from: Lynette Warren
to: selina rilatos, elections@ctsi.nsn.us
cc: Tribal Council
date: Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 1:57 PM
subject: Re: Lynette's TC application

On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 1:09 PM, selina rilatos wrote:
Lynette,
I recieved your application via postal mail today December 22,2009. Remember we need your candidates statement and your photo by 4:00 pm tomorrow December 23rd.

Thank you, Selina. Below is the text of my candidate's statement for the Voters Pamphlet and I've attached a photo in this email.

Please email me to let me know, either way, if my statement is approved or not. If the election board has any issues with this statement, please provide me with specific feedback explaining what elements of the statement are in conflict with Election Board rules. If you will explain how any of it violates Election Board rules, I can best consider how to modify my statement.

Thank you for your help.

Last year the Election Board Chairman told me that she would consult the with Tribal Council before rejecting any candidates statements. That didn't happen so this year I'm cc'ing the Tribal Council.

Lynette
_______________________________________

Last year the reform candidate, Lisa Brown, was elected to the Tribal Council with a resounding 401 votes. But at her very first regular Tribal Council meeting in Februrary council members Dee Pigsley, Bud Lane, Robert Kentta, Tina Retasket and Jessie Davis voted to initiate expulsion proceedings against Brown. The first notice that tribal members saw in the Siletz News concerning these expulsion proceedings was the notification in Chairman Pigsley's column in April that Lisa Brown had, in fact, been expelled from the council on March 29th. All tribal members in the community and across the country should have had the opportunity to have their voices heard on so grave a matter as the immediate expulsion of a newly elected Tribal Council matter. Instead many tribal members were not even aware this was going on until it was over.

Siletz Tribal Business Corporation (STBC)

As Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Tribal Council, Dee Pigsley and Bud Lane have also long been the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Siletz Tribal Business Corporation which exists for the economic development of the tribe. Three years ago, under the management of Dee Pigsley and Bud Lane, STBC announced it's top priorities for the economic development of the tribe which you can find in the April 2007 issue of Nesika Illahee. The top three priorities were:

1. Siletz Aeroteam

2. River Reclamation Group (RRG)

3. Chemawa Station

STBC invested millions of your dollars in these three projects. So how has STBC performed under the leadership of Dee Pigsley and Bud Lane in their current terms?

Siletz Aeroteam never broke ground in the Siletz area and had to be de-funded by the end of 2007. River Reclamation Group didn't even survive the month! RRG was shut down in April 2007 when it was discovered that the permits required for it's operation were not in place. The tribe invested a great deal of money in the Chemawa Station project with no return on our investment – the project has been at a two year stand still.

Upon the shutdown of RRG, it's equipment was used to found a new venture for the tribe: Northwest Maritime. Northwest Maritime appears to be in disarray and unprofitable. Another multi-million investment of STBC is the Salem Flex Building which has remained vacant of paying tenants (other than the tribe) throughout the entire current terms of Chairman Pigsley and Vice-Chairman Lane. We continue to make huge payments every month on the Flex Building.

STBC continues to lose money year after year under the management of Chairman Pigsley and Vice-Chairman Lane. This has been going on longer than just the past three years. There is no reason to expect this to change until we change leadership by voting them out of office.

During last year's campaign I told voters that Tracey Worman and Kurtis Barker, who were at that time the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Election Board, had received pay for serving on the Election Board through the three prior elections, when the Election Ordinance clearly said that Election Board members must serve without pay. Shortly after last year's election, while still Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Election Board, Worman and Barker sued me in tribal court for statements I made during the campaign. That lawsuit continues to this day, even as Kurtis Barker runs for Tribal Council. I urge tribal voters to ask Barker how it was legal for him to receive such pay at a time when the Election Ordinance said he could not.

I ask for you support. I also ask you to not vote for Dee Pigsley, Bud Lane, Kurtis Barker, or any other candidate that they endorse. In order to reform our tribal government make them accountable to the membership, we need a clean sweep in the coming election.

For full coverage of the election, the lawsuit, and the details of my policy positions, please visit www.siletz.net .

The tribal council is taking applications for Election Board volunteers. Even though the Election Board terms expired in June, there have been no notices asking for Election Board volunteers in the Siletz News since May. In fact, two tribal members who did volunteer for the Election Board in early June were told by the Tribal Chairman that they were too late to do so. Clearly, it's not too late for them to apply now. The revised deadline for application is September 30th, but I don't think those volunteers have even been informed by the Tribal Council they have the opportunity to re-apply.

