S moke S ignals
MARCH 1, 2016
5
A meeting of councils
Wood Village oicials
visit Tribe to discuss
Greyhound Park’s future
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
The Grand Ronde Tribal Council
hosted the Wood Village City Coun-
cil in Grand Ronde for a meeting
in Council Chambers on Friday,
Feb. 19.
Wood Village is home to the shut-
tered 31-acre Multnomah Grey-
hound Park that was purchased by
the Tribe last year for $10 million
as an economic development ven-
ture.
Wood Village is one-square mile
of land eight miles east of Portland
off of Interstate 84. It is home to
fewer than 4,000 citizens and fea-
tures a variety of commercial and
industrial businesses. Historically,
the city is located within the tradi-
tional homelands of the Cascade
and Clackamas Chinook Tribes.
After visiting Wood Village in No-
vember after the Greyhound Park
purchase became public, Grand
Ronde Tribal Council members
returned the favor and hosted the
Wood Village City Council, which
included Mayor Patricia Smith,
City Manager Bill Peterson, Coun-
cil President Timothy Clark and
councilors T. Scott Harden, Bruce
Nissan and Jimmy Frank.
Tribal Council hosted the visit,
which included tours of the Tribe’s
cultural center and museum com-
plex, Chachalu, then on to Uyxat
Powwow Grounds, achaf-hammi
plankhouse, Tribal housing and
lunch at Spirit Mountain Casino.
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno, who was joined by council
members Jon A. George, Chris
Mercier, Ed Pearsall, Tonya Glea-
son-Shepek, Denise Harvey and
Brenda Tuomi, began the meeting
by sharing the Tribe’s history and
providing background for the tour
of the Tribal homelands.
Also in attendance were Tribal
staff members Titu Asghar, who
is the Tribe’s Economic Develop-
ment director and his department’s
Administrative Assistant Meghan
Zimbrick, Chief of Staff Stacia Mar-
tin, Tribal Attorney Rob Greene
and Finance Oficer Chris Leno.
Leno said that the Tribe was
terminated in 1954 and restored
in 1983. He said there are cur-
rently about 5,300 Grand Ronde
Tribal members who live all over
the world.
Leno said that the Tribe’s eco-
nomic practice follows the wishes
of its Elders and includes Tribal en-
dowments, as well as that the Tribe
harvests and sells approximately 7
million board feet of timber annual-
ly from the Reservation lands.
Leno then talked about the im-
portance of powwow events each
year and the grounds, and what the
structures at the powwow grounds
mean to the Tribe’s culture.
“It’s a remarkable achievement,”
said Smith of the Tribe’s accom-
plishments. “I’m excited about
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council member Jon A. George, right, talks about the Tribe’s ceded
lands with Wood Village Human Resources and Records Manager Greg Dirks,
left, and Wood Village City Councilor T. Scott Harden during a visit of city
oicials with Tribal Council on Friday, Feb. 19. Wood Village oicials took a
tour of Grand Ronde, including the Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center.
our partnership with you. You’re
investing a lot of money in our town
and other businesses are looking
forward to you being there.”
“You want to diversify and I think
that’s a good thing,” said Clark. “I
applaud you.”
When Clark inquired about what
the Tribe has planned for the prop-
erty, Leno said that Tribal Council
has been busy running a govern-
ment.
“I can honestly say from our dis-
cussions that we’re waiting for that
building to come down before we
can really have a view,” said Leno.
“There are going to be a lot of things
that are going to be looked at. We
haven’t even got to that point yet.”
Asghar said the meeting was an
informational exchange. He said
the Wood Village City Council visit
also served as an opportunity to
learn more about each other.
“We had a very nice, very frank
conversation,” said Asghar. “Obvi-
ously, we are acquiring land in our
ceded lands. It has cultural and
economic significance to us. Our
goal for this acquisition is economic
diversiication.
