S moke S ignals
january 1, 2014
Tribal field trip
Veterans benefit session slated
Jerry Wilson, Yamhill County Veterans Service Officer, will be on hand
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, in the Tribal Community Center to
answer questions for veterans seeking to access military benefits.
He will answer questions about what benefits are available, what the eli-
gibility requirements are, and help with claim forms and the documentation
needed to file claims for benefits.
All services will be provided free of charge and veterans need to bring their
DD214 (military certificate of discharge).
Veterans should check in with Social Services receptionist Rhonda Leno at
503-879-2034. For more information, contact Wilson at 503-434-7503. n
Help wanted
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Willamina High School senior Mark Kirksey asks Tribal Council
members about how the Tribe is working to improve water quality on
the Reservation during a field trip to the Tribal campus on Tuesday,
Dec. 17. Kirksey was among about 0 Willamina High School seniors
who spent two hours watching Tribal Council’s Legislative Action
Committee held that day and then asking questions of the nine
members in attendance. Tribal Court Administrator Angela Fasana,
who is the Tribe’s liaison on the Willamina School board, said it
was the first time Willamina High seniors had visited the Tribe on a
field trip. “You are really part of history,” Fasana told the students.
Tribal Council members also fielded questions about the state fish
consumption rate, how the Tribal budget is created, what their
day-to-day routines are like and why they decided to run for Tribal
Council. The field trip complements several other Tribal efforts to
teach Willamina School District students about the Grand Ronde
Tribe, including development of a fourth-grade curriculum that
teaches Tribal history and is being instituted this school year. About a
third of the students attending Willamina schools are Tribal youth.
Elder bingo moved
Elder Bingo will be held at 12:30 p.m. the second and fourth Saturday
of the month at the Elders’ Activity Center. For more information, contact
Elder Activity Assistant Daniel Ham at 503-879-2233. n
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s 477 Employment and
Training Program and Land and Culture Department have resources
that can be utilized along with community members who have a pas-
sion for gardening or want to learn the art of agriculture.
If you are a Grand Ronde Tribal or community member and want
to be a part of the planning, preparation and cultivation of the Tribal
garden and orchard site for next year’s planting season, contact Bar-
bara Gibbons at 800-242-8196, ext. 2135, or e-mail barbara.gibbons@
grandronde.org. n
EFFECTiVE NOW
For all income criteria programs, wage verification for past 60
days (wage stubs) will need to be submitted. If client has not worked
for a period of time, client will need to submit a printout from their
State Employment Office or printout from Oregon Self-Sufficiency
Office as verification of income. Rental/deposit or utility assistance
may be utilized only one time in a 24-month rolling calendar pe-
riod and is not to exceed the maximum contribution of $1,000 per
household within any 24-month rolling calendar period.
Medical Gas Vouchers
Social Services will not provide gas vouchers for medical ap-
pointments, counseling or drug & alcohol treatment. The only
exception to this is for scheduled treatment plans (i.e.: radiation,
chemotherapy, surgery, etc.) that have caused hardship on the
family. Medical gas vouchers can be distributed to meet the need
of the circumstances.
A copy of all scheduled treatment plans must be received before
client is eligible to receive this service. Assistance will end on the
date of the last treatment appointment.
For a complete copy of policy or questions, contact Tammy C.
Garrison at 503-879-2077. n
‘Plans have a purpose’
PLAN continued
from front page
measure, said George. “It should be
useful and it should lead to more
predictable outcomes achieved
more efficiently,” he said.
Prioritizing department activi-
ties tied to performance measures
allows Tribal Council to feel more
comfortable about spending Tribal
money, Johnston said.
All this will mean “doing things
differently,” George said. “Efficien-
cy, cost controls, reaching goals and
being effective all require better
organization, teamwork and more
focus on costs and benefits and the
outcomes of the Tribe’s work.
“Plans have a purpose,” he said.
“And one of the purposes is to make
sure all employees know how they
fit with the purposes of the Tribe’s
work focused on the same goals and
objectives.
“The result is making life better
for Elders, children, employees, all
Tribal members and, likely, it is
helping the broader community.
“Those results are
explicit outcomes of
the 2010 Strategic
Plan. Our job now
is to make sure we
get there and we
do it as effectively
and efficiently as
Rick
possible.”
The Tribe began
George
its governmental
strategic planning work with the
release and completion of its Grand
Ronde Reservation Plan in 1985.
With that plan, the first elected
governments of the Tribe imple-
mented the requirement of the
congressional requirements for
Restoration of federal recognition
– the negotiation for and establish-
ment of new reservation lands.
A new vision statement in the
first strategic plan created in 1995
came at a time when the Tribe was
building itself from almost scratch
– when Spirit Mountain Casino was
a plan on paper and most of the
Tribe’s new revenues came from the
commercial timber program. n