This is Dee Pigsley's answer to an email I sent her today requesting her to write an appeal for volunteers in her September Siletz News Chairman's Report:

from: DELORES PIGSLEY
to: [Lynette Warren]
date: Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 5:29 PM
subject RE: Election Board Applications in Sept. Chairman's Report

The application and notice will be in the newsletter. We have always actively sought volunteers.

I'm happy to see they plan to put a notice back in the paper, but I have to disagree with Dee's claim that they actively seek volunteers. How can Chairman Pigsley claim that she has "always actively sought volunteers" when we've gone for the past three months without a word in the tribal newspaper asking for volunteers?

Tribal Chairman Pigsley has stated on several occasions over the past few years, that no one volunteers for the Election Board. But the fact is that the tribal government doesn't make much of an effort to recruit volunteers for the Election Board. While notices in the Siletz News that volunteers may apply for the Election Board have sporadically appeared in the paper, I've seen little evidence that the Tribal Council actively seeks volunteers for the Election Board. Instead, they seem to favor delegating the power to General Manager Brenda Bremner to handpick an Election Board from her staff.

You can see where there are substantial conflict of interest problems with allowing the General Manager, who is also Chairman Pigsley's niece and her close political ally, to choose the exclusive pool of nominees from her staff. Instead of choosing from Bremner's staff year in and year out, using volunteers from tribal members at large is a better way of minimizing the conflict of interest problem. Selection of an Election Board from volunteers should be the preferred method of appointing a board, but in spite of Dee Pigsley's assertion that they actively look for volunteers, there have been no vigorous efforts on the part of the Tribal Council to recruit volunteers.

I'm hoping this will change and so I've asked Chairman Pigsley to use her September Chairman's Report to inform the membership of just how important it is that we have an independent Election Board. That means we need volunteers instead of staff employees running our elections. We have a large pool of potential volunteers who probably don't know that the Election Ordinance says they may be reimbursed for their expenses if they volunteer for the Election Board. Chairman Pigsley is in the unique position of having an unlimited amount of space in her Chairman's Report every month which she could be using to inform tribal members of the importance of the volunteers AND that they can be reimbursed for their expenses while serving on the Election Board. I'm certain there are a number of people who would be willing to serve from areas like Salem, Portland, Eugene, Brookings, and beyond if the Chairman would make it clear to them how important these volunteer positions are and that they are enabled by law to be reimbursed for their expenses while on the board.

I hope that Dee Pigsley will comply with my request to use her Chairman's Report constructively and to make a real effort this year to recruit volunteers for our Election Board.

Election Board Applications Due
Deadline for consideration for the 2009/10
Election Board is by 4:30 p.m. on September 30, 2009

Any tribal member interested in serving on the Election Board must fill out the following form and return it to the address below prior to September 30, 2009. Please mail or fax your application to Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Attn: Executive Secretary to Tribal Council, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR. 97380-0549; Fax: 541-444-8325. Email and/or phone requests are not accepted.

Name:________________________________Roll No:_______________
Address:____________________________________________________
City:___________________State:________________Zip:____________
Telephone: Day ( )_________________ Evening ( ) _____________

Once applications are reviewed by the Tribal Council, appointments will be made and appointment letters will be sent to selected applicants.

Looks like it's going to be Sharon Edenfield and she'll be appointed at a Special Tribal Council Meeting tomorrow morning, June19. The meeting isn't shown on the official tribal website. Sharon appears to be intelligent and knowledgeable about tribal affairs. It's not likely, however, that she'll be an independent voice on the tribal council. In all probability, this appointment will increase Chairman Pigsley's power base on the Tribal Council to a lopsided 7-2 majority.

Recall that Sharon Edenfield served as interim director of Siletz Tribal Business Corp (STBC) in 2007 after Henry Cagey was fired. She served until Dave Tovey came aboard to assume the helm of the sinking STBC ship last year. She is the mother of Election Board member, Felicia Carmona, and is now holding the job of Admin Manager, one of the top paying positions of employment in the tribe. It will be interesting to see if she retains her high-paying position while holding office, as so many Tribal Council members have.

Sharon Edenfield can be reached at (541) 444-2532 x1202 or sharone@ctsi.nsn.us

According to well-connected sources, Phil Rilatos had been asked if he was interested in taking Lisa's Browns position before the expulsion proceedings began. Many will find it surprising that Dee Pigsley didn't pick Rilatos, whom she endorsed in the elections and who won the second highest number of votes this year of available alternates. It would have, at least, been a nod to the voters in a year when few gestures of respect for the voters have been forthcoming from the Tribal Chairman.

