S moke S ignals
JUNE 15, 2017
5
Public hearing attempts to capture Tribal priorities
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Twelve Tribal members testified
during a public hearing on Trib-
al priorities and budgeting held
Sunday, June 4, in the Tribal gym
about numerous subjects, such as
not losing public transit service to
Lincoln City, a new sweat lodge,
morale of Spirit Mountain Casino
employees and increased economic
development efforts.
The meeting, which started 20
minutes late due to technical dif-
ficulties, began with good news
when Tribal Council member Chris
Mercier said that the opening of
the Cowlitz Tribe’s casino north of
Vancouver, Wash., in late April is
not hurting Spirit Mountain Casi-
no’s revenues as much as predicted.
“People will be relieved to know
it is not adversely impacting us
as much as we thought it would,”
Mercier said. “This is kind of new
territory for us because for the
last 22 years Spirit Mountain has
always been the premier gaming
destination in Oregon. It has served
this Tribe really well.
“This is our first encounter with
real competition so we thought it
would be a good idea to do some
soul searching for the Tribe in
terms of services that we offer our
membership. What would people
like to see if we start feeling the im-
pacts adversely and we are looking
at cutting back on services?”
Tribal lobbyist Justin Martin has
previously estimated that the open-
ing of the Cowlitz casino potentially
could cost the Grand Ronde Tribe
as much as $100 million annual-
ly while the
draft Tribal
budget for
2017 con-
servatively
estimated a
38.8 percent
decline in
casino reve-
nues that are
transferred
to the Tribal
Chris Leno
government
to fund such programs as Elders’
pensions, health care and educa-
tion.
Tribal Finance Officer Chris Leno
reviewed Tribal endowments for
the approximately 50 people who
attended the public hearing to give
them context on the Tribe’s finances.
Leno said that despite the Tribe’s
use of interest earnings on the en-
dowments to fund programs, all of
the endowments are worth more
today than they were in 2013. The
Tribe is allowed to use a maximum
of 15 percent of interest earnings
annually to fund governmental
programs and operations.
A slide asked Tribal members to
consider several questions before giv-
ing their public testimony, such as:
• What do you think Tribal funding
priorities should be?
• How would you define essential
government services?
• Are there programs that should
be safeguarded from the effect of
the Cowlitz Tribe opening its new
casino?
• If there are budget reductions,
what areas should be looked at
first?
• Tribal per capita is currently at
28 percent: If there is a financial
impact, should it remain at that
percentage?
Tribal Elder Debi Anderson, who
lobbied for addressing deferred main-
tenance and an increased minimum
wage at the casino and improved
infrastructure in the Grand Ronde
area, said she thinks that if there
are budget cuts required that they
should be across the board and not
concentrated on any one department.
Tribal Elder Ann Lewis said that
she was concerned about Tribal
health funding considering the
Trump administration’s desire to
repeal the Affordable Care Act and
cut back on Medicaid funding.
Tribal Elder Linda Olson said she
is grateful for the Tribal burial fund
and that keeping rental assistance
and job training programs for mem-
bers is important.
Tribal Elder and former Tribal
Council member Wink Soderberg
said that economic development
should be a priority for the Tribe.
Tribal Elders Carol Logan and
Kathy Provost both said that a bet-
ter sweat lodge should be a budget
priority to allow Tribal members
to practice traditional religious
practices.
“I feel that every time we bring
the subject up, we are ignored,”
Provost said.
Other Tribal members who testi-
fied included Veronica Gaston, Les
McKnight, Tauni McCammon, Mi-
chael Langley, Francene Ambrose
and Joanna Brisbois.
The public hearing, chaired by
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George, allowed Tribal members
five minutes to speak. The format,
which required Tribal members to
sign up to speak and did not include
responses to questions from Tribal
Council members or staff, frustrated
several Tribal members who attend-
ed because they said they felt it
limited give-and-take conversation.
Other Tribal Council members
who attended all or part of the
public hearing included Brenda
Tuomi, Jack Giffen Jr., Kathleen
George, Denise Harvey and Tonya
Gleason-Shepek.
Comments on Tribal budgeting
priorities can be submitted to
Tribal Council Chief of Staff Sta-
cia Hernandez at stacia.martin@
grandronde.org until the end of
June. The meeting was recorded,
but was not filmed by the Tribe’s
Information Systems Department
for posting on the Tribe website.
Lunch was provided and served
by members of the Tribal Youth
Council. Soderberg gave the invo-
cation.
'Being the chairman, you are the face of the Tribe'
LENO continued
from front page
“When I think of being on council,
I always think of you are only one
of nine up here. If anybody thinks
you don’t make a mistake up here,
you’re kidding yourself membership.
