4 JANUARY 1, 2006
Smoke Signals
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
10 a.m. Meeting was called to order by Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle
Kennedy. A quorum was present.
Present was Angie Blackwell, Jack Giffen, Jr., Cheryle Kennedy, Reyn Leno,
Chris Mercier, Jan D. Reibach, Kathleen Tom and Wesley "Buddy" West
Excused was Wink Soderberg (personal leave)
Invocation was done by Jan D. Reibach.
PREVIOUS MINUTES APPROVEAMEND
Reyn Leno moved, Chris Mercier seconded to approve the November 09, 2005,
Tribal Council regular meeting minutes as presented. Motion carried 6-0-1. Jack
Giffen, Jr. abstained.
NEW BUSINESS:
LEGISLATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE
2005 BIA Transportation Project Priority List for the Grand Ronde
Tribe. Angie Blackwell moved, Reyn Leno seconded to adopt Resolution No.
174-05 approving the Grand Ronde Tribe's 2005 Transportation Project Priority
List which will be incorporated into the Tribe's new Tribal Transportation Plan.
Motion carried 7-0-0.
Amended UBS Bank USA Line of Credit Signature Authorization. Jan
D. Reibach moved, Chris Mercier seconded to adopt Resolution No. 175-05
updating the authorized signatures for the Tribe's UBS Bank USA Line of Credit
Transactions. Discussion followed. Motion carried 7-0-0.
Amended Tribal Investment Accounts Signature Authorization. Chris
Mercier moved, Wesley "Buddy" West seconded to adopt Resolution No. 176
05 updating the authorized signatures for the Tribe's Investment Accounts.
Motion carried 7-0-0.
H SMGI Compensation Gaming Director. Jack Giffen, Jr. moved, Chris
Mercier seconded to adopt Resolution No. 177-05 approving the starting sal
ary and contract terms recommended by the Spirit Mountain Gaming, Inc. Board
of Directors for Jerry West as Gaming Director for Spirit Mountain Gaming,
Inc. Motion carried 7-0-0.
SMGI Compensation Chief Financial Officer. Reyn Leno moved, Jack
Giffen, Jr. seconded to adopt Resolution No. 178-05 approving the starting salary
and contract terms recommended by the Spirit Mountain Gaming, Inc. Board of
Directors for Roy Rhode as Chief Financial Officer for Spirit Mountain Gaming,
Inc. Motion carried 7-0-0.
Enrollment Infant Determinations. Jan D. Reibach moved, Reyn Leno
seconded to adopt Resolution No. 179-05 approving four (4) infants numbered
5520 through 5523 for Tribal membership, because, based on the investiga
tion and recommendation of the Enrollment staff, the infants have been found to
meet the eligibility requirements for enrollment as defined in the Enrollment
Ordinance and Tribal Constitution. Motion carried 6-0-1. Angie Blackwell
abstained.
NOTICES
Betty Bly 3544 attended an Enrollment Requirements Ad-Hoc Committee
meeting recently and inquired as to the directions given to the Ad-Hoc Commit
tee from council. Council member Leno attended the initial meeting and ad
vised the committee members to look to the 1999 Constitutional Enrollment
amendment and to review membership requirements. No update has been given
to the council so far. Vice-Chair Blackwell directed Ms. Bly to the resolution
adopted to establish the Enrollment Requirement Ad-Hoc Committee. Ken
Trevino, Chair of the Enrollment Ad-Hoc Committee stated that the members of
the committee will advise the membership after their review and research has
been digested.
Elaine LaBonte 2271 raised concerns over Spirit Mountain Gaming, Inc.'s
hiring procedures regarding Tribal member preference. Chairwoman Kennedy
stated that the Spirit Mountain Gaming, Inc.'s Board of Directors will be meet
ing and will be addressing this concern.
Betty Bly 3544 asked the following: a. Has the council come to any decision
for those who received a letter regarding disenrollment. Chairwoman Kennedy
advised that the council passed a resolution to suspend the disenrollment pro
ceedings on 35 members who were enrolled in error pending Tribal Council's
further consideration of the issues surrounding Tribal enrollment. The council
is awaiting a final recommendation from the Enrollment Requirement Ad-Hoc
Committee and then a decision will be made. b. Asked that regular reports from
the Enrollment Requirement Ad-Hoc Committee be made to the membership by
way of the General Council meetings. Chair Trevino stated the Committee plans
to advise the membership as soon as information has been gathered and digested.
Lori Walker 2273 and a member of the Grand Ronde Coalition for a Drug
Free Community asked for approval to place a locked drop box by the Governance
Center bulletin board. Information collected will be shared with Polk and Yamhill
County authorities. Discussion followed. The council will take it under consid
eration after consulting with the Acting General Manager and the Tribal
Attorney's office.
Maxine Rock 1173 stated the following: a. Raised concerns regarding the
alleged reduction of funding within the Health & Wellness Behavioral Health
program. Chairwoman Kennedy advised that the council is not planning to di
minish funds for the program within the proposed 2006 budget. All Tribal pro
grams are under review for reorganization but no decisions have been made by
the council, b. The NARA program doesn't work for our Tribal members in her
opinion; she would rather see the Tribe consider managing its own program.
