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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2000)
MAY 1, 2000 5 v fir 3 iifwi TxT', 'V ,. "terra: tw 5:00 p.m. Meeting called to order by Kathryn Harrison, Tribal Chair. A full Council was present. Ed Pearsall moved, Earl "Butch" LaBonte sec onded to approve the previous March 23, 2000 Tribal Council meeting minutes as submitted. Motion carried. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE Pendleton CTGR Tribal Logo Blankets Replenished. Earl "Butch" LaBonte moved, Val Grout seconded to approve the purchase of 250 turquoise Pendleton CTGR Tribal Logo Blankets. This order is to replenish the Tribe and the Casino with blankets to sell to tribal members, tribal em ployees, and to the public. Motion carried by unanimous vote of Council. TRIBAL GOVERNMENT, MANAGEMENT & BUDGET SUBCOMMITTEE D Willamina School District Readerboard Donation. June Sell-Sherer moved, Ed Larsen seconded to approve a donation of $500 to the Wil lamina School District 30J Athletic Department to assist in the purchasing of a new readerboard. Motion carried by unanimous vote of Council. D ATNI 2000 DelegateAlternate Appoint ment and Membership Dues. Earl "Butch" LaBonte moved, Bob Haller seconded to adopt Resolution No. 048-00 which appoints Ed Larsen as Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) Delegate and Ed Pearsall as ATNI Alternate Del egate, instructing them to become members in good standing with ATNI in order to fulfill their respon sibilities as official delegates to ATNI and each will continue in this capacity for a period of one year from the date of appointment and to approve the payment of $2,000 to ATNI for renewal of mem bership for CY2000. (26 votesmembers 3,001 an over). Motion carried 6-0-2. Ed Larsen and Ed Pearsall abstained. D Amendments to Davidson Property Pur chase & Sale Agreement. Bob Mercier moved, Ed Larsen seconded to adopt Resolution No. 049-00 authorizing the Council Chair, with the assistance of the Tribal Attorney and the Natural Resources Department, to finalize amendments to the Purchase and Sale Agreement (1) extending the closing date until September 15, 2000, and (2) extending the due diligence period for an ad ditional 45 days. Motion carried 8-0-0. D Cultural Site Development. June Sell Sherer moved, Bob Mercier seconded to adopt Resolution No. 050-00 approving an additional expenditure of $2,400 to the Cultural Site Bud get for safety fencing near Agency Creek. Dis cussion followed. Motion carried 8-0-0. LEGISLATE SUBCOMMITTEE D ODOT Contribution. Earl "Butch" LaBonte moved, Val Grout seconded to approve a contri bution of $10,000 to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to assist with the instal lation of "rumble strips" on Hwy. 18. The money will be pulled from the Tribe's contingency fund. Motion carried by unanimous vote of Council. D Termination of Parental Rights Proposed Policy. Ed Pearsall moved, June Sell-Sherer sec onded to approve the Termination of Parental Rights proposed policy 1 and this policy will be presented to the tribal membership for comments. Motion carried by unanimous vote by Council. -X 1 "TB W f . 1 ..m Spring is here and tribal members are urged to take advantage of the good weather to con tinue the community's long-standing tradition of caring for family gravesites at the tribal cemetery. Old flowers and various trinkets left on gravesites become debris and need to be cleared away from time to time. "Traditionally, families would come down here and take care of their graves and have a family get to gether. Now, most people just bring flowers and leave them," said cemetery caretaker and tribal El der Russ Leno. "This is an important place, we should take care of it." Leno said some families still take good care of the gravesites and take pride in it. He would like to see a return to the tradition of taking care of the graves. Tribal members should be thankful for the present condition of the cemetery. The entrance road used to be covered with scotchbroom and families followed trails to get to their gravesites. Leno said he understands the reasons families place mementos and he wants the membership to know that he cares. He said he enjoys talking to the fami lies when they visit. "If somebody gives me a name I can pretty much tell them where to find the gravesite," said Leno. Leno will also assist families who want to put names on unmarked gravesites. Trees, plants and bushes can be planted near gravesites but, consideration of where those trees can be planted should be discussed with the cemetery staff prior to