There's no Miss Congeniality prize so, for me, it's 4th place as runner up.

I took 4th place, behind Dee Pigsley, who finished in 3rd place. Not enough to get me on the Tribal Council this year, but I am optimistic about the changes we can still make in the coming year.

Thank you, everyone who took the effort to support me. I got encouraging phone calls and emails from tribal members who, like many others, want more accountability from the tribal government and deserve more information about our businesses and tribal salaries, and government spending. They asked me to keep up the good work. It meant a lot to me to hear from them.

Often a breakthrough is achieved just as a person is about to give up. Albert Einstein talked about this when he said, "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." I hope that that those who desire more transparency and accountability will hold to that spirit and not give up.

We not only have next year, but we have this year, too. We can contribute by remaining hopeful and talking with each other throughout the year.

On to the 2010 election:

Lisa Brown, in her usual energetic form, got the vote tallies out to Siletz Tribal Members around the world on Saturday evening.

Just a couple of years ago most members would have had to wait weeks for the results of an election, but Siletz.Net has changed the paradigm of Siletz tribal communications. Lisa had the tally posted within minutes of the announcement of the results in Siletz.

It's been an interesting year in Siletz tribal politics.

Bud Lane and Dee Pigsley began their campaigns early last year. In March their Election Board sued me. In June I announced my candidacy in Brookings. In July, Pigsley used her column in the the tribal newspaper to campaign against me. Then the Election Board who sued me ran it's own candidate - Kurtis Barker, who was given the support of Pigsley-Bremner machine in it's bloc campaign letter. Chinook Winds worker Melinda Logan threw her hat into the ring this year, along with Ken Blacketer and Frank Aspria. The new Election Board proved even more oppressive than the last, prohibiting me from referring to other candidates in my statement for the voters pamphlet, and, finally, prohibiting candidates from even speaking or referring to one another at the Candidates Fair.

In spite of all that, it was a record turnout for voters and when the ballots were counted on Saturday, here's what it looked like.

Lillie Butler 58% support of all who cast a vote
Bud Lane 48%
Dee Pigsley 44%

Lillie Butler took a comfortable 10% margin above all other candidates. Her 536 votes smashed all records. However, it's likely that 3rd place finisher, Dee Pigsley, who fell behind Lillie by more than 100 votes, has been installed as Chairman by her own majority on the Tribal Council.

I haven't received word on who was chosen on Sunday to chair the Tribal Council, but if the tribal council would, for once, put the voters' best interest in front of their own best interest, they would have selected Lillie Butler as Tribal Council Chairman this year.

All the best to my own supporters and to challengers Melinda Logan and Ken Blacketer. Lillie Butler's resounding first place victory is an indication that the tide is turning. Hang tough, everyone.

Lynette Warren

The following letter from Tribal Chairman Dee Pigsley was printed today:

This letter is meant to share with you our sadness, disappointment and outrage over the recent inclusion of respected tribal elder and tribal council member Frank Simmons in an inaccurate and unfairly biased article about tribal council elections (“Siletz ready for council elections,” Jan. 23 edition) on the day of his funeral.

In all my years of serving the tribe, reporter Terry Dillman has taken news articles to a new level of thoughtlessness and shows a blatant disregard for the facts. I am so disappointed in the article. To take a statement by a respected member of our community and place it in an article about a controversy that has been created by a willing newspaper editor and a reporter, and to do it on the day we laid to rest our beloved council member is disrespectful and insensitive.

Our tribe has more than 4,500 members, yet only two disgruntled tribal members are allowed an opportunity to discredit our government. Your newspaper lets this happen and never contacts anyone to validate issues or facts.

Terry Dillman's reporting is a detriment to our community and to your newspaper. Newspapers should report in a fair and honest manner. The people in our community rely on your newspaper for actual and factual news that is fair and unbiased.

Dee Pigsley

Siletz Tribal Chairman

Below is the article that Delores Pigsley is complaining about. Terry Dillman seems to have gone out of his way to keep the article in question balanced.

