Below are excerpts from Terry Dillman's coverage of the Candidates Fair. Read the entire article at the News-Times website. I also encourage all the other candidates to submit statements to Siletz.Net and we'll be happy to post them here. Voters still have time to request signature cards and ballots from Election Director Dan Van Otten at (541) 444-8256 or 1-800-922-1399, ext. 1256.
Eleven seek support for tribal council election
By Terry Dillman of the News-Times
Incumbents Loraine Y. Butler, Robert Kentta and Phil Rilatos Sr. hope challengers Frank Aspria Sr., Lisa Brown, Eva Clayton, Cynthia Farlow, Tina Retasket, Sar Richards, Elaine Thomas and Lynette Warren won't overshadow them when voters go to the polls for the Feb. 2 Siletz Tribal Council election.
The candidates emerged at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12 during a meet-and-greet session in the Siletz Tribal Community Center on Government Hill, where they shared their ideas and perspectives about what they believe are priorities for the tribe during the next 52 weeks and beyond. Government accountability emerged as a primary concern, along with economic development, health care, affordable housing, employment and education opportunities for tribal members in their 11-county service area. (...)
...Culture, spirituality, and integrity are watchwords for Lisa Brown's campaign. Her main focus is on accountability, especially in relation to the tribe's gaming enterprises.
“Accountability is core to high-performance government, efficient service delivery, and tribal members' confidence in our elected officials,” she said. “In turn, performance measurement is key to accountability, the good faith effort by our elected leaders that will serve to gain the confidence of the members as a whole.”
Her objective is to “support our government, administrative, and gaming enterprises in their obligation to communicate effectively and openly with the membership.” Toward that end, Brown said she - if elected - would not seek employment with any entity with a direct relationship to any of those enterprises, and would seek feedback from tribal members “to identify areas where possible conflict of interest may occur,” and suggestions for solutions.(...)
...Lynette Warren focused exclusively on openness and accountability, which she said would lead to better financial practices and stop the “wasteful spending” habits of the current council.
“When the tribal government stops spending and speculating beyond its means, we can begin to concentrate our resources on businesses with the highest profit potentials,” Warren stated, whose first priority, if elected, would be to focus on “improving our financial performance, increasing our per capita excess pledge revenue share, and achieving openness in tribal government.”
By Warren's reckoning, the per capita distribution is, by far, “the most equitable means of promoting the general welfare of all the members.”
Beyond that, she wants tribal council to communicate openly and honestly with all tribal members.
“Some in the current tribal government have said that it's necessary to keep our members in the dark for fear that the general public will find out about important tribal affairs and do us harm, but keeping information from the members is costing us dearly,” she noted. “It's time to come to grips with the fact that honest and competent leadership has little to fear from the sunshine of publicity. If our leaders are honest, we can withstand public scrutiny. And if our management is competent, it will survive outside pressure and embrace the challenges of working openly with our surrounding community, recognizing that we are also part of that community.”
Election Director Dan Van Otten certified the candidate list Dec. 26. Absentee ballots and voters' pamphlets were mailed out to eligible tribal members Jan. 7, and Jan. 25 is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot. Election Day is Saturday, Feb. 2, with in-person voting from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the tribal Community Center in Siletz. Deadline for returning absentee ballots is 4 p.m. that day. Van Otten said photo identification is required to vote in person, with no exceptions.
Council members serve three-year terms that overlap, with elections held every year for three of the nine positions.
Tribal council members appointed Kurtis Barker, Felicia Carmona, Rosie Williams and Tracey Worman to the 2008 election board. They and Van Otten will monitor the voting and certify results. The top three vote-getters will take the oath of office at 1 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 3 in tribal council chambers at the tribal administration building in Siletz.
Anyone with questions may contact [Dan] Van Otten at (541) 444-8256 or 1-800-922-1399, ext. 1256.
Terry Dillman is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at (541) 265-8571 ext. 225, or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com