One wonders what role Chairman Pigsley sees the voters as having in choosing Tribal Council members, but this appointment presents an even deeper problem. The Tribal Council knows very well that Lisa Brown's case is still underway. Tribal attorney, LeeAnn Easton informed the Tribal Council last Friday that Brown still has time to file for an appeal. I'm not saying that Brown is likely to win an appeal, but what kind of situation would filling the vacancy she left put the tribe into if she did win her appeal? And how could any action prejudice Lisa's case more than seating someone in her place while her case is still in progress?

I've been asking Tribal Chairman Delores Pigsley for months about the illegal payments to the Election Board in 2007, and receiving few answers. Today I asked her:

We know that the Election Board was paid over the past three elections. This directly contradicted our law in place at the time, which said that "Election Board members shall serve without pay." In the Nesika Illahee you said our elections were fair and legal. How could the payments to the Election Board be legal?

Chairman Pigsley responded:

This was not an illegal election. The election needed to go forward, council agreed to let the staff people receive their pay. Were it not for them the election could not go forward. What would you have done?

I answered:

In answer to your question: I would have obeyed the law.

One thing you could have done was change the election ordinance as you did in September and November of 2008. But I would have made it legal to pay any tribal volunteer to serve on the board, not just hand-picked staff of the General Manager - because we need an Election Board that is independent of the Tribal Council and the General Manager for our elections to be fair and impartial.

You say the Tribal Council authorized paying Election Board members. I have two follow-up questions:

1. How did the Tribal Council have authority to ignore the election law which stated "Election Board members shall serve without pay"?

2. There is was no resolution passed by Tribal Council authorizing such payments. There is no mention in the minutes about Tribal Council authorizing such payments. Where is the record of this authorization?

Our recent elections have been illegal in an even more fundamental way. None of our last three elections was certified by a legally appointed Election Board. Our law clearly states that “The Election Board shall be appointed by resolution of the Tribal Council”, but none of the members of the Election Board for our last three elections were appointed by resolution of the Tribal Council - they were all illegally appointed by General Manager Brenda Bremner, while Tribal Council ignored it's legal responsibility. Chairman Pigsley has tried to cloud this issue, suggesting that Bremner only recommended appointments. That's not true; Bremner made all the appointments for our last three elections herself, in direct violation of our law.

Clearly it could not be legal to pay Election Board members when the law said they must serve without pay. Tribal Council has no constitutional authority to exempt the General Manager and the Election Board from our laws. And isn't it just terribly convenient that this illegal authorization was granted without any mention in Tribal Council minutes or any other public record? Did Tribal Council really even vote on the payments, or was this just a "tacit agreement" with the Tribal Council sitting silently while Brenda Bremner explained her illegal policy?

Last September the Tribal Council amended our election law to allow tribal staff members (only) to be paid for serving on the Election Board. Obviously there would be no need for this amendment if the payments received by the Election Board over the last three elections were legal already. Note that Tribal Council could have authorized paying any tribal member to serve on the Election Board. Tina Retasket was paid over $40 an hour to serve on the Election Board in 2007 - does anyone imagine there would be a shortage of volunteers if that same pay was offered to all tribal members?

So why is the Tribal Council only willing to pay tribal staff to work on the Election Board? Because that staff can be hand-picked by the Chairman's niece, General Manager Brenda Bremner. And a politically loyal Election Board comes in very handy when, for instance, you need to prevent an opposing candidates statement from going out to all tribal members in the voter's pamphlet.

Today I asked Tribal Council member Tina Retasket the following question:

In October of 2007 you were paid for serving on the Election Board in violation of our election law, which said, the Election Board shall serve without pay. Why did you accept these payments when the law said Election Board members shall serve without pay?

She responded:

As you are aware, when we served on the Election Board we were staff members of the Tribe. As you may know, employment law requires that when you assign work to staff members, they must be compensated. We were doing the job we were assigned to do as part of our regular job assignments, and therefore were paid as staff members. As you know, the situation the past couple of years has been unique in that volunteers did not want to serve on the Election Board and the Council was tasked with finding a unique solution to the problem.

No employment law required Tina Retasket to sit on the Election Board. And since our election law clearly stated "Election Board members shall serve without pay", General Manager Brenda Bremner could not lawfully assign Election Board duties to Retasket as part of her job and Retasket could not lawfully accept payment for such duties.

Tina Retasket was a veteran Election Board member; she had served through previous elections. She had a solemn obligation to know our election law and to obey it. Retasket says this was a unique solution to a unique situation, but illegal payments to the Election Board through at least three elections can hardly qualify as "unique".