“We invited them to come here
as a cultural exchange and to come
and see who we are. I think it was
fabulous. I think they were very
impressed. They’re hoping when
we develop something there that we
will bring our culture there.”
Culture is important to the lead-
ership of Wood Village, members
said individually and collectively,
and council members also shared
that they were already working on
development in the area.
“We are very early in a program
that will develop a master plan for
the entire town center and that
includes the properties that you
all have acquired as well as the
remaining 50 plus acres that are in
a variety of other partnerships on
the site,” said Peterson. “We have
just concluded a cultural feedback
group that included the Ukraini-
ans, the Russians, the Laotians,
the Vietnamese and the Hispanic
communities; all that have pro-
vided their cultural viewpoints
about what would be important for
development in our community. I
hope that we can move forward
collectively. What is good for you
all should be good for us.”
“I think it will be,” said Smith.
“We have got to work together.”
“This has to be an ongoing part-
nership,” said George.
“Once the building is down there
will be collective shouts of joy from
all over the village,” said Smith.
“You all should take your time and
do what’s going to be best for your
Tribe and that will be best for us.
“I can’t even imagine all the hard
work and the pain that you have
all gone through with the obstacles
that have been thrown your way.
And now you have come to all this
and it’s a remarkable achievement.
I can’t even imagine how you did
it.”
Tuomi said she felt the visitors
were impressed with the Tribe’s
culture and how it cares for its
people.
“I absolutely loved this meeting,”
said Tuomi. “I got the sense from
their city manager that they would
really like to see our culture up
there. That made me feel so excited.
I think that was a very important
step for them to come here and get
to know us and see what we do. It
was vital.
“I wanted to start building a rela-
tionship. It was really exciting for
me. It really made me proud. When
they left I felt like we were saying
goodbye to friends.”
“I truly did, too,” said George.
“We want this partnership be-
cause if it can happen in Wood
Village then everybody wins,” said
Mercier. “We want the membership
to know that we (Tribal Council)
are looking ahead. Buying this
property is a sign that we are
taking this seriously and we are
exploring all of our options.”
Mercier said he sees potential for
the property.
“I’m just open to anything and it’s
a prime piece of real estate,” said
Mercier. “There are a lot of possibil-
ities there. Portland is growing and
I think any sort of venture the Tribe
can get into in the Portland area is
good. We’ve been trying to branch
out economically for years now. I
think there is a lot of potential.”
Asghar said the Tribe’s priority
is the demolition of the aging and
dilapidated Multnomah Greyhound
Park building and that that process
should begin in April. Until the
demolition is complete, the Tribe
has hired a irm to provide around-
the-clock security on the property.
“The building is completely un-
safe,” said Asghar. “The track is
overgrown as are the sheds and the
dog kennels. It has been dormant
for the last 20 years.”
Asghar said the total demoli-
tion cost to remove the existing
structure completely and have the
ground shovel-ready is estimated
at $2 million.
Another priority for the Tribe
is to hire a project manager for
site development. Asghar said the
Tribe is looking for a particular set
of skills.
“What we are looking for is some-
one who has done this before,”
said Asghar. “We are looking for
someone with past experience,
someone who understands the city,
the community and the county. We
want a stakeholder who has a stake
in the game and we want someone
everyone can trust.
“We’re looking for someone from
around here that has a relationship
with the city and with us. That will
be key. We’re looking for someone
who can manage the expectations
of the two councils.”
Asghar said a request for propos-
als has already been issued and
that a project manager should start
working in March.
The sale of the park land to the
Tribe was listed in The Village
News as the city’s biggest story for
2015. The Grand Ronde Tribe has
previously invested in Multnomah
County with the Russellville Com-
mons project, the Gregory Lofts
building and the Tribe’s Port-
land-based ofice located off Barbur
Boulevard.
Bike helmets available
The Tribe’s Social Services Department has bicycle helmets
available for distribution. Those needing a helmet need to visit the
department and sign a helmet application, as well as get itted.
For more information, contact Social Services at 503-879-2034.