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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2003)
JULY 12003 Smoke Signals 5 Margaret Provost I . I Dear Tribal members, L m It is with honor and respect that I address k ', ' ' "w vnn mv fpllnw TVihnl momliore Munamo is Margaret Provost and I am running for a Tribal Council seat in our Tribal election. I ask that you seriously consider me and vote for me. Most know the contribution that I've made for the Tribe throughout the years and I pledge to continued to work diligently, hon esty and objectively for the best interest of our membership. The Tribe has accomplished a lot since our restoration in 1983 and the Tribal Council must seek ways to build on our strengths and not be distracted by the negative. I will work and encour age the Tribal Council to focus on issues so that we can readily achieve the goals set before us. This is not the time to let individual differences interface with the development of our Tribe. There are so many important issues that require immediate attention, they are Education for all from the cradle to our Elders, health benefits that are coordinated so that the member gets the fullest benefit, job op portunities so that poverty no longer exists with our members and contin ued Elders retirement benefits. Our Corporations, Spirit Mountain De velopment, Spirit Mountain Gaming, Housing Authority and Health Au thority have had good success and it is time that our members be em ployed in all contracts that are let through these entities of the Tribe. Complete economic development means that our members are included in that sector of our business, I will strive to bring this matter to the forefront. Enrollment has struck at the heart of many of our members and has divided families. As your elected official I will earnestly work to correct this grievous error. I invite you to share me your solutions and options that may not have been considered and I will carry your input forward. Families are the center of our Tribe and our culture is the glue that holds us together and distinguishes us as Indian people. As I have stated before, our culture must be revitalized, that is why I strove to be placed on our Culture Committee. Many avenues are being developed that will pave the road to assure that the basis, culture, for our Tribe is secure. My goal is to have to have a cultural approach in place that all members can tap into our culture resource and contribute and learn as we move forward. We have all been informed that there are business problems within the Tribe, many are attributing to putting all our faith in outside experts, a plan must be developed so that we do not get into this situation again. I believe that this plan must be presented to the membership so that all can rest assured that our resources are being handled ethically and prof itably. Thank you for this opportunity to share what is in my heart. Margaret Provost, Roll 645 P.O. Box 343, Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 Jack Giffen, Jr. Jack Giffen Jr. Roll 182 No matter if you live near or far away; I will be your voice at the council table! I'm a proud Native American, my sole purpose for running for council is to rep resent the voice, of every Tribal member, not just a few. When elected I will edu cate myself on your requests and concerns. I will be the spokes person at the council table for you, and get back to you on the issue. I will not make any other specific promises, except one, I will strive to make sure every members welfare and future will be protected and enhanced for generations to come! The continuing development of an honest and open Tribal Gov ernment is the foremost issue. In my vision of the Tribe's future, an equal mix of communication from members and the council will pro mote strong economic growth and long term stability. Achieving financial stability through education and a strong mentorship program is the base for full funding of all Tribal endow ments. In voting, we hold the key to unlock the future of our next gen erations. I ask each one of you to educate yourself on the candidate's and vote! Tribal Ancestry: D Great- Great Grand- grandparents Dave and Tilmer Leno, and ; XM. A Cecile Leno and John Warren. B Great-grandparents Frances Houck Porter, Abe and Maude War ren Hudson. B Grandparents Dewalt and Arvilla ( Granny ) Hudson Houck. B Mother Arlene Houck Giffen Beck. Education: B Brookings Harbor High School B 2 Years University of Oregon B Attending collage part time to complete an A.A. in Accounting and a B.S. in Business Administration. Training: B ISO 9000 B Facilitator B Oregon Auto Parts Board of Directors B Spirit Mountain Gaming Leadership Training. B Co-owner and manager of Auto Parts Business. i "X) 1 i Lynn "Bear" Robertson My name is Lynn (Bear) Robertson; Roll 3682. I will be skipping the pedigree portion of my introduction, but will say I am of Kalapuya descent. I have worked for our Natural Resource Department in the fire program for over seven years. I am currently enrolled in OSU (Oregon State University) taking fire science and fire ecology, I have dual internships for the summer, I will be working for Cultural Resource Department at OSU as a Cul tural Tech I, fulfilling requirements for my Tech II certificate. I will be working on research project burns in the Lava Beds National Monu ment in California with a Fire Ecologist from the Fish & Wildlife Department. I will still be actively participating with our Tribal Vet erans Color Guard, that I've been a member for five years. You may ask, where do I get the energy with four children ranging from 18 to an infant? I recently remarried and with my wife's support I am ready for this challenge and running for office. Accountability and trust is the foundation for my campaign; There is little or no accountability from our present council, it's no secret they are divided into two groups when it comes to voting on Tribal business, when this happens their judgment becomes impaired with prejudice of each other and effects sound decision making. We need separation of our Tribal government from getting involved in em ployee matters including nepotism of Tribal Council members fami lies. We need accountability of our Tribal Council members to stop sub-contracting for the Tribe, including their immediate family mem bers (i.e. brothers, sisters, wives, sons, daughters). Such as, cleaning contracts for Tribal offices when we already have full time House keeping staff employed, why should we pay extra for this service?. I think that all council members should hold themselves to a higher moral character while serving as elected officials, I think the remov ing of the ethics ordinance was wrong, I think Tribal Council was hasty in their decision to remove this ordinance. We have every right to expect them to operate inside the boundaries of the laws put in place 20 years ago that hold them responsible for their actions while on council. I support several key issues important to our Tribe, complete en rollment of all Tribal descendants, Health care outside the nine coun ties. I believe there should be no distinctions between on and off reservation when it comes to services, all membership should have access to the same table we eat from here on the Reservation. I am big on preservation of culturally significant areas on and off reser vation. I support getting more of our membership working for our Tribal ventures through mentorship programs that will eventually replace the non-Tribal employee, with fully qualified Tribal Mem bers. Education is something I know we need as individuals and as a nation. I support "Wise" per-capita payments not to be used as bargaining chips during re-election. I support separation of our Tribal government from running the daily functions of departments and leave that up to the highly qualified and paid Managers in our em ploy. Trust is what I ask from you this election year, the same trust I ask from our brothers and sisters when I ask them to step into a forest fire with me. The trust I have for the fire fighters I follow into a fire. The trust that compels us to move forward not knowing what lies ahead of us, but the trust in knowing we cannot go back. Vote for Accountability; Vote for Trust, Vote for me. Web Link, www.bear4grandronde.20m.com Lynn (Bear) Robertson.
