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MAY 15, 2023
Tribal Council establishes enterprise
funds for fire department, TERO
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer
Tribal Council established enter-
prise funds for two Tribal depart-
ments during its Wednesday, May
3, meeting.
Enterprise funds allow reve-
nue-generating programs within
the Tribe to retain those funds and
reinvest them into their depart-
ments, Interim General Manager
and Finance Ofocer Chris Leno said.
In 2022, the Tribal Employment
Rights Ofoce and the Tribal Fire
Station generated $1.31 million
and $75,521 in various fees, re-
spectively.
During a Legislative Action Com-
mittee meeting on Tuesday, April
25, Tribal Council Secretary Mi-
chael Langley said that TERO fees
were never meant to create revenue
for the Tribe and that establishing
enterprise funds allows the pro-
gram to have steady funding levels.
<The funds generated allow the
department to keep consistent in its
training dollars for our members,=
Langley said. <I am really happy
about this change.=
TERO Director Harris Reibach
thanked council members during
the same meeting.
<Establishment of this fund will
help ensure we can continue to fund
ourselves and ensure sovereignty in
TERO,= he said.
In other action, Tribal Council:
" Approved applying for a $2.5
million development and imple-
mentation grant from the Admin-
istration for Children & Families
for a Tribal Maternal, Infant and
Early Childhood Home Visiting
Program;
" Approved three credit cards for
the Youth Education Department
with $2,500 credit limits on each;
" Approved applying for a ove-year,
$1.25 million continuation grant
from the federal Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services
Administration that will fund
the Tribe9s Native Connections
program;
" And approved re-appointing
Joann Mercier and Michael Mer-
cier and appointing Lori Sterling
to the Election Board with terms
expiring on March 31, 2025.
Two approved authorizations to
proceed also were included in the
May 3 Tribal Council packet. One
approved the Natural Resources
Department building and main-
taining a small trail near the tiny
shelter village adjacent to the com-
munity garden site. The other OK9d
applying for a $31,380.30 Wildore
Season Stafong grant that will pay
for personnel costs for additional
seasonal firefighters during the
high-risk ore season.
To watch the entire meeting, visit
the Tribal government9s website
at www.grandronde.org and click
on the Government tab and then
Videos. þ
2023
MARCELLUS
NORWEST
MEMORIAL
VETERANS
POWWOW
LOGO CONTEST
The Veterans Special Event Board
is seeking submissions for the 2023
Veterans Powwow logo contest.
• $200 Cash Prize • Due by May 31, 2023
Submit to lisa.schmid@grandronde.org or drop
off at the front desk of the governance building.
For more information please call 503-879-1446.
Print ready files preferred but not required.
Ad by Samuel Briggs III
5
Tribe rehires former general manager
David Fullerton in new position
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Former General Manager Da-
vid Fullerton, who was relieved
of his duties on Jan. 13, did not
stay unemployed for long.
Less than four months later,
Fullerton has been hired as the
new Community Transitions
Program manager for the Health
& Wellness Department, accord-
ing to an all-employee e-mail
distributed on Tuesday, May 9.
Fullerton9s new duties will be
ensuring the community tran-
sition properties are developed
and ready for occupancy. He also
is accountable for establishing
program policies and procedures
for the transitional housing sites
supported by Health & Wellness.
No ofocial reason for Fuller-
ton9s termination as general
manager was given since per-
sonnel matters are considered
conodential.
The general manager, who is a
direct report to the nine-member
Tribal Council, exercises direct
authority over most Tribal de-
partments in carrying out day-
to-day operations of the Tribal
government.
Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle A. Kennedy said during
the Jan. 25 Tribal Council meet-
ing that the decision to dismiss
Fullerton was not unanimous.
Following his termination as
general manager, Fullerton re-
ceived support from community
members who signed a petition
and spoke at Tribal Council
meetings.
An online petition calling for
Tribal Council to reconsider Ful-
lerton9s <without cause= termi-
nation was posted at ipetitions.
com and more than 330 people
e-signed it. Former Tribal Coun-
cil member Tonya Gleason-She-
pek presented the petition to
Tribal Council during its Jan.
25 meeting.
Fullerton became interim gen-
eral manager in 2015 and ofo-
cially became
general man-
ager in Janu-
ary 2016.
During his
tenure as gen-
eral manag-
er, Fullerton
guided the
David Fullerton
Tribe through
the COVID-19 pandemic, which
broke in March 2020. An emer-
gency declaration approved by
Tribal Council put him in charge
of the Tribe9s response to the
pandemic. The emergency dec-
laration is still in effect.
Fullerton started working for
the Grand Ronde Tribe in June
2001 as an Indian Child Wel-
fare caseworker. He managed
the Social Services Department
from December 2001 through
late August 2015 when he was
tapped to serve as interim gen-
eral manager.
Before joining the Grand
Ronde Tribe, Fullerton was the
Social Services director for the
Quinault Indian Nation in Wash-
ington state. He also worked as
a probation ofocer for the Lake
County Youth Court in Poulson,
Mont., and as a sociology in-
structor for Stone Child Tribal
College on the Rocky Boy Indian
Reservation in Montana.
Fullerton earned a bachelor9s
degree in sociology from the Uni-
versity of Montana in Missoula,
where he minored in both Native
American studies and criminolo-
gy. He also has a master9s in busi-
ness administration from Western
Governors University, an online
college located in Millcreek, Utah.
He graduated from Jesuit High
School in Portland, Ore.
Finance Officer Chris Leno
has assumed the general man-
ager duties until a new person is
hired. He has previously served
in the general manager position
and stated he does not want to
return to the position perma-
nently. þ
Community Health
Program Services
Medical Transport
Services
Medical transportation
services are available to
Tribal members within
the six-county service
area when an alternate
means of transportation
is not available. Advance
notice required.
Please call 503-879-2078
to schedule a reservation.