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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2018)
S moke S ignals DECEMBER 15, 2018 7 Tribal Council approves 2019 budget By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor Tribal Council did not wait until its final meeting of the year to ap- prove next year’s budget. At its Wednesday, Dec. 12, meet- ing, Tribal Council OK’d the 2019 budget, which includes a 4.8 per- cent increase in spending over the 2018 budget. The draft budget was presented to the general membership during the Nov. 4 General Council meet- ing. Six Tribal members comment- ed during the executive session held in the Tribal gym. The draft budget also was mailed to Tribal members in the November Tilixam Wawa. During the Tuesday, Dec. 11, Legislative Action Committee meeting, Budget Manager DeAnne Norton said the Tribe did not re- ceive any comments on the draft budget besides those received ver- bally during the November General Council meeting. Tribal members had until Dec. 3 to comment in writing on the draft budget. Tribal Council member Jack Giffen Jr. said that he supports the 2019 budget except for the decrease in use of endowment earnings from 15 percent to 10 percent. Specifical- ly, Giffen said he would have liked to have seen earnings from the Education endowment used to help Tribal members seeking training by attending trade schools. During the Tribal Council meet- ing, Tribal Council member Steve Bobb Sr. said he agreed with Giffen about helping Tribal members at- tend trade schools. Finance Officer Chris Leno said the decrease to 10 percent was reflective of better 2019 revenue projections from Spirit Mountain Casino and is not set in stone. He added that endowment growth pro- jections released to the membership in October showed decreases when 15 percent was consistently used, but all grew when only 10 percent was taken out to fund programs. Tribal Council member Kath- leen George said that all funding requests were funded in the 2019 budget. The last time Tribal Council ad- opted the next year’s budget before the final meeting of the year was in 2014. In other action, Tribal Council: • Approved a revised memorandum of understanding with the Oregon Department of Transportation regarding the Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance. The revised agreement runs for five years beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, and allows the Tribe to assert Indian hiring preference on federally funded highway projects taking place on or near the Reservation and outlines protocols for how to handle overlapping Tribal TERO jurisdictions in the state. • Approved applying for a $49,000 grant from the First Nations Development Institute to fund preparation of teacher training workbooks, an instructor’s guide and related audio-visual aids for the Chinuk Wawa language im- mersion program. • Amended the Tribe’s contract with Subtext Digital in Portland to include creation of a Smoke Signals website. The contract now cannot exceed $165,000. • Approved a site management plan for the 97-acre Rattlesnake Butte Wildlife Area northwest of Junction City in Lane County. The Tribe acquired the property See MEETING continued on page 8 ‘The best job I’ve ever had’ FUND continued from front page tion with a prayer and then accom- panied Tribal Lands Department Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach in a drum song. Reibach and George also per- formed an honor song for Board of Trustees Chairman Sho Dozono, who is retiring after 21 years of service to the Community Fund. Spirit Mountain Community Fund Executive Director Mychal Cherry introduced Tribal Council members in attendance: Denise Harvey, Kathleen George, Jon A. George, Steve Bobb Sr., Michael Langley and Jack Giffen Jr. Ad- ditionally, Giffen, Harvey and Kathleen George serve on the Com- munity Fund Board of Trustees. Attendees then watched a video that surveyed the Tribe’s history and featured organizations that have been helped by Community Fund grants. Dozono, festively at- tired in a Santa hat, quizzed grant recipients with questions about the Tribe that were answered correctly. Dozono joked that giving away other peoples’ money is “the best job I’ve ever had.” “It’s been a privilege to serve as a trustee all of this time,” he said. “But now it’s time to retire and move on.” The Community Fund features a different organization at every quarterly grant presentation. The winter quarter featured nonprofit was A Family for Every Child Flor- ence Host Program, which works with community volunteers who provide a place to stay for students experiencing homelessness. Cur- rently, the program serves students in Springfield and Eugene, and plans to use the Community Fund grant money to expand the program into Florence, which is lacking such services. “We identify and certify vol- Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez Outgoing Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees Chairman Sho Dozono presents a check to A Family for Every Child Permanency Director Antonia Ambrusko during the quarterly Spirit Mountain Community Fund check presentation held in the Governance Center Atrium on Wednesday, Dec. 12. unteers working to open up this space in their homes,” Permanancy Director Antonia Ambrusko said. “We also connect kids to different services in the community.” Afterward, beaded necklaces and a Pendleton blanket were raffled off. Community Fund Program Co- ordinator Angie Sears read off this quarter’s grant recipients while Cherry and Dozono distributed the checks. Board of Trustees mem- bers Harvey, Giffen, George, Ron Reibach and Chip Lazenby shook recipients’ hands. Large grants recipients were: • A Family for Every Child, $50,000, for its Florence Host Home Program; • Boys & Girls Club of Albany, $20,000, for “Training Teens for Tomorrow”; • Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Mar- ion and Polk Counties, $42,000, “Training Teens for Tomorrow: Entrepreneurship Experience”; • Call to Safety of Portland, $20,000, for its sexual assault response program; • Center for Community Counsel- ing of Eugene, $12,500, for its Child Abuse Prevention Project; • Child Advocates Inc. of Oregon City, $41,500, for “A CASA For Every Child”; • Children’s Cancer Association of Portland, $30,000, for its Critical Support Link project; • Children’s Center of Oregon City, $25,000, to support healthy out- comes for abused children suffer- ing from toxic stress; • Dallas Fire Department, $25,000, for ventilator purchase and im- plementation; • Immigrant and Refugee Commu- nity Organization of Portland, $75,000, for its Africa House capital campaign; • Kinship House of Portland, $35,000, for Beaverton expan- sion; • Make-A-Wish Foundation of Or- egon Inc., $35,000, for the Rush Wish Program; • Native American Youth Associa- tion of Portland, $50,000, for the Cultural and Academic Wrap- around Support program; • Oregon 4-H Foundation of Cor- vallis, $42,000, for its STEM Beyond School program; • Portland Taiko, $25,000, for its 25th anniversary season; • Schoolhouse Supplies Inc., $20,000, for increasing services to low-income students in East Multnomah County; • Tillamook County Women’s Re- source Center, $30,000, for its domestic and sexual violence counseling program; • YWCA of Greater Portland, $42,000, for its Family Resource Center. Small grants that were distribut- ed included: • Alsea Valley Gleaners, $6,500. for distribution facility refurbishing; • Boom Arts Inc. of Portland, $7,400, for a multigenerational theater series; • Junction City Local Aid, $6,000, for Basic Needs Direct Client Services; • Little Hands Can of Eugene, $4,000, for its After-school Grow and Care program; • Oregon Bravo Youth Orchestra of Portland, $5,000, for Bravo after-school program expansion; • Paradise of Samoa of Salem, $4,600, for the Paradise of Samoa Diversity Awareness Project; • Parent Partnership of Cottage Grove, $5,000, for the First Steps Child Care Center; • Portland Backpack, $5,000, for communities working together to solve food insecurity; • And Science Factory Inc. of Eu- gene, $6,500, for upgrading the Eugene Science Center Planetar- ium.
