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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2022)
sNok signflz AUGUST 1, 2022 smok signflz offering fast e-mail subscription Want to be one of the first Tribal members to receive smok signflz? Want to receive the Tribal publication on your computer instead of waiting for it to arrive in the mail? Want to get up-to-date and in-the-know about the Grand Ronde Tribe before anyone else? Well, here’s your opportunity. In an effort to be more efficient and reduce printing and postage costs, smok signflz electronic subscribers receive a PDF (portable document format) version sent to them instead of a newsprint version sent via the mail. All you need on your computer is Adobe Acrobat or another program that can read a PDF and you’re set. Why would you want to do that? The PDF version is available before the newspaper is sent to our printing contractor in Salem. You can read the paper on your computer or print out a copy of individual pages yourself. And you will receive Tribal news much faster than the current standard mailing utilized by the Tribe. If you would like to receive an e-mailed PDF version of smok signflz and stop receiving a mailed newsprint version, send your e-mail to esubscrip- tion@grandronde.org. Stopping mailed delivery of the newspaper will not affect other Tribal mail. 5 Tribe holds First Fish Ceremony on July 21 The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde held its first First Fish Ceremony since 2019 on Thursday, July 21, at the fish weir on Agency Creek in Grand Ronde. Tribal Communications Director Sara Thompson said the ceremony was “private” and that photos and videos were pro- hibited. “This is the first one since COVID and it’s important that we reset, treating it with as much respect as possible,” Thompson said. Tribal First Fish ceremonies celebrate the return of salmon to either Willamette Falls or Reservation waters in Agency Creek. Tribal fishermen and women caught 15 hatchery salmon at Willamette Falls this year from the rocks because it was too dangerous to erect the temporary platform because of water flows. It was only the second time that Tribal members have been able to catch the total number of ceremonial fish permitted by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife since April 2016. Some issues require confidentiality SESSIONS continued from front page of the information discussed. General Council meetings also are often held in executive session if they concern the Tribe’s draft and approved budgets, Spirit Mountain Casino’s financial performance or briefings on the Tribal endow- ments. According to a Smoke Signals analysis of scheduled executive session items held on Tuesdays between 2016 and 2021, the current Tribal Council is dealing with more executive session items. Smoke Signals reviewed the pub- lished agendas for each Tuesday in those six years and tallied every time an item was listed as executive session. The number of executive session items was 65 in 2016, 63 in 2017, 67 in 2018, 81 in 2019, 92 in 2020 and 85 in 2021. In 2016, 65 executive sessions items were scheduled on Tuesdays, which are the traditional days to hold Legislative Action Commit- tee hearings and work sessions. Of those 65 scheduled executive session items, 17 – or 26.2 percent – were dedicated to enrollment is- sues. In 2017, 63 executive session items were listed and 19 were en- rollment related and in 2018 there were 67 executive session items and 32.9 percent – 22 – were enrollment issues. Over the three-year period of 2016-18, Tribal Council handled an average of 19 enrollment-re- lated items annually in executive session. Other topics consistently held in executive session during those three years were meetings with Tribal lobbyist Justin Martin, Gaming Commission updates, in- formational sessions provided by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department, financial briefings with Baird regarding the Tribal endowments and discussions about land acquisitions. In 2020, Tribal Council had 92 executive session items listed on Tuesday agendas, with 29 – 31.5 percent – involving enrollment and Restoration Roll correction issues. Restoration Roll corrections did not begin until February 2019 and some of the increases in executive session items can be attributed to those closed hearings, according to Smoke Signals’ analysis. For instance, 40 percent of executive session items listed in 2019 were enrollment related and that year saw the largest number of Tribal members added to the Restoration Roll. Between 2019-21, an average of 31 enrollment-related items were heard annually in executive ses- sion, 12 more than the previous three-year average. Consistent topics held in exec- utive sessions in 2020 included legal updates, briefings with the Tribe’s Audit Services Department, meetings with lobbyist Martin and discussions about land acquisitions. According to Smoke Signals’ re- view of Tribal Council’s Tuesday agendas, the spike in executive session items in 2019 is partially attributable to the Tribe purchas- ing the former Blue Heron Paper Mill site in Oregon City in August of that year. The increase in 2020 was par- tially caused by COVID-19 issues, frequent check-ins with executive staff, especially during the first several months of the pandemic, and pandemic-related discussions that were often held in executive session. During the June 29 Tribal Coun- cil meeting, former Tribal Council member Brenda Tuomi, who is also one of four candidates this year, raised the executive session topic during the Other Business portion of the meeting, citing discussions she had seen on Facebook. Kennedy stressed that Tribal Council does not make final deci- sions in executive session, which is not permitted by ordinance. “The reason for going into execu- tive session is always noted,” said Tribal Council Secretary Michael Langley. “If there is anything that is money related, that’s all going to show up in the budget, whether it be a supplemental budget or just a note of where things are moving from.” Langley added that Tribal Coun- cil is not trying to be secretive, but some issues require confidentiality, such as negotiating business deals with nonTribal entities or discuss- ing possible land acquisitions and how much the Tribe might be will- ing to pay for the properties. Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez said that some executive sessions items can be dis- cussed with individual Tribal mem- bers if they contact her at stacia. martin@grandronde.org, but the Tribe does not want sensitive and confidential information broadcast over the Internet for all the world to know. The current Tribal Council is handling more executive session items over the last three years that have been caused primarily by land acquisitions (Blue Heron), the COVID-19 pandemic and Res- toration Roll corrections, which currently stand at 562 Tribal members being added to the his- torically important roll since early 2019.