Keep in mind that Tina Retasket was paid an hourly wage about the same as the Governor of Oregon when she served on the Election Board in late 2007. The Tribal Council could have offered the same pay to any tribal volunteer. Instead they have arranged things so that only the hand-picked loyal staff of Brenda Bremner can be paid to serve on the Election Board. This assures an Election Board loyal to Brenda Bremner, and thus loyal to Chairman Pigsely herself.

Of course it is ridiculous that Retasket was even re-appointed to the Election Board in October 2007, since she had been removed from the Election Board in January 2007 when she was caught campaigning for Chariman Dee Pigsley and Vice-Chairman Bud Lane, during an election that Retasket was supposed to be administering fairly. But Retasket was spared any public announcement of her removal and she was spared any paper trail documenting her removal.

And later the same year she was quietly (and illegally) re-appointed and illegally paid over $40 an hour because political loyalty is what counts in the Pigsley/Bremner political machine, not ethical or even legal service.

A tribal member recently contacted me, concerned about that fact that several members of their family had not yet received ballots in the mail.

[TRIBAL MEMBERS.... contact your family members NOW !! Ask them if they have received their ballots... timing is crucial at this point, to ensure they do not get misplaced or lost in the postal system].

Although the registrations for these members were confirmed to be rec'd by Election dept.. during the first week of January, and as of today 1/29, these Tribal members have NOT rec'd their ballot.

Why the delay? Tribal members deserve an explanation.

Which brings to mind, how much are we paying for this "service".

An especially pertinent question, especially with the added cost of the post card that was mailed out to voters.

I would like the record to reflect, that this action initially was planned [as per Tracey Worman 1/12/09], to be a "LETTER", cost for postage would have been exceptionally more. It was due to the suggestion of Lynette Warren, that a postcard was sent in place of the letter.

At the time I offered the suggestion to Tracey Worman, she said, "Thank you so much". My reply was, "Don't thank me, it as the suggestion of Lynette Warren. She is the one who deserves the credit for this suggestion. I just want to make sure that you give her credit for this."

Upon hearing about this extra expense, I e-mailed Tracey, to request figures on the cost of this election, who the payee was, the specific details related to the process, etc.

When I requested this info from election board, they referred me to Tami Miner or Celesta Lee???

Why would they have to release this info?

Just some questions to ponder. As ever, comments and feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Yours Truly,

Lisa Brown, CPS
nadosh2@yahoo.com

I'm Lynette Warren and I'm running for Tribal Council....

...but you won't see my statement in your voters pamphlet because, for the first time in our history, a candidate's statement was rejected by the tribal government. You also won't see any details of my candidate's declaration in our quarterly Nesika Illahee, because, for the first time in it's history, the candidate's declarations made at the General Council Meeting were not reported. That is because Tribal Chairman Dee Pigsley, and her niece - General Manager Brenda Bremner, along with Bremner's hand-picked Election Board want to keep you from seeing what you're about to see in this letter. But it's important that you read it.

I've been encouraged and grateful for the support given to me throughout the past year. In May we led a successful drive to block a Constitutional amendment that would have further disempowered the membership. In the the last election I received 177 votes. That's an impressive showing from an out-of-area, first time candidate who was virtually unknown until last year. My friend, ally, and long time tribal activist, Lisa Brown, nearly won, but she fell short by a mere 29 votes. Let's elect Lisa Brown this year! Reggie Butler has spoken out against our failed business policies and against the conflicts-of-interest inherent in the fact that six of our Tribal Council members hold tribal jobs, five of them under Brenda Bremner. I also endorse Reggie Butler.

In this letter, I will explain in detail how our business ventures have become one disaster after another. In fact, the Siletz Tribal Business Corporation has lost millions of dollars of your money and has lost money every year it has existed. But Dee Pigsley's political machine will not allow this to be mentioned in any tribal publication.

I will also explain in detail how our election process has been corrupted. Did you know that before Tina Retasket became a Tribal Council member, she was removed from the Election Board in early 2007 when she was caught campaigning for Chairman Pigsley and Vice-Chairman Bud Lane in the middle of an election she was supposed to be administering fairly? You probably don't , because the details were never published and there was no written record of her removal. And Pigsley's political machine put Retasket back on the Election Board for the very next election! I will also document how Brenda Bremner arranged illegal payments to her hand-picked Election Board through our last three elections. And now that Election Board has rejected my candidate's statement for the voters pamphlet, because I explained all this in my statement.
Read the rest of this article »

Early on December 24th, I submitted my candidate statement to the Election Board for publication to the Voters Pamphlet. It was submitted on time, as per the Election Board's rules, but the Election Board refuses to print it. Instead they are publishing the words, "No statement available," after my name in the Voters Pamplet. The following is my statement, as submitted to the Election Board last week.

