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JANUARY 15, 2001
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A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe
www.grandronde.org
Oregon Senators hold Town Hall Meeting in McMinnville
By Justin Phillips
Oregon Senator's Ron Wyden
(Dem.) and Gordon Smith
(Rep.) held a bipartisan
Town Hall meeting in McMinnville
on Monday, January 8 at the Mc
Minnville Senior Center. The two
Senators have put forth a bipartisan
agenda on state issues at the start of
every Congress in which they have
served together.
The McMinnville meeting marked
the beginning of their third effort.
The Town Hall meeting was all about
questions from the community no
speeches were given. The majority
of the crowd was senior citizens who
focused much of their interest and
discussion on education, poverty and
health care.
Another topic of discussion was the
state's high gas prices. Fuel costs on
the West Coast are among the high-
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Senator Gordon Smith (Rep.) Senator Ron Wyden (Dem.)
est in the nation, with Oregon mo
torists paying about 20 cents more
than the national average.
"BP Amoco stuck it to people all
along Oregon and the West Coast in
order to perpetuate their profits," said
Wyden. "There is evidence that BP
Amoco (thought they) could make up
any lost revenue with higher West
Coast prices."
Wyden said he asked President Bill
Clinton to renew a ban on Alaska
crude exports that was in effect from
the Arab oil embargo of 1973 until
late 1995, when Congress lifted it.
Wyden also said Oregon needs to
be much more aggressive in terms of
addressing the issue of hunger in the
state.
"We are proud of the fact that we
are first in the country in protecting
things like our beaches. It's kind of
a dubious honor to be first in the
country in terms of hunger and
higher gas prices, so we have got to
deal with the hunger issue and a
number of programs with low-income
people much more aggressively," said
Wyden.
For most of the meeting, it ap
peared Wyden and Smith were on
the same page.
Smith said Republicans and Demo
crats need to work together now more
than ever.
"It is really catching on," said
Smith of bi-partisanship. "People are
starting to see how important it is."
Native Youth Learn to be Leaders
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By Lisa Leno
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde hosted the American IndianAlaska
Native Leadership Academy at Spirit Mountain Casino on J anuary 10.
Teresa Henry, Willamina High School Native American Club President pro
vided the welcome for participants, which included 96 Native youth from the
Portland and Salem-Keizer Title DC programs, Chemawa Indian School, Wil
lamina Middle School and Willamina High School.
' Presenters included Chance Rush, Brent Florendo and Tony Johnson. Each
provided workshops and activities that encouraged our youth to be leaders while
supporting positive choices, increased interest in culture and leadership skills.
The day was a great success, and shows the dedication of our youth to be
strong leaders of our future.
Thank you to Ila Dowd for giving the invocation and the Eagle Beak Singers
for their songs. Thanks to Spirit Mountain Casino for great service.
fifif
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Community of Oregon
9615 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347
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Casino, Tribal Court make Presentations
at January's General Council Meeting
By Brent Merrill
The first General Council meeting of the year was held on Sunday, January
7 at the Tribal Community Center in Grand Ronde. Personnel from the Tribe's
Spirit Mountain Casino, the Tribal Court and the Tribe's Legal Services Pro
gram all made presentations at the meeting. Here are the highlights:
Michael Moore
Casino's new CEO
D CASINO PRESENTATION
Spirit Mountain Gaming, Inc. Board of Director's
Chairman Mike Larsen introduced the casino's new
President and CEO Michael Moore to the General
Council. Larsen gave a brief history of Moore's
past experience in the gaming industry.
Moore introduced newly appointed Chief Finan
cial Officer Ty Huff to the membership and Huff
detailed this year's casino profits and per capita
distribution. Huff has been the acting director of
the finance program until his recent appointment
to the permanent position.
Moore introduced newly appointed Marketing
Director Denise Ban to the membership. Barr has
been the acting marketing director since Chuck Galford left Spirit Mountain
last year.
Barr explained what the marketing department at the casino does and
what events they have planned for the coming year.
Barr announced that legendary bluesman B.B. King will perform at Spirit
Mountain on Wednesday, March 14. Barr said that former NFL Lineman
Ed "Too Tall" Jones will be at the casino on Super Bowl Sunday (January
28) to sign autographs and visit with fans. Jones played a long career for
the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL before switching to professional boxing.
Moore then fielded questions from Tribal members about marketing and
how to improve employee turnover at the casino.
Larsen then introduced consultant Len Bergstein to the membership.
Bergstein sits on both the Spirit Mountain Gaming, Inc. and Spirit Moun
tain Development Board of Directors.
"There are two areas that are vitally important to the long-term health of
the Tribal economy," said Bergstein. "The economic picture and the regula
tory picture will be very important to the Tribe in the future."
Bergstein said the board of directors tries to track the performance of the
casino in relation to the performance of the general economy.
"As a board, we will be looking into this relationship," said Bergstein
will be looking out for the Tribe's assets."
"We
D TRIBAL COURT PRESENTATION
Tribal Court Administrator Angela Fasana explained to the membership
that the Tribe has had a court in place since 1990. Fasana introduced the
continued on page 6