Siletz ready for council elections
By Terry Dillman of the News-Times
Jan 23, 2009

Eleven candidates actively campaign as they vie for three spots

Incumbents Jessie Davis and Reggie Butler Sr. face challenges from Frank Aspria Sr., Lisa Brown, Eva Clayton, Divona Christiansen, Jane John, Monte Kentta, Phil Rilatos Sr., Darlene Smith, and Lynette Warren when voters go to the polls for the Feb. 7 Siletz Tribal Council election.

In letters to the editor of Siletz News, the tribe's monthly newspaper, statements in the voter's pamphlet, and elsewhere, the candidates have shared their ideas and perspectives about what they believe are priorities for the tribe during the next 52 weeks and beyond. Economic development, health care, affordable housing, employment, and education opportunities for tribal members in the tribe's 11-county service area remain high priorities, as does government accountability, which has emerged as a prime consideration for some candidates.
*
Controversy has dogged the run-up to this year's election, with accusations of improprieties alleged by a pair of candidates, along with challenges to a few decisions made by the election board leading up to the annual candidate fair, held Jan. 10 in the Siletz Tribal Community Center on Government Hill.

Brown and Warren, who sought election last year as government reformers, said for the first time ever, the tribal government rejected a candidate's statement (Warren's). And “you won't see any details of my candidate's declaration” in the Nesika Illahee - the quarterly publication for tribal members, Warren added, because for the first time in the publication's history, declarations made at the tribe's general council meeting “were not reported.”

Both Warren, who gleaned 177 votes last year as a virtually unknown first-time candidate, and Brown, who fell just 29 votes short of being elected, say it's time to put integrity back into the tribal election process. Both have remained active advocates of more open government and more accountability from elected leaders and administrative staff. Brown said it's time for a “separation of powers,” with “no more tribal council as boss of everything.”

Brown also criticized the election board's decision to not record the proceedings at this year's candidate fair, nor allow anyone else to do so. In past years, the event was recorded and copies made available to tribal members unable to attend. Brown called it another example of the lack of transparency in tribal government.

Critics of Warren and Brown allege they will say and do anything to get elected. “Every year during election time, folks will try to discredit councilmen who have worked very hard for you, just to get elected,” stated a Dec. 30, 2008 letter to voting-eligible tribal members. “The best people to serve are those who have represented the tribe in a professional manner, who are willing to make the best decisions for the majority of our tribal members.”

Signed by Tribal Chairman Delores Pigsley, Vice Chairman Alfred “Bud” Lane III, Secretary Tina Retasket, council member Robert Kentta, Rosalie Bremner, and Mike Darcy - it urged tribal members to vote for current Treasurer Jessie Davis, and Phil Rilatos Sr., who has served several previous terms on tribal council, and incumbent Frank Simmons. The road to the election took an unfortunately somber turn this week when Simmons, 74, a tribal elder who was seeking re-election, died in Lincoln City Monday.

He provided a few words of wisdom about the tribe's future in his voter's pamphlet statement.

“It is important to remember what is good for the many, and when making decisions, the well-being of those generations yet to come must be considered,” Simmons noted. “It is something that I am very passionate about, and will not falter to ensure that our sovereignty and the rights of our tribal government are protected now and for future generations. I am compelled to work to protect our inherent rights that our ancestors so dearly died for. Our tribal traditions must be upheld. The dignity and integrity of our Indian people will live forever, if we represent our tribal people with respect.”

Election Board Chairman Tracey Worman certified the candidate list Dec. 26. Ballots and voters' pamphlets were mailed out to eligible tribal members Jan. 5, and Jan. 30 is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot. Public calibration of the voting machines is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, at the tribal administration office in Siletz.

Election Day is Saturday, Feb. 7, 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. 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, Teala Rilatos, and Tracey Worman to the 2009 election board. They will monitor the voting and certify results. The top three vote-getters will take the oath of office at 1 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 8, in tribal council chambers at the administration building.