Lynette Warren Candidate Statement

Our tribal elections are being run by individuals who do not follow our laws. At the last General Council meeting Tracey Worman and Kurtis Barker introduced themselves as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Election Board. In truth, they were not on the Election Board since their terms had expired. Barker said the Election Ordinance gave the General Manager the authority to to appoint them to the Election Board. The Election Ordinance does no such thing, in fact it requires that the Election Board be appointed by resolution of the Tribal Council. But Worman and Barker were appointed to the Election Board by General Manager Brenda Bremner in October 2007, in direct violation of that law. They either don't care enough about our law to know it, or they don't care about breaking it. In November they were again appointed illegally to the Election Board, this time by the Tribal Council which appointed them to the Election Board for a term ending in June 2009, directly violating the Election Ordinance which requires a term of 1 year.

The relationship between the Election Board and Brenda Bremner has been especially troubling. In October Tracey Worman told me several times that Brenda Bremner was overseeing the Election Board, and that they would go to her first with questions about their duties. This was utterly inappropriate since the General Manager has no legitimate legal role in our elections. But the Election Board has considered Bremner their boss, a fact Worman confirmed in at the General Council Meeting when she admitted they would consult Bremner first on matters of policy.

Just before the 2007 General Election, Tina Retasket was removed from the Election Board because she was caught campaigning for Tribal Chairman Dee Pigsley and Vice-Chairman Bud Lane. Chairman Pigsley whitewashed the incident by failing to disclose that the Election Board member removed was in fact then Assistant General Manager Retasket. Pigsley also failed to disclose that Retasket had been campaigning for Dee Pigsley and Bud Lane. Brenda Bremner told me that she asked Tina to resign and Tina did.

But since Retasket is a political ally of Chairman Pigsley, Vice-Chairman Lane, and General Manager Bremner, there was no paper trail – there is no written record of Retasket's removal from the Election Board, although the Election Board has the resignations of other members on file. This apparently does not seem irregular to Worman and Barker.

In October of 2007 the Tribal Council illegally ducked their responsibility to appoint the Election Board and passed a resolution to have Brenda Bremner appoint the Election Board. The reason given for authorizing this was that some of the Election Board members recently appointed by the Tribal Council had resigned, including Tracey Worman and Kurtis Barker. They resigned because they were not being paid for their Election Board duties. Bremner re-appointed Worman and Barker and initiated a policy of paying tribal staff members for their Election Board duties. This was in direct violation of our Election Ordinance at the time which required that Election Board members serve without pay. The ordinance was changed in September 2008 to allow staff members to be paid, but during our last three tribal elections Election Board members were paid in violation of our law.

Bremner also took the astonishing step of re-appointing Tina Retasket to the Election Board, even though she had asked for Retasket's resignation that same year when Retasket was caught campaigning for Pigsley and Lane. And it's worse than that – Brenda Bremner told me that she appointed Tina to serve only for the referendum election in December 2007, since Retasket planned to run for General Council. Our law forbids anyone from serving on the Election Board if they plan to run for office during the coming year. Worman has stated that Retasket worked only on the referendum election. Why would that be, if Retasket was appointed for a year like all the other Election Board members? Clearly because it was known Retasket would run. And Retasket did run and win, even though she sat on the Election Board for more than a month after the other candidates had declared.

We need to clean up our elections.

There is much more I need to address as a candidate but the Election Board has now imposed a word limit on what you can be allowed to hear in these statements. You can read the rest of what I have to say on Siletz.Net.

----

I sent the above statement at 12:53 AM, Dec 24. Election Board Chairman Tracey Worman confirmed that she received the statement at 8:12 AM the same day. Later that day, Election Board member Kurtis Barker sent out the following email. He didn't specify what he thought was a personal attack.

From: Kurtis Barker
Date: Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: Lynette Warren 2009 Candidate Statement
To: Lynette Warren
Cc: Tracey Worman

Lynette,
Your Candidates Statement "as is" below will not be approved by the Election Board.
It violates the following rule: "Candidates Statements shall not include personal attacks on individuals."
This rule was approved by Tribal Council November 8th, 2008 with Resolution No. 2008-424.