placement. Dear tribal members; Hello, my name is Kent Clevenger, my roll num ber is 2689. First of all, I would like to thank the Tribal Council and everyone who works so hard to bring these wonderful benefits to our tribal members. The reason for my letter is to let you know of a need I would like the Tribal Council to consider. This is the need to provide (if necessary, at cost) health insurance for our non-tribal mem ber spouses. I am self employed. My wife Lisa works for our company and also takes care of our 14V6 month old son. At present, I purchase health insurance for her through our company, but I must be en rolled on the insurance in order for Lisa to obtain coverage. As you may be aware, the cost of health insurance is rising; therefore I am paying to cover myself as well as Lisa when I am currently cov ered under the Tribe's insurance. I ponder how many other tribal members are in the same situa tion? I would like to propose to the Tribal Council to make available health insurance to our non-tribal member spouses, for a fee. It would definitely save my family money if we only had to pay premium for one person instead of two. I would like to take this time, in advance, to thank you, the Tribal Council members for your time and consideration of this request, I know you are very busy keeping things in order to provide the best for all of our tribal members. Hopefully, you will understand my predicament and give this matter some serious consideration. Thank you for your time. Respectfully, Kent Clevenger, Roll 2689 PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPT. 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, OR 97347 1-800-422-0232 (503) 879-2190 Fax: (503) 879-2173 To the Editor, The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are committed to the local community, the greater com munity, and to the tribal membership. That com mitment is for education, job opportunities, hous ing, health and family well being, and the culture and heritage of our Indian people. Thank you, Chair Kathryn Harrison, for the quote from your trip to Eugene wherein a gift of $100,000 was given from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund to the Eugene Library Foun dation. Your quote is, "When you have a pur pose, anything is possible." Thank you Christine Mercier, mother of Marine First Class Keoki Santos. You described your son, who was in the Osprey military plane crash, "He was a fine Marine. He was so proud and we were so proud of him. He had wanted to be a Marine since he was old enough to walk and talk." Thank you John Mercier, capital projects man ager, for your quote at the community meetings. "Everyday we are constantly challenged by try ing to find a place to put something or someone. These projects are the desire of our Council. Your requests do not fall on deaf ears, but they do have to be worked into a plan that is realistic." Thank you Val Grout, Tribal Council member, for your understanding that the Tribe is a family organization and the community meetings are a way to extend the family beyond the center of tribal authority in Grand Ronde. Thank you, Smoke Signals staff, for writing these stories and quotes. It puts a human face and emotion to our business of everyday existence. Sincerely, Claudette Parazoo, Roll 2923 Dear tribal members, I'm writing to tell people how devastated I was when I found out the Health and Wellness Au thority let go of three mental health counselors. There was no warning to clients and no time for closure. Many of our tribal members depend on counselors for a variety of reasons. The support ive relationship between counselor and clients is an important and meaningful one. It's horrible to have this kind of relationship severed without warning. It's a huge loss for myself and others. It feels like the decision was made without regard to the people being served. I hope in the future the decision makers will consider the effects a de cision like this will have on so many people, and will take the time needed for a positive transition, a chance for some closure on these relationships and allow clients to feel dignity and respect for the process. We have a right as a client to be treated with dignity and respect. I feel that right has been violated. Sincerely, Christine Contreras, Roll 3431 Thank You We would like to thank all our family and friends for the surprise 50th birthday party and the sur prise 25th wedding anniversary party. We were both deeply touched. Thank you very much, Mike and Sue Giffen JUSTIN PHILLIPS 879-2190 BRENT MERRILL 879-2321 KIM MUELLER . ............879-2264