Anyone with questions should call the election board office at 444-8256, or 1-800-922-1399, ext. 1256.

Terry Dillman is the assistant editor of the News-Times. Contact him at (541) 265-8571, ext 225, or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com.

I see nothing the least bit disrespectful to Frank Simmons in Terry Dillman's article. The funeral happened to be on a Friday, one of the two days a week the News Times is published. This was very shortly before the election and it would have been a disservice to voters to postpone coverage. And they could hardly cover the election without noting Frank's death.

Dee Pigsley is really just upset that there are channels of communication which report on tribal politics that she can't fully control. When Dee was elected in 2007 she characterized the 405 votes she received as "overwhelming support". Lisa Brown received 401 votes this year running a campaign highly critical of Pigsley, but Dee dismisses her today as one of "two disgruntled tribal members".

Note that Dee Pigsley's letter does not contest a single fact in the Terry Dillman's article. Her real gripe is that she and her niece, General Manager Brenda Bremner, did not get to control the coverage.

---

UPDATE (2/22/09): It's now clear that Dee Pigsley's letter was a pre-emptive strike in an attempt to deter news organizations from covering the expulsion of Lisa Brown from Tribal Council. The plan to expel Lisa was obviously already in motion.

There was nothing the least bit disrespectful to Frank Simmons in the News Times article as any fair minded reader can see.

It is absolutely disgusting and shameful that Tribal Chairman Dee Pigsley has attempted to use the death of Frank Simmons to shield herself from political criticism so that she can overturn the result of our election.

On January 6th 2008 I asked Tribal Council member Robert Kentta a simple question:

Has the Siletz Tribal Business Corporation ever shown a net profit in any of the years you've served on it's Board of Directors?

Kentta is of course also on the Board of Directors of STBC. I had not heard from him by January 26th, so I asked again.

His response is posted here.

I sent Robert a point-by-point response which I will now post below. Robert Kentta's words are indented.

---

Robert,

You wrote:

Please don't be put out by my late, or lack of, response to you. We've had our communications in the past, and I've pointed out to you that I've grown to distrust your motives, intentions and ways of spinning that which is told to you. You have a generally poor opinion of your tribal government, and are in the process of again seeking office, and I know that which you glean from the individual responses will be pitted against each other, or used to spin a great rant, or both.

I've sworn to protect the interests of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and anything that feeds your hate-mill I consider to be a detriment to the CTSI. You, I consider to be a detriment to your tribe. Not for the questions you ask and results you expect, but the whole sale tearing-down of all for whatever reason, or maybe no reason at all.

Regardless of your suspicion of my motives, I think any tribal member is entitled to have Tribal Council members answer simple questions about our tribal government and businesses.

We have not had a good track record with the investment of tribal resources into businesses. Very few in fact have produced a profit over the years. I think you know that. I think you know that I know that. So what is your point in asking, and then hounding me for an answer - after I've indicated my position on communication with you? If that seems harsh, I will share my philosophy: To be treated with respect, you must treat others with respect. Once you've proven that, we may begin to have open lines of communication.

My question was: Has the Siletz Tribal Business Corporation ever shown a net profit in any of the years you've served on it's Board of Directors? It's a simple question and you still have not answered it.

My point in asking is that the Tribal Council has never told tribal members that STBC has lost large sums of money during every year of it's existence. The reports you publish would lead members to believe that STBC hits a bump in the road now and then but is basically doing all right. Don't you think that the Tribal Council, which is also the Board of Directors of STBC, has a responsibility to tell members plainly and honestly that they have lost considerable sums of money every year in STBC? Don't tribal members have a right to know that your business decisions have consistently lost money?

You may explain these losses any way you like, but don't tribal members have a right to the plain truth?

You and Lisa, always harping about "Transparency" but where is all of that when it comes to you - the finger pointers???