You have three options:
1. Revise your statement and have it to the Election Board by 4pm today.
2. We can approve the last 2 paragraphs. The paragraph stating "We need to clean up our elections" and the paragraph that follows. (Let us know if you want this by 4pm today)
4. You could withdraw your whole candidates statement from the Voters Pamphlet.

If your statement is not re-submitted by 4pm today, it will not be included in the Voters Pamphlet.

As a friendly reminder- you have until 4pm today to submit a photo for the Voters Pamphlet and ballot, and you have until 4pm December 29th to withdraw your candidacy and not be included in the Voters Pamphlet.

If you have any questions, please let Tracey or I know.
Kurtis Barker
Election Board

On Friday, November 14th 2008, the Election Board met with tribal attorney Craig Dorsay, so that Dorsay could explain the election ordinance to the board. Lisa Brown and I also attended the meeting. The meeting was recorded by Tracey Worman.

When they had finished reviewing the ordinance I asked Election Board chairman Tracey Worman a few questions. She told us that she had been on the Election Board in October 2007 and that she had worked with Tina Retasket then. I asked if Tina had worked on the General Election at that time, and Worman said Tina had been appointed only for the referendum. I asked how she knew that Tina had been appointed only for the referendum, and Worman said that was what General Manager Brenda Bremner had told Retasket, Worman, Cova St. Onge, and Kurtis Barker.

Election Board Chairman Tracey Worman said all of this in front of tribal attorney Craig Dorsay.

Worman said she had a memo detailing the terms of Tina Retasket's appointment to the Election Board. I asked to see it and she produced it for me, but tribal attorney Craig Dorsay intercepted it. After examining the document, Dorsay denied me access to it. He said if I wanted to see it I would have to request it from Tribal Council. He did not explain what authority he had over the Election Board or their documents. As far as I know he has no such authority.

The memo that Tracey Worman produced and described was also described for me by Brenda Bremner on November 6th when we were discussing Tina Retasket's appointment:

Lynette Warren: Why was she only appointed for the referendum?

Brenda Bremner: Because she had announced her candidacy for Council. So she could be on the General. She got elected last year. She couldn't be on the Election Board to deal with the general election.

Lynette Warren: So she didn't get a year long appointment?

Brenda Bremner: No, she got appointed only for the referendum.In my notes I specifically... in my note, in my memo I gave to them, she was notified and they were notified in Council that she would only be on there for the referendum.

Lynette Warren: So knowing that she was gonna be a candidate she was only appointed for the referendum?

Brenda Bremner: The deal was the referendum.

At the special Tribal Council on November 8th, however, Brenda Bremner denied that she knew that Tina Retasket planned to run for Tribal Council when Bremner appointed Retasket to the Election Board in October 2007. She denied this in front of the Tribal Council and tribal attorney Craig Dorsay.

Lest anyone be confused, we only have one Election Board which is charged with managing all tribal elections. By law, all Election Board appointments are for one year. By law, one cannot be appointed to the Election Board if one plans to run for tribal office during that one year term of service.

At the meeting on Friday with Craig Dorsay and the Election Board, I also got to see the Election Board's signed oaths of office for the past few years as well as resignation letters. Tina Retasket's oath of office was no different form that of other members. But while there were a number of resignations on file going back as far as 2006, there was no record of Tina Retasket's departure form the Election Board in early 2007.

On Thursday November 13th, Worman told me that she had no resignation from Retasket in ealrly 2007. She told me "That was between Brenda and Tina". Of course Brenda Bremner claims she does not oversee the Election Board so there is no legitimate reason why she would be involved in Retasket's resignation. The Election Board should have a written record of Retasket's resignation, as it has for other members, but in this case General Manager Brenda Bremner avoided leaving a paper trail which could have been damaging to Tina Retasket's political career.

Yesterday, November 13th 2008, I visited our tribal offices in order to see our election records. I asked our Election Board Chairman Tracey Worman for the Election Board minutes. I also asked to see the signed oaths of office for Election Board members from the past few years. Our Election Ordinance says:

"Upon accepting the appointment, each member shall sign an oath which shall become part of the election records stating that he or she will serve according to the best of his or her ability and shall make every effort to prevent fraud or abuse of the election process."

I also asked to see any written records of resignations from the Election Board.

Tracey Worman informed me that I needed to submit any such requests in writing to Craig Dorsay, the tribe's lawyer.

Over the past few weeks I have asked most of the Tribal Council members about access to Election Board minutes. I asked Tribal Chairman Dee Pigsley and Vice-Chairman Bud Lane, as well as Tribal Council members Tina Retasket, Lillie Butler, Lorraine Butler, and Jesse Davis. Without exception, they each told me that they knew of no reason why tribal members should not be able to see the minutes of the Election Board.

