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SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
3
Spirit Mountain Casino
requires masking again
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
(September) K wayts-mun
• Monday, Sept. 6 – Tribal offices closed in observance of the Labor
Day holiday.
• Wednesday, Sept. 8 – Tribal Council meeting, 4 p.m., Tribal Council
Chambers, 9615 Grand Ronde Road. 503-879-2304.
• Saturday, Sept. 11 – Tribal Council Election Day. Ballots are due
by 6 p.m. to be counted.
• Sunday, Sept. 12 – General Council meeting, 11 a.m., Tribal members
can watch remotley through the Zoom application. 503-879-2304.
• Wednesday, Sept. 22 – Tribal Council meeting, 4 p.m., Tribal Coun-
cil Chambers, 9615 Grand Ronde Road. 503-879-2304.
• Friday, Sept. 24 – Tribal offices closed in observance of National
Native American Day.
(Editor’s note: All events are tentative depending on the status of
the Tribe’s COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic response.)
Certified Application Assisters
at the Health & Wellness Center
Cassandra Rhamey is available to
assist with recertification and
applications for the Oregon Health Plan. She can be
reached at 503-879-1359 or cassandra.rhamey@gran-
dronde.org. Leah Bailey also is a Certified Application
Assister available to help. She can be reached at 503-
879-2197 or leah.bailey@grandronde.org.
OFFICIAL TRIBAL FACEBOOK PAGES
Smoke Signals:
facebook.com/SmokeSignalsCTGR
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde:
facebook.com/CTGRgov
Grand Ronde Health & Wellness:
facebook.com/GRHWC
Grand Ronde Children & Family Services:
facebook.com/CTGRCFS
Grand Ronde Royalty:
facebook.com/CTGRRoyalty
Grand Ronde Education Programs:
facebook.com/CTGREducation
Grand Ronde Youth Council:
facebook.com/CTGRYouthCouncil
Grand Ronde Station:
facebook.com/GrandRondeStation
Grand Ronde Social Services Department:
facebook.com/CTGRSocialservices
Grand Ronde Food Bank:
facebook.com/GrandRondeFoodBank
Spirit Mountain Community Fund:
facebook.com/SpiritMountainCommunityFund
Grand Ronde Cultural Education:
facebook.com/Grand-Ronde-Cultural-Education
Grand Ronde Community Garden:
facebook.com/GrandRondeCommunityGarden
Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department:
facebook.com/Grand-Ronde-Tribal-Police-Department
Grand Ronde Employment Services
Facebook.com/EmploymentServices
Ad by Samuel Briggs III
An increase in COVID-19 cases
statewide caused by the Delta
variant has prompted Spirit Moun-
tain Casino to reinstitute a mask
mandate for all employees and
customers.
According to the casino’s website,
masks must be worn by all employ-
ees and guests while indoors. The
mandate took effect on Wednesday,
Aug. 11.
Meanwhile, the Siletz Tribe
closed its casino, Chinook Winds,
in Lincoln City on Thursday, Aug.
12, and plans to reopen it Thurs-
day, Sept. 2.
The Siletz Tribal Council and
Chinook Winds executive team said
the decision was “in the interest of
public health and safety.”
The Cowlitz Tribe’s casino, Ilani,
about 16 miles north of Vancouver,
Wash., off Interstate 5 is not re-
quiring vaccinated guests to wear
masks, stating they are optional
for those who have received their
shots.
Ilani also is offering $10 in free
game play to guests who can prove
they have been vaccinated against
COVID-19.
Spirit Mountain Casino made
wearing masks indoors mandato-
ry in July 2020, but dropped the
requirement like the Tribal gov-
ernment did in May for most fully
vaccinated employees and guests
when COVID-19 cases appeared to
be under control and declining in
Oregon in the late spring.
Wildhorse Casino operated by the
Umatilla Tribe outside of Pendleton
in eastern Oregon also is requiring
face masks for everyone, according
to its website. So is the Mill Casino
in North Bend that is operated by
the Coquille Indian Tribe and the
Seven Feathers Casino operated by
the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua
Tribe of Indians in Canyonville.
Kennedy poised to take lead
in most cumulative votes
received as council candidate
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle
A. Kennedy became the lon-
gest-serving Tribal Council
member ever in April 2020,
surpassing the 21 consecutive
years served by former Tribal
Council member Reyn Leno.
During this year’s Sept. 11
election, she also stands a chance
of overtaking Leno in another
category — the most cumulative
votes received as a Tribal Coun-
cil candidate in post-Restoration
elections.
Leno, who ran for Tribal Coun-
cil 13 times between 1991 and
2020, has received a cumulative
total of 4,780 votes, ranging from
a low of 55 votes received in 1992
to a high of 619 votes received
in 2019.
Kennedy, who is running for
her eighth consecutive term on
Tribal Council this year, has run
10 times between 1984 and 2018.
She has accumulated 3,815 votes
in those campaigns, leaving her
965 votes behind Leno’s cumu-
lative total.
The third-place finisher in last
year’s election, which also fea-
tured five candidates, was Chris
Mercier. He received 966 votes.
Gone are the days when 150
votes would win a Tribal Coun-
cil election, such as in 1993 for
Mark Mercier. A combination
of a dwindling number of candi-
dates combined with an appar-
ent Tribal voter preference for
experience and incumbents and
an increasing number of poten-
tial voters has seen individual
candidate vote totals skyrocket
from what was an all-time high
of 712 – Kennedy in 2018 – to
more than a 1,000 votes for Lisa
Leno in 2020 election.
Considering Kennedy’s elec-
toral track record, her chances
have to be considered better than
average to overtake Leno. She
has been the No. 1 recipient of
votes five of the last seven times
she has run for Tribal Council
and has lost only one recent
election when she finished fourth
in 1999. The average number of
votes received by the most pop-
ular candidate over the last four
Tribal Council elections is 791.
According to a Smoke Signals
survey of the longest-serving
Tribal Council members, the
next most cumulative votes
received have been attained by
current Vice Chair Chris Merci-
er, 4,495 votes in eight elections;
Tribal Council member Jack
Giffen Jr., 3,513 votes in nine
elections; former Tribal Council
Chair Mark Mercier, 3,481 votes
in 15 elections; and June Sherer,
3,472 votes in 10 elections.
Chris Mercier, if he continues
to serve on Tribal Council after
his current term ends in 2023,
also stands a very good chance of
overtaking both Leno and Kenne-
dy in the cumulative vote total.
Also running in the 2021 Tribal
Council election are incumbents
Jon A. George (1,468 cumulative
votes in three elections) and
Steve Bobb Sr. (2,257 cumula-
tive votes in five elections), and
challengers Perri McDaniel (704
cumulative votes in four elec-
tions) and first-time candidate
Michael Cherry.
Ballots are due by 6 p.m. Sat-
urday, Sept. 11, to count.