You've gone on and on (in what should have been a "campaigning" - i.e. convincing people of your skills, will and intent to serve their best interests) about how rotten this one, and that one, and all these others are too, because they signed the letter... and this one's related to that one, and they're both related to this one... *You are related* to the entire core group you demean. You're all descendants of Scott and Minnie Lane, and if you extend that to Tina, then again, another generation back, and you're ALL descendants of Joshua Louie. Monte is included in that same scenario. Because you have diminished sense of family ties, does not mean that you are absent from the family tree. You talk about all of those people being related to each other, like it's some sort of crime, but never that you are related to all of them.

I am a second-cousin of Dee Pigsley. We discuss genealogy at Siletz.Net and I've been entirely candid about my ancestry. See http://siletz.net/node/21 for instance.

As I said explicitly at the General Council meeting in November, there is nothing wrong with tribal members supporting their family members in tribal politics. But it was important for tribal members to know who signed the letter in order to understand the profound conflict of interest involved.

You said you do not know what was in the campaign letter Tina Retasket sent out while on the Election Board. I'll take you at your word, even though this directly contradicts Chairman Pigsley's assertion that everyone on the Tribal Council knew exactly what had happened. I certainly don't hold you, or anyone else who signed the letter, responsible for the fact that Tina sent it out if you had no knowledge that she would do so.

But, as a Tribal Council member, you are fully responsible for the fact that you didn't even bother to find out what was in campaign letter sent out by by a member of the Election Board. You are fully responsible for not bothering to find out who else was involved. You are fully responsible for not disclosing to tribal members that the offender was in fact the Assistant General Manager. You are fully responsible for allowing Tina to depart with no paper trail recording her removal. And you are responsible for saying nothing when Tina was put back on the Election Board for the very next election.

It is important for tribal members to know who signed the letter, to demonstrate Chairman Pigsley's conflict of interest when she whitewashed the matter on election day. Tribal voters had a right to know what had happened so that they could judge for themselves. But it was not in Chairman Pigsley's personal political interest to admit that Tina Retasket had been caught campaigning for Dee and Bud, sending out a letter that you had signed.

Can you honestly say you don't see the conflict of interest?

...and continuing along with the transparency theme: Everybody.....EVERYBODY has a past. and Lisa can scream about how nothing is out in the daylight.....but how much of her dirty laundry has she shared? What kinds of of opportunities has she had - and blown - how long has she stayed in various positions, and why not longer? ....and you, what of your past? Is it true that you was a supporter of Clifford Case, Pat Duncan, Lillie, Reggie and that set prior to/around the RECALL of several then Council Members?.... - are you aware of the vast dollar amounts and other ways that cost the Tribe dearly? That brief era was a particularly low point of CTSI history.

Are you are saying that Lillie Butler/Pat Duncan chaired Tribal Council cost the tribe more money than STBC has lost during your tenure on it's Board of Directors? May I see the figures?

You don't seem to understand much about your own tribal community. People can live far-off and criticize, I'm sure it's easy to do. Few who live outside the area probably have any true sense of how small and fragile and essential the group of families who live and *on a daily basis* support, defend and work on behalf of this confederation is. Go back far enough, and most of our present day "families" collapse down into several base families. We've been torn down by warfare, disease, imposed political systems, church rule, and other federal policies including being barred from freedom of spiritual expression, language, thoughts, beliefs.... and those battles are not over, and yet you want to tear down those who are willing to step forward and dedicate so much of their time and energy to the re-building and betterment of our tribe? Count me out on adding to your "campaign".

I hope that you do reach understanding of yourself, your family, your tribe, federal Indian policy, and whatever it takes to reach a place where you can shed the blind-hate that you have now. When you are that reasonable, respectful person, then we can talk for hours, and work together.

R...

Robert, the fact that I criticize your performance doesn't mean I hate you or any other tribal official. I don't. My criticism has been measured and well supported by evidence.

Lynette

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.

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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