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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2002)
6 OCTOBER 1, 2002 Smoke Signals Wednesday, August 14, 2002 5:04 p.m. Meeting was called to order by Tribal Council Chairwoman, Cheryle Kennedy. A quorum was present. Present was Val Grout, Bob Haller, Cheryle Kennedy, Butch LaBonte, Ed Larsen, Reyn Leno, Ed Pearsall, June Sell-Sherer. Excused was Jan D. Reibach. Reyn Leno moved, Val Grout seconded to approve the August 1, 2002 council meeting minutes as submitted. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS TRIBAL GOVERNMENT, MANAGEMENT & BUDGET COMMITTEE B Culture Committee Honorary Membership Appointment. TABLED. Margaret Provost has accepted her honorary membership with the Culture Committee. The committee has unanimously voted her in. We are now requesting the Tribal Council to make the final decision of Margaret Provost in the Honorary Membership position. This was a posi tion held by Gene LaBonte. Ed Pearsall moved, June Sell-Sherer sec onded to table the resolution regarding the appointment to the Culture Committee. Motion carried 7-0-0. B Home Repair Grant Program Expansion and Reallocation of Funds. Reyn Leno moved, Ed Pearsall seconded to adopt Resolution No. 139-02 establishing a pilot Home Repair Grant Program in 13 Or egon counties, effective 10-01-02 through 3-31-03; and releasing $60,000 from the Tribal contingency fund for Grand Meadows and reallocate to the Home Repair Grant budget for Home Repair projects located in the 13 Oregon counties outside the Housing Authority 10 county service area. Motion carried 7-0-0. B Grand Meadows Release of Funds and Reallocated to Minor Medical Adaptation Grant. Val Grout moved, Reyn Leno seconded to adopt Resolution No. 140-02 authorizing the amount of $30,000 be re leased from the Tribal contingency fund for Grand Meadows, and reallo cating the $30,000 to the Minor Medical Adaptation Grant budget. Mo tion carried 7-0-0. B Housing Authority Board of Commissioner Appointment. June Sell-Sherer moved, Reyn Leno seconded to adopt Resolution No. 141 02 appointing Michael Watkins as Commissioner of the Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority to fill the vacant position on the Board of Com missioners for a term expiring March 20, 2005. Motion carried 7-0-0. B General Committee Ordinance Amendments. TABLED. That the Tribal Council adopt a resolution (1) approving the amendments to the General Committee Ordinance; (2) rescinding the following ordinances as of the effective date of the amendments to the General Committee Ordinance: Education Com mittee Ordinance, Elders' Committee Ordinance, Health & Human Services Ordinance, Pow-wow Committee Ordinance, Timber Com mittee Ordinance, (3) recognizing and establishing the following committees under the General Committee Ordinance: Culture Committee, Education Com mittee, Elders' Committee, Enrollment Committee, Fish & Wildlife Committee, Pow-wow Committee, Royalty Committee, Rodeo Com mittee, Timber Committee, Veterans' Committee, Veterans' Memo rial Ad-Hoc Committee and (4) requiring the above-mentioned committees to be in compliance with the amended General Committee Ordinance and to submit by laws to the Tribal Council for approval by November 1, 2002. June Sell-Sherer moved, Ed Larsen seconded to table the resolution adopt ing the General Committee Ordinance Amendments. Motion carried 7-0-0. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE B Public Safety Ordinance. Butch LaBonte moved, Bob Haller sec onded to adopt Resolution No. 142-02 adopting the Public Safety Ordi nance. Motion carried 7-0-0. OTHER BUSINESS B A Tribal member shared concerns regarding the cut back in hours of services for Tribal children at the kindergarten age. Cliff Adams, Gen eral Manager, will address this issue. B Richard Sly, Director of Yamhill County Adult Corrections, located in McMinnville, Oregon stated his appreciation of being provided a tour of the Tribal facilities, especially of the opportunity to view the new Tribal Education complex. He encouraged the council to extend invitations to students in the community to share in the Tribe's culture and values. B A Tribal member expressed concerns over services received within the Indian Child Welfare program. Cliff Adams, General Manager, will ad dress this issue. B A daughter of a Tribal member expressed her concerns regarding the Enrollment process. Discussion followed. Cliff Adams General Manager will address her concerns. B A Tribal member expressed her concerns regarding services received from the Social Services department. Cliff Adams, General Manager, and Dave Fullerton, Social Services department Manager, will meet with the member to address her concerns. B A Tribal member asked for research assistance for his Post Graduate Studies. Chair Kennedy referred the member to Kim Rogers, Division Manager of Policy & Planning, for assistance. 5:30 p.m. Ed Pearsall moved, Ed Larsen seconded to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. B Support Staff Extraordinaire Back With the Tribe Kerrie Bowman's welcoming smile now in dentistry. v ' V "t Kerrie Bowman By Ron Karten Tribal member Kerrie Bowman has brought her welcoming smile to the Pharmacy in the Tribe's Health & Wellness, and now, after 10 months off, you can find that smile again at the front desk of the Dental Clinic. As of July, she is the new dental secretary. "I like working with people," she said. It is in her view what she does best. And, she added, "I think it's most important if you're a secretary." "You run into a lot of -1 don't know how to say it - frustrated people," she said, "especially over at the pharmacy," where the wait was often too long. Dentistry is a lot busier than she expected. "Before I came here, I never thought they were busy because I never saw any body out front, but that's because they take them in the back so quickly." She is most impressed with how flexible the staff is. Ap pointment or no, they make excep tions for emergencies and when possible, for walk-ins, too. Early mornings in particular, starting at 8 AM, are reserved for emergencies. "This morning we had four," she said. "Some days, we don't have any. No day is re ally set, where you follow what (the schedule) really says." But the den tistry section is booked up a month in advance, and every day Bowman's smile greets patient af ter patient. Bowman is very impressed, in her short time in dentistry, at all the systems set up to benefit Tribal members. "Linda Mann, hygien-ist-of-the-year a few years ago, does a lot of prevention," said Bow man. She visits HeadStart kids and puts on plays about hygiene and brushing techniques. "She makes it fun for them." She keeps track of pregnancies so when kids are born, she is able to make sure they get started with the dentist as soon as possible. She uses dental sealant to prevent cavities later on. And, said Bowman, "it's cool that an orthodontist (braces) comes in once a month." There continues to be a waiting list to get into, the pro gram, and patients have to be cav ity-free for a year before the orth odontic process begins. "(If they take care to prevent cavities,) they'll know that they'll take care of the braces," Bowman said. In addition to all the greeting, scheduling and spur-of-the-moment responsibilities of the job, Bow man says that Tribal Elders are of ten interested in who's who, so she helps out with name details when she can. Which reminds her: it's probably a good thing to note that her grand parents are Roscoe and Rosella Langley. In her free time, Bowman likes to shop at the outlet stores, both in Woodburn and on the coast. While on the coast, she enjoys taking the family four-wheelers across the sand dunes with her husband, Jeff. Her folks get a big kick out of Spirit Mountain Casino, and she some times joins them. When the work day is done, "you feel like you've really provided a service," said Bowman. B .no i
