S moke S ignals
APRIL 15, 2017
5
General Council becomes TERO informational meeting
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
EUGENE – Maybe it was the
general despondency throughout
the state regarding the previous
night’s loss by the University of
Oregon Ducks in the Final Four.
Or perhaps it was a sunny day
with highs approaching 60 degrees
after what has been a long, cold and
rainy winter.
Or, more likely, it was a combi-
nation of both.
Whatever the reason, the Sun-
day, April 2, General Council meet-
ing held at the Valley River Inn in
Eugene failed to reach quorum,
which is 30 Tribal members per the
Tribal Constitution.
General Council was just one
Tribal member short of quorum,
but after reaching the 11:15 a.m.
deadline and still only having 29
Tribal members in attendance,
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George was forced to cancel the reg-
ular meeting per Tribal ordinance.
However, the planned program pro-
ceeded as an informational session
for the members who did attend.
Tribal Employment Rights Office
Interim Director John Mercier pre-
sented a 30-minute overview of the
TERO program.
“TEROs were started by a group
of people that were very concerned
about employment on Indian Reser-
vations,” Mercier said. “TEROs are
nothing new. There are 300 TEROs
nationwide. In comparison, the
Grand Ronde TERO is relatively
new.”
Mercier said the Grand Ronde
Tribe previously practiced Tribal
preference in hiring with relatively
weak results. He said that after 30
years of development of the Tribal
campus, as well as Spirit Mountain
Casino, Tribal preference “created
Photo by Dean Rhodes
Tribal Employment Rights Office Interim Director John Mercier discusses the
Tribe’s TERO program during an informational session held Sunday, April 2,
at the Valley River Inn in Eugene. Since a quorum of 30 Tribal members was
not attained, the regularly scheduled General Council meeting was canceled
and the agenda proceeded as an informational session only.
only minimal employment opportu-
nities” for Tribal members.
“The Tribe wanted improved
employment opportunities for Trib-
al members who wanted jobs,”
Mercier said. “It was as simple as
that: People wanted jobs. So Grand
Ronde started building a TERO.”
Tribal Council approved the
Grand Ronde TERO Ordinance
in November 2013 to ensure that
Tribal members have a chance to
participate in economic activity on
or near the Reservation.
The ordinance was enacted to
address unemployment or under-
employment near the Reservation,
to eliminate barriers Tribal mem-
bers face while seeking employment
and to ensure the legal structure
is in place so that Tribal members
receive their rightful entitlements
under the concept of Indian pref-
erence.
Mercier said the newly appointed
TERO Commission, which over-
sees the TERO program, includes
Chairman Russell Wilkinson, Vice
Chair Diana George, Secretary
Wink Soderberg and member Ca-
mille Mercier. There remains one
vacancy on the commission.
There are currently 317 Tribal
members in the Grand Ronde
TERO Skills Bank who repre-
sent 34 different Native American
Tribes. Mercier said that TERO’s
goal is to see between 10 percent
to 20 percent Tribal employment
on covered projects within its ju-
risdiction.
The Tribe also signed a memo-
randum of understanding with the
Oregon Department of Transporta-
tion that runs from January 2014
through January 2019 that permits
the Tribe to enforce Indian prefer-
ence in hiring on federally funded
road construction projects within a
60-mile radius of the Reservation.
“Our employees in TERO are
hired as employees of the contrac-
tors, not employees of the Tribe,”
Mercier said. “They go onto the
contractors’ payroll. They must be
paid the same as other employees
and must receive benefits.”
However, Mercier said, employ-
ees must adhere to company pol-
icies. “It’s a two-way street,” he
said. “We’re making a preference in
hiring, but that doesn’t give TERO
workers an entitlement that they
have preference in treatment.”
TERO also offers training op-
portunities, such as the March 30
traffic control flagger certification
held in the Employment Services
Center in Grand Ronde that had
20 participants.
Mercier said that Grand Ronde
is one of three Oregon Tribes with
a TERO agreement with the state
Department of Transportation. He
suggested that any Eugene-area
Tribal members with appropriate
job skills sign up for the Skills
Bank.
Anyone with questions regarding
TERO can contact the Tribal office
at tero@grandronde.org.
In other action, it was announced
that the next General Council
meeting will be held at 11 a.m.
Sunday, May 7, at the Tribal Com-
munity Center in Grand Ronde.
Debi Anderson, Clifford Olson
and Lisa Crawford won the $100
door prizes while Monty Parazoo,
Wilkinson, Tracie Meyer, Esther
Lagoy and Celia Randolph won the
$50 door prizes. In addition, five
turkey and/or ham certificates and
two necklaces made by George were
raffled off.
After lunch, approximately 15
Tribal members remained to par-
ticipate in the final community
input meeting regarding possible
advisory votes that may be held in
the future. n
Name changes in Tribal Court
Tribal Court provides both minor and adult name changes to enrolled
members for a filing fee of only $30.
If you have any questions or would like to request a packet, contact
Tribal Court at 503-879-2303. n
Ad created by George Valdez
Ad created by George Valdez