Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1994)
A Message From Tribal Council Salary Consideration The purpose of this statement is to address concerns regarding the compensation package adopted for Tribal Council. We, the Tribal Council of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, recognize the importance of considering the concerns and recommendations of the General Council. We encourage input from the General Council and it is our intent to carefully examine, discuss, and act upon any recommendation brought forth by them. Although General Council input is important to the Tribal Council, the actions we take may be different than those proposed. However, we will always give concerns and recommendations reasonable consideration. To better understand the actions of Tribal Council, it is crucial to understand the responsibilities and authority delegated to the Tribal Council through the General Council through the Tribal Constitution. Tribal Council is given broad authority for decision-making. With this authority comes great responsibility. We recognize the importance of making sound decisions because the decisions we make today will affect our tribe for generations to come. If the Council makes a poor decision or a series of poor decisions, tribal growth can be stunted, or in the worst case, termination could result Tribal Council must always look to what is fair and best for the tribe as a whole rather than meeting the needs of one, a few, or a specific family. It is with this in mind that Council has made the decision concerning our compensation package. Tribal Council considered many factors prior to arriving at a decision. First, we had our Personnel Director conduct a survey of other Tribal Council's compensation packages. The results of the survey indicated compensation ranging from serving as a volunteer (for small tribes with limited resources) to annual salaries up to $45,000 (for tribes with more resources). These salary ranges were based on service and responsibility to respective tribe and not necessarily actual time spent "on the job". Council also instructed our Personnel Director to develop a single, generic job description for the six Council members who are not officers, and to update job descriptions for the three officers. The generic job description was rated as Grade 1 1 based on the Tribe's classification system. Based on this rating the compensation range would start at $34,000 annually. Itisimportantto note that the Tribe'sclassification system was designed for the employeremployee relationship and does not consider many the characteristics of an elected office. The exercise was performed to give Council a point of reference with regard to our compensation. Given the shortcomings of applying the Tribe's classification system to an elected office, it was not intended to be the final determination. Council also examined other factors before coming to a decision on the compensation package. One factor considered was the Tribal Council salary history. Originally, from 1975-1984 Council served on a volunteer basis. After Restoration, 1984-1988, Council received $5.00 per hour based on committee activity. In 1989, Council pay was increased to $8.00 per hour with cost of living increased each year until 1993 at which time the Council was making $9.28 per hour. In 1993, due to tight budgets, Council took a pay decrease down to $600 per month. This compensation was a base salary rather than hourly. While reviewing the history, Council also examined how the work load had changed over the past 10 years. The issues in the beginning, while difficult, were focused first on recognition of the Tribe, and then the establishment of a reservation. As Council succeeded in the pursuit of these projects, the complexity of issues increased. With the addition of each new program, the number of issues and their complexities continued to grow. This is a trend Council expects to persist as we continue to expand services and areas of involvement. As these issues grew, so did the need to acquire information in order to make sound decisions. Council now has an enormous responsibility to stay informed on the current issues the Tribe faces. As well, Council must consider potential issues and how they might affect the security of the Tribe. Staying informed is partially accomplished by attending national forums, such as Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) and the National Congress of American Indians (NC AI). Other information is acquired through vital outside contacts (local, state, national), and staff. Much of the information comes to Council in written form. Therefore, a great deal of reading is required to stay abreast of the issues. Finally, information is shared between Council members during the many planning, work group, and Tribal Council meetings we have. We also considered our responsibility for the high level of input and negotiations we are engaged in. Tribal Council is not only involved with national forums to gather vital information but also participates and has input in the formation of national policies. Many times national forums require tribal leaders and decision-makers to attend so that quality input can be gleaned from this leadership. Grand Ronde is known as a tribe dedicated to hard work and perseverance because its representatives consistently stay through to the end of these national forums. We also have continuous contact and often have negotiations with numerous local, state, regional, and national organizations, individuals, and governments. Another factor we considered in raising the