times. Our
challenge is to remain
true to our core beliefs,
and change the tribes into
a sustainable organiza-
tion.
Having dealt with nu-
merous changes, we will
have to deal with the
normal negative passive-
aggressive resistance to
change. In closing, I
would urge you to get out
and vote in the Tribal
Council election. If you
read this, I thank you for
your time.
John Katchia Sr.
with food courts: these can
help build our local economy
that we need here in Warm
Springs.
We are a resource rich
tribe that can explore many
possibilities to utilize our land.
Sovereignty is a powerful
word, we need to exercise it.
We have existing tribal jobs
and departments that can
think “outside the box.” We
need internships with colleges
and trade schools. We can
even create our own local in-
terns with our own criteria.
Many of our people have
special needs or handicaps
that need careers and em-
ployment as well.
This is just a start to some
ideas, concepts and possibili-
ties. We can work as a team
so that we as a tribe can
implement and start achieve-
ment into some great possi-
bilities.
Thank you
I want to take the time to
thank the membership for
giving me the opportunity to
run for Tribal Council and
serve our people. It’s a very
prestigious honor to be a
nominee and given a chance
to be a the table with our well
respected elders, Chiefs and
leaders. God Bless,
Jason W. Smith