18
S moke S ignals
APRIL 1, 2015
Tribal Council adopts emergency plans
New custodian also selected for Tribal investment portfolio
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council adopted two plans
on Wednesday, March 25, that
will guide Tribal actions in case of
natural and human-caused emer-
gencies.
The Natural Hazard Mitigation
and Emergency Operations plans
were created by Emergency Oper-
ations Coordinator Jamie Baxter
with help from Tribal staff, Oregon
Emergency Management, the Ore-
gon Health Authority and adjacent
emergency management agencies.
“Both of these plans are extreme-
ly important to the Tribe,” said
Tribal Police Chief Al LaChance
during the Tuesday, March 24, Leg-
islative Action Committee meeting.
“The Hazard Mitigation Plan will
serve as a template for identifying
mitigation strategies for respond-
ing to disaster events and repetitive
loss events,” an executive summary
states.
In addition, Baxter said the plan
makes the Tribe eligible for federal
hazard mitigation grants before
and after a disaster.
The Emergency Operations Plan
will serve as a guide for plan-
ning for and responding to special
events, emergencies and disasters.
It will be sent to the state Office
of Emergency Management and
will be updated annually based on
drills, exercises and actual events.
Tribal Council also appointed
Northern Trust Co. as the new
custodian of the Tribe’s investment
portfolio based on a recommenda-
tion from the Tribe’s investment
consultant Robert W. Baird & Co.
“Tribal Council has recently
approved moving the custody of
the Tribe’s investment portfolios,
including members’ and minors’
trust fund assets, from Wilmington
Trust Retirement and Institutional
Services Co. to Northern Trust,”
Tribal Finance Officer Chris Leno
said. “Recognizing that Wilmington
Trust has been the Tribe’s trustee
for 12 years, and in an effort to be
prudent in ensuring the services
provided by Wilmington were com-
petitive amongst the marketplace,
in February 2013 Tribal Council
directed that the services provided
by Wilmington be put out for bid.
“After a long search, Northern
Trust was identified as the trust
company that could provide the ser-
vices required by the Tribe in a much
more secure and technologically
advanced environment for the same
price as paid to Wilmington. North-
ern Trust’s transaction, processing
and reporting software provides
additional resources for monitoring
the portfolio that will be researched
after the initial implementation that
is scheduled for July 1.”
Northern Trust was founded in
1889 and currently services and
manages $5.91 trillion in assets
worldwide.
“Northern Trust is a market
leader of asset servicing and asset
management solutions for institu-
tions and private clients around the
globe,” Leno added.
In other action, Tribal Council:
•Approved applying for a $7,000
Institute of Museum & Library
Services grant that pays for a
part-time Tribal Library aide and
e-readers, among other items.
•Approved applying to the Oregon
Youth Development Council for
two grants. The two-year, $94,828
Youth & Innovation grant would
fund planning and creation of a
community mural each year and
the two-year, $245,717 Youth &
Community grant would fund
family tutoring nights and relat-
Elders’ phone numbers wanted
The Tribal Elders Committee is compiling a volunteer phone list of Elders.
If you would like to submit your phone number and address to be available to
other Elders, send it to elders.committee@grandronde.org or leave a message
at 503-879-2231. n
ed cultural activities, as well as
a family engagement navigator.
•Approved the enrollment of one
infant into the Tribe and accepted
four voluntary relinquishments of
Tribal membership.
Also included in the March 25
Tribal Council packet were autho-
rizations to proceed that instructed
Leno to proceed with establishing
a Wells Fargo checking account
to be used to process per capita
distribution payments internally
starting in June, transferred funds
from contingency to the Enrollment
Committee to host the upcoming
Northwest Enrollment Conference
in October and authorized the
Veterans Special Event Board to
work with Tribal Engineer Jesse
White to design and purchase a
5-foot diameter logo of the Tribal
Color Guard patch to hang above
the grand entry entrance of the
powwow grounds arbor.
Tribal Council member Jon A.
George, LaChance, Cultural Educa-
tion and Outreach Program Manag-
er Kathy Cole and Tribal Elder Debi
Bernando opened the meeting with
cultural drumming and singing.
The meeting, in its entirety, can
be viewed on the Tribal website,
www.grandronde.org, under the
News tab and then click on the
Video link. n