Siletz.Net

From: Donna Rodriguez
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:20:22 -0700
To: Dee Pigsley; Bud Lane; Jessie Davis; Lillie Butler; Loraine Butler; Robert Kentta; Tina Retasket
Subject: A voice in the matter of tribal ethics.

Tribal Council,

I am writing this letter on behalf of every tribal member who voted in this year's election, for every tribal member who has voted in the past and for every tribal member who will vote in the future.

I am appalled that five people (and you know who you are) on our Tribal Council believe they are above the tribe, to make decisions for us according to their wants and needs. I, and other tribal members, are appalled that you are going as far as to to expel Lisa Brown. It is totally obvious that you don't care what the tribe wants or needs.

It saddens me that we have entrusted something so precious to you people. We have entrusted you with our lives, our children's lives and OUR WAY of life. By your action, you have made it clear that your lives, your families' lives and YOUR OWN WAY of life is all that is important to you. Lisa Brown has got to Tribal Council by the peoples vote! It is because she is not who you wanted to win the election and because she has personally pointed a finger at each and everyone of you that you want her gone. You are planning to make sure to get rid of her for good. What does that say for each and every one of your own council ethics?

It does not matter whether you like Lisa or not. It does not matter whether I like Lisa or not. Your job is for the tribe, to help the tribe in making important decisions, not to make them for the tribe. The majority voted Lisa into council and she deserves the right to prove herself worthy or not. It is not up to five or six members of our Tribal Council to decide that Lisa is not capable of performing her job on council. Somehow, Tribal Council's power has gotten out of hand and has gone straight to their heads. It is because we trusted our council to make the right choices for the tribe and to treat us as equals (each and every one of us) that we have let you get this far. But now we see that your interest is not the tribe's interest, but your own interest. I believe that if you continue, and succeed, in your attempt to remove Lisa Brown from Tribal Council for your own reasons, without consulting with the majority of the tribe and giving them the opportunity to personally question your motives, you people will lose a lot of respect. And I don't think the three council members, who are coming to the end of their terms, want to disappoint too many tribal members. This action will no doubt affect the votes they will receive if they plan to run for council again.

I know that I am not the only one that feels this way because I have been listening to the people, unlike the tribal council who want to keep us quiet. As Tribal Council, you should not want to silence us, you should want to include the General Council in all major decisions. I like to believe that our council members have enough dignity and honesty to not let this expulsion happen. Please think of the 401 tribal members that voted Lisa in, not the few that hate her for their own personal reasons. This is not about who likes her and who does not. This is about tribal ethics! Give the girl a chance. Lisa has earned the right to show us what she can do. The members who voted for her gave her that right. If she fails and the people are not happy with her then let them decide if she stays or goes at the next election. That is the right of the people. What you are doing tells those 401 tribal members that their word does not count. I have heard several people, who did not vote for Lisa, complain about what is going on. They agree it isn't right for the council to overturn an election like this.

I also have something to say about Jim Kikimoto resigning. It is time for him to go, he should have gone sooner. If he wants to run a golf course then let him buy his own and run it. Let us get on with casino business. there are golf courses everywhere, why do you think the golf course was for sale? We need to provide training for tribal members that want to move forward in their own casino. There are so many dedicated tribal members working at our casino that need the opportunity to advance and never get it.

The economy is not our only problem at the casino. If you go behind the pretty lights and slots, there are a lot of things being ignored. Things that would make the casino run smoothly, like a working freight elevator, a working escalator, a larger kitchen and food storage (freezers, coolers, work areas, etc...), building a positive work force and much more. the list is so long I cannot include everything. Give the people back their hours and stop wasting money on stupid fitness challenges and employee golf tournaments...all things to bring business into the golf course. Forget the golf course for now. Concentrate on getting the casino back into production, our marketing team needs to bring the business back into the casino where it belongs. The casino is why we are here.

We need to get our people into training and get them into positions that will make them feel good about themselves. Give them encouragement and reasons to better themselves. That was the original goal and we lost track of that goal since Jim K. has been here. It is time to FOCUS on the tribes best interests once again.

I know you think that I am no one important and that my opinion does not matter. But I know better, I am an enrolled Siletz tribal member and I am proud to be Indian, rich or poor, no matter what! My opinion does matter because I am tribal. Every one of our tribal member's opinion matters whether you like to think so or not. Stop excluding the membership! We are not YOUR tribe, you are OUR Tribal Council.

Sincerely,
Donna J. Rodriguez #1054
One of many concerned tribal members.

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 »