smok signflz
AUGUST 1, 2019
Tribal Council sends two
ordinances out for first readings
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council sent amendments
to two ordinances requested by the
five-member Editorial Board that
are designed to bolster the Tribe’s
independent press out for first
readings during its Wednesday,
July 17, meeting.
Proposed amendments to the
Public Records Ordinance would
give Smoke Signals staff mem-
bers, when acting in their official
employment capacity of trying
to inform the Tribal membership
about their government, the right
to access Tribal records in the same
manner as Tribal members.
Currently, the Public Records
Ordinance only gives standing
to access Tribal records to Tribal
members.
Amendments to the Independent
Tribal Press Ordinance, which was
originally approved in December
2016 and went into effect in Jan-
uary 2017, would clarify that jour-
nalists working for Smoke Signals
cannot be fired or suspended solely
due to the factual content of their
reporting when acting in their offi-
cial employment capacity.
The amendments also make oth-
er clarifications, including that the
Tribal Attorney’s Office will defend
the newspaper and its staff should
a lawsuit ever be filed against it.
First readings allow the mem-
bership 30 days to comment on the
proposed amendments before they
return to Tribal Council for possible
adoption.
Tribal Council also approved a
mediation agreement between the
Grand Ronde Tribe and the Oregon
Department of State Lands, Port-
land General Electric, Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation,
Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Res-
ervation, Confederated Tribes and
Bands of the Yakama Nation and
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
regarding property ownership of the
site where the Grand Ronde Tribe
constructed a removable fishing
platform at Willamette Falls.
The Grand Ronde Tribe received
permission to build the platform
on land the state says it owns, but
PGE and the other Tribes appealed
the permission and ownership
claim. The administrative law
judge hearing the case directed the
parties to participate in mediation
on the issue of ownership of the
platform site, which the agreement
outlines the terms of.
In other action, Tribal Council
approved a five-year, $2.64 mil-
lion grant application to the U.S.
Department of Education’s Office
of Special Education and Rehabili-
tation Services that would fund vo-
cational rehabilitation services for
Native Americans with disabilities.
The grant, if received, would fund
two vocational rehabilitation spe-
cialists, a trainee, half of the pro-
gram manager and administrative
assistant’s salaries, and more than
$80,000 in client services annually.
The entire meeting can be viewed
by visiting the Tribal government’s
website at www.grandronde.org
and clicking on the News tab and
then Video.
Election Office open until Aug. 30
The Election Board Office has a new schedule for 2019. It will be open
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday through Aug. 30. Office hours
are from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with lunch from noon to 12:30 p.m. The
Election Office is located in the Tribal Community Center, 9615 Grand
Ronde Road, and the phone number is 503-879-2271.
For convenience, blank signature verification forms will be placed in
a hanging basket outside the Elections Office door. Completed forms
with a notarized signature or legible copy of ID including your signa-
ture (driver’s license, member ID card, passport, etc. attached) need
to be mailed to the Election Board for processing. The form will not be
processed unless it has been notarized or includes a legible copy of ID
and your signature attached.
Ballots were mailed to voters with verified signatures on July 24.
Tribal members may submit a verified signature card at any time up
to and including Election Day on Saturday, Sept. 7. The Grand Ronde
post office is no longer open to accept ballots on Saturday, Sept. 7.
For our members’ convenience, there will be a ballot box in the Gov-
ernance Center during the election season and also on Election Day we
will have a box in the Community Center where completed ballots can
be cast. We will have ballots available, as we have done in the past, for
those members who want to come in and vote in person.
It is the voters’ responsibility to ensure the ballot is received by the
Election Board on Election Day – be sure to allow adequate time for the
ballot to reach the Election Board by Sept. 7.
THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF GRAND RONDE
TRIBAL MEMBER REVIEW BOARD (TMRB)
We are looking for volunteers!
As a Tribal Member Review Board member, you will review cases assigned by the Tribal Court involving
children who are wards of the Tribal Court. You will review the case file; hear from all parties at the review
including caseworkers, attorneys and children over 12 years of age, parents, foster parents and providers. The
Board makes findings and recommendations to the Court regarding the case.
Qualifications:
Tribal member
At least 21 years of age
Living in the six-county area of: Polk, Yamhill, Tillamook, Washington, Multnomah or Marion counties,
and
Have special knowledge, background and/or experience in one or more of the following:
o Parenting or foster care taking; Tribal customs, traditions; Juvenile Law; Health Care; Mental
Health Care; Social work; or Education.
For more information, contact Tribal Court Programs Coordinator Ramona Quenelle at
CourtPrograms@grandronde.org or call 503-879-4623.
Honoring Elders
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Hazel Pleines (Steilacoom/Lummi), 92, is presented with a necklace
for being the oldest female attending Elder Honor Day.
Tribal Elder Penny DeLoe looks on after
presenting a walking stick to Herman
Hudson for being the oldest male
veteran attending Elder Honor Day held
at Spirit Mountain Casino on Monday,
July 15. Hudson served in World War
II. The event attracted more than 400
Elders to the casino for a fun day of
activities and a meal.
Laney DeLoe, 14, presents a
blanket to Mary Hudson for
being the oldest female veteran
attending Elder Honor Day held at
Spirit Mountain Casino.
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