Smoke Signals
SPECIAL SECTION - JULY 1, 2001
Ed Larsen
My Dear Tribal Members:
Hil For those of you who don't know me,
my name is Ed Larsen. Once again, I come
to ask for your support. I am asking you to
vote for me for Tribal Council.
Below are some of a few reasons I think
you should:
1.) I have almost nine years experience.
I am just finishing up my third consecutive
term. The last two as your Tribal Council
Vice-Chair. I have been able to grow and
change as needed to keep up with the
Tribe's tremendous success and growing pains.
2. ) I am a good listener. I say this because many of you have told
me this is so. I truly take it as a huge compliment that some of you
had not met called me and said you had heard that if you contacted
me, I would try to help.
3. ) When you call, it doesn't have to be limited to office hours. I
take calls after hours and weekends. A lot of them at home.
4. ) I am a people person. I can get along with just about everybody.
Probably 99.5.
5. ) This personality trait I have just mentioned has helped me build
relationships not only with my fellow Tribal Council members, but out
side the Tribe as well.
6. ) I have represented you on various boards and committees. Some
are Tribal and some are not. Some of my involvement besides day-today
matters are:
' a.) The non-Tribal are: Y-CAP of Yamhill County, Head Start of
Yamhill County, SIT (Services Integration Team) of Polk County,
and the Transportation Committee for COG (Council of Govern
ments) for Mid-Willamette Valley.
b.) The Tribal are: SMDC (Spirit Mountain Development Corpo
ration), SMGI (Spirit Mountain Gaming Incorporated), SMMCI
(Spirit Mountain Management and Consulting Incorporated) and
a Health Authority Board member and liaison.
A few things I want to see done:
1. ) Figure out a better way to answer questions from the member
ship. Maybe this could be done with more community meetings.
2. ) Although we have continued to reach out further to Tribal mem
bers, I think we need to explore the possibility of a satellite office.
Possibly try one in the Portland or Eugene area.
3. ) Put insurance on non-Tribal spouses, no matter which spouse is
the Elder. As long as one is an Elder.
4. ) Do some more research to see about getting Spirit Mountain
back.
5. ) Keep a balance of programs and per capita payments so ben
efits can be more equitable no matter where you live or how much you
make.
These are just a few of my thoughts and concerns. If you have any
questions for me, feel free to call me at 503-550-9797 or 503-550-9796.
I remain committed to serving you as always. This is the only prom
ise I can make to you. Other things require the vote of at least five
Tribal Council people.
When I first ran for council almost nine years ago, I paraphrased
John F. Kennedy. I said, try not to think "what can the Tribe do for
me?" Instead - try to think "what can I do to help my Tribe?"
Now I would like to say "you can please some of the people some of
the time, you can please all the people some of the time. You can
even please some of the people all the time. But you can't please
all the people all the time."
I thank you for your time to read this. If you don't know me, maybe
we can meet at the candidate forum in July.
I ask you to be sure to register to vote. Hopefully when you vote one
will be for me. Thank you.
Yours truly,
Ed Larsen
Renaldo (Quinelle) Minjarez
Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
My name is Renaldo (Quinelle) Minjarez.
I am a Tribal member of the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde, member 962. I
understand that one of the first questions
on everyone's mind is "what family are you
from?" hence (Quinelle). My mother was
Charlotte Quinelle, daughter of Leonard Jo
seph Quinelle and Lizzette Warren. My fa
ther was Ricardo Jacoba Minjarez, son of
Gertrude Perry and Edward Minjarez. I was
raised by my grandmother Gertrude Perry
(Walla WallaModoc?), daughter of Edward
Perry (Walla Walla) and Madlene Thomason (Modoc?). Okay! Enough
of the family tree!
I have been and remain, and always will be an active advocate for the
Native American, American Indian, Indigenous People, regardless of the
term preferred, "our community." I was raised with the longhouse
Washat religion and learned the meaning of family and community. My
grandmother was a mover in the urban struggles of Native Americans
primarily in the Portland, Oregon area. Which accounts for me starting
young in the issues of "cultural preservation," and the plight of the "Ur
ban Indian Organization," this ranged from cultural preservation, social
services, emergency assistance programs, housing development, com
munity development to ICWA and family advocacy.
What are my issues in this election campaign?
Logically my issues are your issues. A primary responsibility of mine,
as it should be for others, is to bring your voice to the ears of the Tribal
Council and to advocate nbt only verbally, but assist in the develop
ment of proposals to present your issues in a more empowering man
ner. The fundamental truth is that the Tribal Council will not OK or
resolve every issue, however this just means we look at other alterna
tives to address the issues.
a. ) Family and community? We need to foster family unification and
preservation. Family and community should be approached in the same
manner, as the children are our future, so are we the future of our
parents now Elders in our community. As we ask of children so should
we follow those instructions to fulfill a responsibility, and honor to see
that the needs of our community are met now and in the future. As a
family (community) we need to support our youth and Elders through
empowerment programs and continue leadership programs.
b. ) Tribal programs and services? The Tribe as a whole has done a
phenomenal job. However, we need to support and empower all our
programs so that they can meet the vast needs of our community,
and see that they reach their optimal capacity utilizing every possible
means to meet this objective.
c. ) Quality of living? We need to see that quality of living is met in
our community.
d. ) Casino and timber? We need to ask the questions "What if
we did not have the timber and casino anymore? What would we
do?" By asking the question now, we should look at other economical
strategies to insure the future of our Tribe in the worst case scenario.
Education:
National Technical School (Los Angeles, CA) - Computer Technologies
Grantsmanship Center - Grant Writing
Portland Community College (Portland, OR.) - GED - Micro Computer
Applications - Business Computers - Accounting
Roosevelt High (Portland, OR.), James John Elementary (Portland, OR.)
Professional Roles and Positions (80's to Present):
President - Portland Native American Inter-Tribal Council (lifetime
membership)
IncorporatorChief Executive Officer - Computer & Technology Con
sultation (owner)
President - American Indian Association of Portland (general mem
bership) IncorporatorTreasurer - Low Income Housing for Native Americans
of Portland, Oregon.
Treasurer - Philippine American Chamber of Commerce (business
membership)
Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, Instructor - Kon-A-Way Til-Li-Kum,
PC (partner)