The integrity of our elections is vital to the welfare of our tribe. Tribal members can only verify the integrity of our elections by examining our election records. Our election processes should be transparent, there is no excuse for keeping such records secret from tribal members.

Unfortunately, our Election Board is now adopting the posture of a criminal defendant: You want records? Talk to our lawyers!

Tina Retasket

Dee Pigsley

Bud Lane

Robert Kentta

Tina Retasket departed from the Election Board in early 2007 because of the ethical scandal associated with the campaign letter shown below. Read the rest of this article »

Tina Retasket and Brenda Bremner
As a consequence of my recent presentation at the General Council Meeting, there was a Special Tribal Council Meeting today to consider appointments to the Election Board. The Tribal Council voted to re-appoint Kurtis Barker and Tracey Worman to the Election Board, as well as Felicia Carmona.

I gave the following presentation to the Tribal Council, just before they voted:

---

I'm here today to address growing ethical problems with the Election Board. I intend to explain why our General Manager Brenda Bremner is ethically unfit to recommend appointments to the Election Board and why Kurtis Barker and Tracey Worman are unfit to serve.

In late 2007 Brenda Bremner and Tina Retasket conspired to break our elections laws, apparently with the tacit approval of the Tribal Council.

The Election ordinance states: “Election Board members shall each serve for one year from the date of appointment and may be removed only for cause.”

And it says that no person shall be appointed who “plans to be a candidate or who has an immediate family member or resident of the household who plans to be candidate in any election during his or her term of service.”

This was our law in 2007 and it remains our law today. The ordinance clearly states that no person shall be appointed who plans to be a candidate for tribal office in ANY election during their term, and it clearly defines that term as one year.

But Brenda Bremner appointed Tina Retasket to the Election Board in October 2007, and Tina accepted that appointment, even though both knew very well that Tina planned to run for Tribal Council just two months later.

I spoke with Brenda Bremner two days ago, on November 6th. She told me that Tina had only been appointed to the Election Board for the duration of the referendum election which was held on December 8th, 2007. Brenda told me that she gave Tribal Council a memo which explained that Tina would only serve on the Election Board through the referendum because Tina planned to run for Tribal Council.

Our Constitution says that Election Board members must serve set terms of office and our Election Ordinance defines that term as one year. There is nothing in our laws that authorizes Brenda to redefine that term of office.

So even though Brenda sought to create a term tailor-made to accommodate Tina's campaign for Tribal Council, Tina's term was legally one year, a year in which both Tina and Brenda knew perfectly well that Tina would run for Tribal Council.

Again, the Election Ordinance clearly states that no person shall be appointed who plans to be a candidate in ANY election during their term of office.

Brenda and Tina both knew the law. But they violated the law in order to get Tina on the Election Board and still accommodate Tina's campaign for Tribal Council. This is punishable by up to 6 months in prison or a fine of up to $5000, or both.

Tina was sitting on the Election Board at a time when it was already engaged in it's duties supervising the 2008 General Election - the very election in which Tina planned to run.

Our campaign for that election began on November 3rd, 2007, at the General Council Meeting. Robert Kentta, Lorraine Butler, Cynthia Farlow, Lisa Brown, Eva Clayton and I declared our candidacies that day. Tina Retasket did not declare her candidacy then because she was still on the Election Board. And Tina was still on the Election Board a month later - a full month into the campaign for Tribal Council. Obviously it is unethical for a candidate to sit on the Election Board during a campaign in which she intends to run. That's why we have laws against it. The result was that Tina won a seat on the Tribal Council, edging out Lisa Brown by only 29 votes. Of course, Lisa Brown did not have the advantage of sitting on the Election Board during the campaign.

The ethical problems with Brenda's appointment of Tina run much deeper. Earlier that same year Tina had departed from the Election Board due to an ethical scandal. When we spoke two days ago, Brenda told me that she, herself, had asked Tina for her resignation at that time, and that Tina had agreed. I asked why Brenda had called for Tina's resignation. Brenda said: “There was the appearance of a conflict because she wrote a letter and sent it out “

Brenda also said that the letter had endorsed certain candidates.

We know that those ”certain candidates”were in fact Tribal Chairman Dee Pigsley and Vice-Chairman Bud Lane.

Brenda told me Tina wrote and sent out the letter. This the same thing Chairman Dee Pigsley told the General Council in February 2007, although Dee failed to name Tina and she failed to disclose that Tina had been campaigning for Dee Pigsley and Bud Lane in the letter.

