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HAPPY
NEW YEAR
january 1, 2024
Tribal Council approves
2024 spending plan
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals editor
ribal Council held its final meeting of 2023
on Wednesday, Dec. 27, by handling items
brought to it during its Tuesday, Dec. 19,
and Tuesday, Dec. 26, Legislative Action Com-
mittee meetings.
Council members approved the 2024 final
budget, which included
a 3.2-percent increase in
spending from the 2023
budget.
The 2024 draft budget
was mailed to Tribal
members in early No-
vember in the Tilixam
Wawa and Tribal Fi-
nance Officer Chris Leno
briefed the membership
on its specifics in ex-
ecutive session during
Chris Leno
the November General
Council meeting.
Adult Tribal members had until Monday, Dec.
4, to comment on the draft spending plan.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Approved an agreement with Upqwena LLC
to remove former Tribal Economic Develop-
ment Director Bruce Thomas as manager and
replace him with Tribal Council Chief of Staff
Stacia Hernandez. Thomas recently resigned
his position as Economic Development Director
after being reapppointed to the position earlier
this year;
• Approved a secured loan of up to $50,000 to
Shasta Administrative Services of Redmond
from the Tribe’s TriState Capital Bank line of
credit. The decision brings the amount of Trib-
al funds loaned to Shasta, which the Grand
Ronde Tribe has co-owned since November
2012 with Honolulu-based Hawaii-Western
Management Group, to $1.4 million;
• Approved reappointing Michael Boyce as the
Grand Ronde Gaming Commission’s executive
director;
• Approved amendments to the Elders Commit-
tee bylaws regarding voting/honorary mem-
T
See MEETING
continued on page 4
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Health Administration Operations Director Tresa Mercier is hugged by Tribal Council member
Kathleen George as she is recognized for her 39 years of working for the Tribe during the fourth-
quarter Years of Service awards and annual Employee Appreciation Holiday Party held at the Spirit
Mountain Casino Event Center on Thursday, Dec. 21. Mercier is the longest serving-Tribal employee.
Celebrating service
and the holidays
Tresa Mercier marks 39 years of working for the Tribe
By Sherron Lumley
Smoke Signals staff writer
ribal employees gathered at the Spirit
Mountain Casino Event Center for the
The Employee Appreciation Holiday
Party combined with the fourth-quarter
Years of Service awards on Thursday, Dec. 21.
A buffet of salmon, turkey and prime rib
was served after a welcome by Tribal Council
T
Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy and invoca-
tion by Tribal Council member Jon A. George.
Tribal Interim General Manager Chris
Leno announced the service awards.
“What we have today is truly amazing and
this is one of the best highlights of the year,”
See SERVICE
continued on page 11
Amendment to fix Thompson strip error signed into law
By Danielle Harrison
and Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals staff
ASHINGTON – An
amendment to the Grand
Ronde Reservation Act
that would fix a mistake incor-
porated into the act in 1994 was
unanimously approved by the U.S.
Senate on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
The bill was signed into law by
President Biden on Tuesday, Dec.
26, and it will allow the Grand
Ronde Tribe to pursue future fixes
within the state of Oregon if other
W
The error was discovered after passage of the
Grand Ronde Reservation Act in 1988 that
returned 9,811 acres to the Tribe.
errors are found.
The Bureau of Land Management
discovered a survey error on the
Grand Ronde Reservation that dat-
ed back to 1871. The error was dis-
covered after passage of the Grand
Ronde Reservation Act in 1988 that
returned 9,811 acres to the Tribe.
Surveyor David Thompson had
incorrectly surveyed the eastern
boundary of the Reservation, leav-
ing 84 acres unsurveyed. The land
also was excluded from a 1904 sale
of unallotted lands within the Res-
ervation and Grand Ronde was not
compensated for it.
Until the error was discovered,
BLM treated the land as Oregon
and California Railroad Grant
Lands and permitted private com-
panies to harvest timber on the
acreage.
After being informed of the sur-
vey error, the Grand Ronde Tribe
determined the parcel, called the
Thompson Strip, was unmanage-
able because of narrow boundaries
and divided ownership interests.
See ERROR
continued on page 5