I think, looking back on our councils
that have served, I’d like to acknowl-
edge all that they have done because
it didn’t really matter what side you
were on, especially back in the days
when I started. You always had an
outcome of something good for our
membership. That’s what it is really
all about.”
Leno challenged Tribal Council
to tackle the issues of funding the
Tribe’s health plan, protecting Trib-
al endowments with a constitution-
al amendment, enhancing culture
and protecting Tribal sovereignty.
During his time in office, Leno
has been a staunch supporter
of veterans’ issues based on his
service in the U.S. Marine Corps
during the Vietnam War.
Leno was instrumental in start-
ing the Veterans Summit, which
has been held for four consecutive
years before the annual Marcellus
Norwest Memorial Veterans Pow-
wow in early July. He also was
appointed by Gov. Kate Brown to
the Oregon Department of Veter-
ans’ Affairs Advisory Committee
in March 2016.
Leno also has been an avid sup-
porter of regaining Tribal sover-
eignty, working for reinstatement
of Tribal hunting and fishing rights
that were lost during negotiations to
obtain Reservation land in the 1980s.
In 2015, the Tribe authorized 46
Tribal Reservation hunting tags
and set Tribal hunting seasons for
the first time since the Tribe was
restored. In 2016, Tribal members
harvested salmon at Willamette
Falls for the first time in approxi-
mately 120 years.
He also has been vocal about
protecting Tribal endowment funds
and thanking previous Tribal lead-
ers who established the funds for
the future of the Tribe.
“Being a lifelong friend of Reyn’s,
seeing his commitment to his peo-
ple and his community I have
certainly admired,” Steve Bobb
Sr., who served six years on Tribal
Council with Leno, said. “The thing
that I have seen him spearhead in
his longtime position as a council-
man are certainly his commitment
to our youth and their education,
the care of our Elders with housing
and foster care, seeing to doing all
we can to not only recognize but
care for the issues of our veterans.
“One of his strong points has al-
ways been finance, our endowments
and staying on top of the direction
of those who handle the Tribe’s
investments.
“But, most of all, his endurance
to the overwhelming pressures of
being a council person. My hat is off
to Reyn, and those who wear that
hat every day.”
“Reyn has been a staunch believ-
er and prodder in our Natural Re-
sources,” Tribal Council Vice Chair
Cheryle A. Kennedy said. “Because
of that, we have an endowment
because of his concern that this
was something that had profited
the Tribe and will go on into the
future. I appreciate your attention
to that detail.”
Kennedy said Leno’s dedication
to helping veterans will be a legacy
that lives on in the Tribe.
Bobb said being Tribal Council
chair requires a person to be the
“face” of the Tribe and that Leno
performed the role well.
“Being the chairman, you are the
face of the Tribe,” Bobb said. “He
has been, in my opinion, a good face
of the Tribe and of the Grand Ronde
community. Not everybody can be
the face of the Grand Ronde Tribe.
I think a lot of people think they
can be, but I don’t think everybody
can take that spot and be the rep-
resentative and be at the forefront
and be the face of the Grand Ronde
Tribe. I think he has.”
“You don’t get elected to seven
straight terms on accident,” Tribal
Council member Chris Mercier
said. “That shows that you have
earned a lot of trust from people
and support from people. I would
never question the fact that you
love this Tribe and you have com-
mitted a lot of your life to it, and
I will express my admiration for
the fact, and this might surprise
some people, that you are able to
maintain your sense of humor a lot
in this job and sometimes this job
tests your ability to maintain your
sense of humor.”
Leno’s announcement opens the
door for new blood on Tribal Coun-
cil since he has been a perennial
top vote-getter. In 2014, he received
558 votes. During his seven runs
for Tribal Council, Leno received
a cumulative 3,140 votes, which
averaged 449 votes per campaign.
Also up for re-election in 2017
are incumbents Chris Mercier and
Tonya Gleason-Shepek, neither of
whom announced their re-election
intentions during the Tribal Coun-
cil meeting.
Leno is the son of Orville and
Ramona (McKnight) Leno and the
grandson of David and Emma Leno
and Thomas and Elvira (Langley)
McKnight. He has been married to
his wife, Liz, for almost 46 years
and has three children: Shonn
Leno, Dustin Leno and Angela
(Leno) Fasana. He also has eight
grandchildren and one great-grand-
child on the way.
Leno said that he will still be
around, helping Bobb, who is the
Veterans Special Event Board
chairman, with veterans’ issues
and events, as well as continuing
to serve on the Department of Vet-
erans’ Affairs committee.
However, Leno said, he is looking
forward to the freedom of not being
weighed down with Tribal Council
chairman responsibilities.
“I am going hunting without a cell
phone,” he said.