Brenda told me that she did not know if Tina had actually done anything unethical, but that Brenda had asked Tina to resign because of the appearance of unethical conduct.

I hardly know what to say about someone who claims not to know if it is unethical for an Election Board member to be campaigning for the Tribal Chairman and Vice-Chairman during an election she is supposed to be supervising fairly.

I can only say that such a demonstrated lack of an ethical compass should disqualify Brenda Bremner from any further involvement in our election process. Given all of this, the Tribal Council should never again consider her recommendations for Election Board appointments.

Today Brenda is recommending that Kurtis Barker and Tracy Worman be re-appointed. I will now present further reasons why these two individuals are unfit to serve.

I spoke with Tracey recently. I was astonished to hear her say that Brenda oversees the Election Board. She repeated this several times. She told me, for instance, that if the Election Board had an issue with a candidate's statement they would first contact the candidate to try to clear up any problems, then they would consult Brenda and then the Tribal Council if necessary. I asked another question about Election Board policy and Tracey told me she would have to ask Brenda, and that Brenda was away for a few days.

The problem here is that Brenda has no legitimate authority whatsoever over Election Board policies and decisions. It is an egregious violation of fair election practices for Brenda to be running our Election Board. I asked Jessie Davis about this and she told me “it would not be kosher” for Brenda to be overseeing the Election Board on such matters. Lillie Butler told me much the same thing.

But at the General Council meeting last week, right in front of the Tribal Council, Tracey confirmed that the Election Board would consult with Brenda first on matters of election policy. They don't see anything wrong with that.

On page 4 of the November issue of Siletz News there is an article by Kurtis Barker which states: "The Election Board now will be responsible for accepting and approving all candidate's statements. We have chosen to adopt many of the rules that govern statements in Siletz News. Statements will be limited to 450 words and not contain any personal attacks. One photo (optional) can be accepted with statements. Candidate's statements cannot be posted on Tribal property."

On the other hand, the Election Ordinance clearly says that the Election Board may propose rules regarding candidates statements, but the Tribal Council must review and approve such rules.

Tribal Council members Lillie Butler and Jessie Davis have both confirmed to me that the Tribal Council has not reviewed or approved the rules that Kurtis has attempted to impose on candidates. This article was of course published in our tribal newspaper by Brenda .

It is unlawful for the Election Board to impose rules that have not been reviewed and adopted by the Tribal Council. And it is utterly inappropriate for Brenda to be publishing such illegal pronouncements.

But it's hardly surprising that an Election Board which thinks it is supervised by Brenda is trying to impose the rules of the newspaper which Brenda runs, rules which she has used to reject or heavily censor my letters when I've criticized the Tribal Council.

Both Kurtis and Tracey confirmed to me that suppressing criticism of the Tribal Council was indeed a purpose of the new rules. Kurtis Barker put it most bluntly when he said: “We want articles that state why you want to be on Tribal Council, not like an attack mode where you candidates can blame the Tribal Council for what's going on. “

Brenda 's policy of political censorship of letters to the Siletz News is being extended into our election process with this power grab to control candidates' statements. Brenda is clearly orchestrating our newspaper and our Election Board in concert to muzzle political opponents of the Tribal Council. And Kurtis and Tracey have attempted to impose these rules unilaterally, without the approval of the Tribal Council, which our law requires.

For these reasons, Kurtis Barker and Tracey Worman are unfit to serve on the Election Board. Tribal Council should not re-appoint them.

If you do re-appoint these two to the Election Board, I want to be put on the agenda for the next Tribal Council meeting where I will present additional evidence of more violations of the election ordinance by Brenda Bremner, Tracey Worman, and Kurtis Barker. Also, expect to see me back in Siletz on election day explaining to the General Council why these two are unfit to serve on the Election Board and how Brenda Bremner is using them to corrupt our election process.

Lynette Warren
November 8th, 2008

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note:

I spoke with Brenda Bremner two days ago, on November 6th. She told me that Tina had only been appointed to the Election Board for the duration of the referendum election which was held on December 8th, 2007. Brenda told me that she gave Tribal Council a memo which explained that Tina would only serve on the Election Board through the referendum because Tina planned to run for Tribal Council.

Even though Brenda told me this just two days ago on the phone, Brenda now denies knowing that Tina planned to be a candidate at the time of Tina's nomination to the Election Board in October 2007.

At this afternoon's Special Tribal Council Meeting, Tina also wouldn't admit that she planned to run for Tribal Council during the time she served on the Election Board for the pay raise referendum last year.