JULY 15, 2005
Smoke Signals 7
2005 Candidate Statements
0 Mike Larsen
All Tribal members,
Hello, my name is Mike Larsen and
I'm running for Tribal Council.
I believe I can do the job if given
the opportunity to serve our people.
1 have watched our Tribe grow and
achieve things that could have
only been the wildest of
dreams to our ancestors. I
have also seen the problems
that come with this growth
and change. It has been
very exciting to be a part of this, but we are only just beginning to
experience some of the bigger challenges that we must endure. We
must find out from all of our membership how we can do this. We
need Tribal Council Members who know how to listen to their
people, and provide them with answers to these problems. We
need Tribal Council Members who know how to function as part of
a leadership team. Who knows that it is okay to disagree, but also
knows how to form consensus on the very important matters that
are so vital to all of us. We also need Tribal Council Members who
know how to show respect for all of our membership, and that starts
at the top with showing respect for one another. If given the op
portunity, I can help to do these things. I will not tell you that I
can do these things alone. I can not. I can do it with the rest of the
Council.
I will try to explain to you why I want to be on our Tribal Council.
I have had the privilege and honor to serve our membership in many
ways for the past 13V& years. I have been employed by the Tribe for
13 V2 years. I have served on numerous boards for 12 years. Many
of these years as the Chairman. I still serve on the Spirit Mountain
Gaming Inc. board. I have served as Interim General Manager of
our casino on two occasions.
I have seen many things happen to us. During these times, I have
learned that we need to keep the membership as informed and
involved as possible. This involvement of members is one of the
fastest growing areas of our Tribe, and we need to do a good job of
handling matters in this area. We need to provide answers to the
hard questions that are asked by our people. No question should
be left unanswered, unless it is a breach of confidentiality. We
should be very committed to making this happen. I will make this
commitment.
I know I can do a good job, if given the opportunity to serve on
Tribal Council. If you believe I can do the job, please give me your
vote and support. I was asked why I am running by myself. . . The
main reason I have given for doing this is the fact that I believe in
our membership. I believe our membership will get out and make
the effort to vote and decide who our leaders should be. If you think
I have the ability to get the job done, complete the arrow next to
my name. I have faith and trust in all of you to make the right
decisions without someone telling you what to do. I will give you
Respect, Honesty, and Integrity. Please use your freedom of choice
as I have, and support who can do the job. Please call my home
phone if you have any questions. 503-876-3202.
Thank you.
LuuiElJ
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0 Monty Parazoo
My name is Monty Parazoo. I feel
that it is important to be on Tribal
Council to give a voice to the people
that have come before us and to pro
tect the finances and values of the
Tribe for the future generations.
As a Tribal Elder who has
lived most of my life with
out
rese
dev
termination, I know how important it is that the
Tribal government be run in a fair, honest and productive way.
I feel that the job of Tribal Council is to lead, to represent the
membership and to provide direction for the future.
You need to know something about me because I am asking for
your trust in casting your vote for me. I am the fourth of nine
children; my parents are Dorothy and Dewey Parazoo. I was
married to my wonderful wife for 39 amazing years, Louise
passed away a little over a year ago. We have two daughters
and two grand daughters.
My work history began at 12 when I started logging with my
father. I joined the Navy in 1960, I was on the aircraft carrier
USS Bennington. I worked on the crash crew on the flight deck.
After serving my term in the military I became a professional
firefighter for the City of Eugene. I attained the rank of Cap
tain and also worked as training officer for the department. I
was on the executive board for the Local 851 firefighter's union
for 12 years and then vice-president for five years. I took early
retirement due to a back injury in 1993.
Since my retirement, I have been very active politically with
the Tribe. My first experience was being chosen for the CTGR
Housing Board. I then applied and was selected for the board
of directors for Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. SMGI required a
very stringent background check. After passing this background
check I was given a Class Three Gaming license. This Primary
Management OfficerPMO license is the highest level of license
that the corporation issues.
Where I stand: Enrollment: Children of Tribal members or
descendants of any ancestor on any Grand Ronde roll should be
eligible for enrollment. Forming a committee was a good first
step but we have to stay vigilant until this problem is solved.
Tribal Finances: Tribal members should be treated as stock
holders in a unique corporation with the right to be involved in
the process with regard to major financial decisions. Casino:
Competition will not be a problem as long as we can make our
casino the best run in the country. We need to have the best
food, the best customer service, and have employees with a posi
tive attitude. Revenue: We must diversify and expand the way
we earn money. We must have a long-range plan 10 year, 20
year. Open Communication: Deliberation and decisions
should be made in a public forum in order to ensure accountabil
ity, integrity and common sense. Council needs to bring impor
tant issues to general council meetings for input. Tribal
members should be involved in decision-making. A monthly re
port from Council chair should be presented at the start of each
general council meeting. Tribal Council: A council member
must respect the position, respect the other council members
and work within the system for the betterment of the Tribe as a
whole. Conflict, chaos, and strong feelings may characterize the
process but at the end of the day, we are all brothers and sis
ters in this Tribal family.
Monty Parazoo
Roll 2620