SMOKE SIGNALS August 15, 1995 Page 5
Housing staff visits Wash. Housing Authorities
Linda Layden, Housing Pro
gram Director, Lonnie Leno,
Housing Improvement Coordina
tor, and John Mercier, Public
Works Division Manager, trav
eled to three Washington Tribal
Housing Authorities in early Au
gust to learn more about how vari
ous housing programs are devel
oping and managing housing.
Their first stop was at the South
ern Puget Sound Intertribal Hous
ing Authority (SPSIHA) in
Shelton, which serves the Squaxin
Island, Skokomish, Shoalwater,
Nesqually, Snoqualmish, and Hoh
tribes in western Washinton.
They have also developed a
corporation, Sound Development
Association (SDA), that makes
loans to these tribal homebuyers
and sells the mortgages to Fannie
Mae.
They are working with other
tribes in the area, making loans to
homebuyers, and are considering
opening up their business to all of
Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
If this is done, the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde would be
able to access the program, which
would be a valuable resource. Our
housing staff will be following
this closely!
Marysville. They seem to be quite
successful with their housing ef
forts. They are using a long his
tory of HUD Mutual Help units
as a basis for their creative new
programs. Because we do not
have any Mutual Help units with
equity over time, this model will
not work for us. They also have
HUD rental units, and stressed that
(I) it is important to have solid
policies and enforcement of the
policies, and (2) Tribal Council
must be supportive of the hous
ing staff in order to make it work.
Overall, the staff learned a lot
about various programs and saw
SPSIHA is currently building
single family homes in Shelton
and Skokomish that are made with
Insulspan foam panel walls and
meets the Super Good Cents pro
gram specifications. These homes
are roomy, modest in design, but
attractive in appearance. Some
will be sold to tribal members and
others are for rent. They have
developed a homebuyer program
with large down payment grants
which enable the purchaser to af
ford a conventional mortgage.
The second visit was with the
Lower Elwah Housing Authority
in Port Angeles. They do not have
any rental units because of the
amount of paperwork and admin
istration necessary to carry out a
HUD rental program. They par
ticipate in HUD's Mutual Help
Homeownership Program, which
will soon be replaced and not
available as it is currently struc
tured. The last visit was at the Tulalip
Housing Authority near
examples of both desirable and
undesirable housing develop
ments. This information was presented
to the Housing Advisory Board at
the August 1 1 meeting, and will
be considered when recommenda
tions are made for the Confeder
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde Hous
ing Plan.
Additionally, some useful pro
fessional contacts were made that
will be helpful as we develop pro
grams in the future.
Tribe signs agreement with Polk County Sheriffs Office
On August 2, 1995, Tribal
Chairman Mark Mercier and Polk
County Sheriff Ray Steele met
with the Board of Commissioners
in the Polk County Courthouse,
requesting their approval for two
agreements for added police
protection for the Grand Ronde
area. The first agreement was to
renew the annual contract be
tween the Tribe and County for
the Deputy position now held by
Tom O'Brien. You may recall
that the Tribal Council met with
the County Sheriff to see what
would be required to bring a
deputy to Grand Ronde, due to
the discovery of discarded sy
ringe needles in early 1994.
Overall, people residing within
Grand Ronde were happy with
the presence of having Tom
patrolling the local area. The
second agreement was to pursue
funding from the U.S. Depart
ment of Justice for a possible
extra deputy.
.i-OEc?Orfr;nr
I -:rv PtjW fTTHI
A.-- j JZ) v r
v,iimi : f - '' V"""' V I'
1 J12m i r " " "
ZZmm' - --'
Tribal Chairman Mark Mercier and Polk County Sheriff Ray
Steele signed an agreement August 2.
Commissioner Mike Propes
said he was happy with the Tribe
taking the initiative in providing
the financial assistance to have a
deputy avai lable, since the County
was unable to do so. "The amount
of money plowed back into the
County by the Tribe, far exceeds
the amount of loss of revenue due
to fee to trust transactions." He
was referring to the fact that
whenever the Tribe has the
Bureau of Indian Affairs take
lands into trust for the Tribe, the
lands are removed from the
county tax rolls. Mercier told the
Board that with the gaming
operation soon to begin, the Tribe
expects an increased need for law
enforcement, since State Route
1 8 is already the busiest two-lane
road in Oregon.
Cultural Gatherings
August 1 8 to 20: GRAND RONDE POW-WOW. Pow
wow grounds, Grand Ronde, OR. Contact: 1-800-422-0232
or (503) 879-5211.
August 18 to 20: KLAMATH TREATY DAYS CEL
EBRATION. Chiloquin, OR. Contact: (503) 783-2005.
August 18 to 20: ANNUAL CHIEF SEATTLE DAYS.
Downtown Suquamish, WA. Contact: (206) 598-331 1 .
August 18 to 20: MUCKLESHOOT ANNUAL POW
WOW. Ballfield behind the Gym, Auburn, WA. Con
tact: Mary Ross or Jeannette Morrison at (206) 939
3311. August 25 to 27: SPOKANE FALLS NORTHWEST
INDIAN ENCAMPMENT & POW-WOW. Riverfront
Park, Spokane, WA. Contact: (509) 535-0886 or (509)
634-4711.
August 25 to 27: ANNUAL MAKAH DAYS. Bay View
Ave., Neah Bay, WA. Contact: (206) 645-2201.
August 26 from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: LAKOTA OYATE
Kl INDIAN CULTURE CLUB POW-WOW. Oregon
State Penitentiary, Salem, OR. Call for clearance and
approval at (503) 378-2289, please leave message on
voice mail.
August 26 and 27: CELEBRATING TRADITIONS.
Alton Baker Park, Eugene, OR. Contact: (503) 984
1454. August 26 and 27: ALL-INDIAN FAST-PITCH NA
TIONAL TOURNAMENT. Sacramento, CA. Contact:
(916)421-0657.
August 31 to Sept. 4: SPOKANE INDIAN DAYS. Pow
wow grounds, Wellpinit, WA. Contact: (509) 258-4060.
Sept. 1 to 3: CALIFORNIA ALL-INDIAN POW-WOW.
San Juan Bautista, CA. Contact: (408) 623-2379.
Sept. 1 to 4: LEBANON POW-WOW. Lebanon, OR.
Contact: (503) 258-6193.
Sept. 1 to 4: KLA HOW WA DAYS. Tulalip Tribal
Grounds, Marysville, WA. Contact: (260) 653-4585.
Sept. 1 to 4: PUYALLUP TRIBE'S ANNUAL POW
WOW AND SALMON BAKE. 2002 E. 28th St., Exit
135 off I-5, Tacoma, WA.
Sept. 8 to 10: 1st ANNUAL MILL-LUCK POW
WOW. Mill Casino, North Bend, OR. Contact: 1-800-953-4800.