Tribal Council salary was the nature of responsibility we owe to the Tribe. As Council members, we are expected to be available not only to the administration and our constituents, but also to each other. As situations arise, or people have questions and concerns, we are expected to commit adequate time to address the situation or answer the question. In essence, we work on call. This results in our time becoming fragmented. Fragmented to the point where each of us would be unable to hold down other conventional employment and still meet our tribal responsibilities. For example, the time requirements one week might be every day, the next week only one day, while the next week may demand travel over the weekend. As Council, we have the responsibility to keep our schedules flexible in order to meet the needs of the Tribe. Based on the above criteria, we believe it is in the best interest of the Tribe to maintain the compensation level for the Tribal Council at the rate of $25,000 annually, which was approved for the 1994 budget. The following is an explanation or our reasoning: First, based on the demands of an increased work load, including the expanding number of the complexity of issues, this substantial increase was needed to bring Council's salary up to a reasonable level. It is important to note, we believe there will not be another salary increase of this size in the foreseeable future, as long as the cost of living increases are maintained. 'Also, this salary adjustment is similar to those experienced by many of the Tribal staff. Second, the amount chosen as reasonable was founded in part on the survey of other tribal council's compensation. Finally, we believe this compensation level will ensure the opportunity for Council members to stay informed on the vast number of issues Tribal Council deals with. Given the time commitment to accomplish this, it would be extremely difficult for a Tribal Council member to secure other employment and still fulfill Council responsibilities. Tribal Council recognizes and stands by our oath of office, to work for the good of the Tribe. It is our intent with this decision and all decisions to look out for the best interest of the Tribe. We thank the General Council for your concern and look forward to accomplishing great things for the Tribe. Tribal Council Advisory Recommendation The following Advisory Recommendation was presented to the General Council and Tribal Council members at the General Meeting Sunday, February 6. It was compiled by Angie Leno, amending the Tribal Council's decision regarding their salary increase. It was voted on by the General Council members who were present, and passed by a vote of 43 YES and 12 NO. We, the members of the General Council, present at this meeting, an advisory vote: The Tribal Council shall have the following hourly rates: Chairman: $16.83 Vice-Chair: $9.62 Secretary: $9.62 Remaining 6 Council members: $7.70 The hourly rates are based on a yearly salary listed below: Chairman: $35,000 Vice-Chair: $20,000 Secretary: $20,000 Remaining 6 Council members: $16,000 The salaries shall not exceed these amounts, and the following stipulations shall also apply: 1 . Council members shall keep journals accounting for their hours, and these journals shall be turned over to the Chairman or any tribal member wishing to see them, in order to justify their hours. 2. The Council Chairman shall be responsible for signing time sheets. The Chair will be held accountable for verifying hours if necessary. 3. Those Council members working more than 40 hours per week will be required to use that time as compensation, which means they will not receive overtime pay. 4. Council members shall not be allowed to claim travel mileage to and from headquarters. 5. From now on, Council will only receive raises based on evaluations of their performances, and shall not exceed $.75 per hour, occurring only once per year. Excluding cost of living increases. Concerns About Council's Increase Pay Tribal members: With the great concern over Tribal Council's pay increase that they voted themselves in December, we feel that we have yet to find any justification for a $16,000 increase for basically the same job duties. These feelings are not only ours but many tribal members'. The advisory vote that was held at the February General Council meeting supports our concern over this. In a meeting of approximately 70 people, 43 voted to have the Council take an hourly rate that would justify the variable hours they work. Only 1 2 people voted to let them keep the raise. After a month of waiting we finally received a response. We feel this response (left) is very questionable and misleading. We have requested to be put on the agenda for the April 10 General Council meeting, to once again address this issue. We would appreciate any questions or concerns regarding this issue, and encourage membership attendance. Full Tune Chairman Salary was: $33,000 Our recommendation: $33,000 Current after raise: $40,000 Full Time Vlce-Chalr Salary was: $23,000 Our recommendation: $20,000 Current after raise: $33,000 Full Time Secretary Salary was: $20,000 Our recommendation: $20,000 Current after raise: $30,000 Part Time remaining members "Salary was: $9,000 Our recommendation: $16,000 Current after raise: $23,000 We did not realize at the time of the advisory vote that the positions of Chairman, Vice-Chair, and Secretary were full-time positions. We feel it would be fair to give each of them an increase of $3,000, which would make their salaries as follows: Chairman: $38,000 Vice Chair $28,000 Secretary: $23,000 Reyn Leno & Angela Leno