Chairwoman Kennedy stated that no recommendations had come forward to the
council regarding managing similar program(s) that are offered at NARA. Such
a program would be very costly to manage. Per Chairwoman Kennedy funds for
NARA generally are provided from Multnomah County. Grand Ronde has no
say in the program. Legislative action prevents such intervention by a non-urban
Tribe such as Grand Ronde. Council member Kathleen Tom asked the Act
ing General Manager Chris Leno to review whether NARA is addressing the needs
of methamphetamine addiction. Discussion followed. Chris Leno will pull the
information and report back to the council, c. Asked how the tobacco preven
tion grant dollars are being used by the Tribe. Kim Rogers, Manager of Policy &
Planning, stated that the funds are from the state and are used to help pay for a
part of a job position, informational services, decrease availability of tobacco in
places, etc. d. Do Tribal members have any say in the proposed 2006 budget?
Chairwoman Kennedy advised that all Tribal members have a say in the 2006
budget. Comments may be heard through December 15, 2005, either verbally
or in written form. An extension was given this year to hear comments, due to
a delay in the mailing process to Tribal members.
Jackie Leno Grant 895 and Manager of the Education Department announced
that the Department will be offering on Wednesday, December 7, 2005, a spa
ghetti dinner from 6-8 p.m. at the Willamina High School for any high school
aged students interested in securing financial aide andor scholarships for higher
education.
D Denise Harvey 1874 asked why the Methamphetamine Task Force is under
the Social Services program and not the Behavioral Health program. Vice-Chair
Blackwell advised that the Task Force is not under any Tribal program. The
Social Services Department and the Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority ini
tiated the task force. The Behavioral Health program has been invited to at
tend, but has not actively been involved. The Methamphetamine Task Force
Committee members are culturally knowledgeable, have past experience with
the issue, take clients to treatment(s) and follow-up care, and are there to listen
to their needs. Chairwoman Kennedy stated that any information from the task
force obtained will be shared with Tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
11 a.m. Angie Blackwell moved, Reyn Leno seconded to adjourn the meet
ing. Motion Carried.
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
5:00 p.m. Meeting was called to order by Tribal Council member, Reyn Leno.
A quorum was present. Tape recording begins from this point forward.
Appointment of Acting Tribal Council Chair Jan D. Reibach moved, Jack Giffen,
Jr. seconded to appoint Reyn Leno as the Acting Tribal Council Chair for the
meeting. Motion carried 5-0-1. Reyn Leno abstained.
Appointment of Acting Tribal Council Secretary Wesley "Buddy" West moved,
Jan D. Reibach seconded to appoint Jack Giffen, Jr. as the Acting Tribal Council
Secretary for the meeting. Motion carried 4-0-1. Jack Giffen, Jr. abstained.
Present was Jack Giffen, Jr., Reyn Leno, Jan D. Reibach, Kathleen Tom, Wink
Soderberg and Wesley "Buddy" West
Excused was Angie Blackwell (personal leave), Cheryle A. Kennedy (personal
leave) and Chris Mercier (business travel).
Invocation was done by Jan D. Reibach.
PREVIOUS MINUTES APPROVEAMEND
Wesley "Buddy" West moved, Wink Soderberg seconded to approve the No
vember 23, 2005, Tribal Council regular meeting minutes as presented. Mo
tion carried 5-0-0.
NEW BUSINESS
LEGISLATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE
0 Education Committee Appointment. Wesley "Buddy" West moved, Jack
Giffen, Jr. seconded to adopt Resolution No. 180-05 appointing Shelby Olson
Rogers to the Education Committee as a full member, with a term to expire on
December 31, 2007. Motion carried 5-0-0.
D Election Board Appointment. Wink Soderberg moved, Jan D. Reibach
seconded to adopt Resolution No. 181-05 approving the appointment of Bernice
Jensen to fill an open position on the Election Board due to the resignation of
Ruby Bigoni, with term then ending April of 2007. Motion carried 5-0-0.
B Running Bear Rock Quarry Development Cost Funding. Jack Giffen,
Jr. moved, Wink Soderberg seconded to adopt Resolution No. 182-05 authoriz
ing the funding of Running Bear Rock Quarry development costs of $2 13,800
from the Economic Development Fund that were originally funded through the
FY2005 Contingency Budget and reimburse the FY 2005 Contingency Budget
for this amount. Motion carried 5-0-0.
B Ft. Yamhill Access Road Development Cost Funding. Jan D. Reibach
moved, Wink Soderberg seconded to adopt Resolution No. 183-05 authorizing
the funding of Ft. Yamhill Access Road development costs of $168,300 from the
Gaming Dividend Fund Balance that were originally funded through the FY2005
Contingency Budget and reimburse the FY2005 Contingency Budget for this
amount. Motion carried 5-0-0.
B Chemawa Station LLC Capital Contributions Funding. Jack Giffen,
Jr. moved, Jan D. Reibach seconded to adopt Resolution No. 184-05 authoriz
ing the funding of the Chemawa Station LLC capital contributions of $1,232,000
from the Long Term Business Fund that were originally funded through the
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