Tribal Council appoints TERO Commission members

Tribal Council appointed five people to the new TERO Commission on April 2.

The commission is charged with ensuring the provisions of the Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance adopted by Tribal Council in 2013 are carried out.

TERO Commission members are Bryan Langley and Eirik Thorsgard (three-year terms); Shelley Sneed and Lewis Younger (two-year terms); and Alton Butler (one-year term). All but Sneed are Tribal employees.

Tribal Council also approved a base $325 stipend per month for TERO Commission members, who must attend the monthly meeting to receive the stipend. Commission members also will receive $50 for each additional meeting they participate in with a total stipend limit of $425 per month per commissioner.

In other action during the April 2 meeting, Tribal Council made numerous re-appointments to committees and special event boards.

Those re-appointed are:

• Tammy Cook and Shelby Olson-Rogers to the Education Committee;
• Penny DeLoe and Deanna Johnston to the Election Board;
• Michael Mercier, Margaret Provost and Terri Wood to the Enrollment Committee;
• Tracy Howerton, John Lillard, Steven Bobb Jr. and Harold Lyon to the Fish & Wildlife Committee;
• Ed Ashman, Marvin "Duke" Kimsey, Jim Holmes and Lyon to the Rodeo Special Event Board;
• And Eugene LaBonte, Ken Lafferty and Bob Mercier to the Timber Committee.

Tribal Council also approved 30-day extensions for Marline Groshong and Matt Thomas to serve on the Ceremonial Hunting Board; Linda Brandon and Margaret Provost to serve on the Culture Committee; Gladys Hobbs, Bernadine Shriver and Patti Tom-Martin to serve on the Health Committee; Carol Gleason and Tonya Gleason-Shepek to serve on the Social Services Committee; and for Wayne Chulik, Bob Duncan, Reina Nelson and Wink Soderberg to serve on the Veterans Special Event Board.

Tribal Council also approved the enrollment of one infant into the Tribe and the paying of $2,590 for 2014-15 membership dues in the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments and its Economic Development District.

In addition, Tribal Council approved applying to the Administration for Native Americans for a two-year, $543,449 museum grant to renovate the research library and conference room at the Chachalu Cultural Center and Museum. The grant also would help pay for an oral history specialist for two years, college intern to work on the eighth-grade Tribal history curriculum with Education and a half-time archivist.

Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno also announced that educational meetings regarding the June 6 constitutional election will be held April 12 in Portland and Eugene. The Portland meeting will be held at 11 a.m. in Room ST107 on the Sylvania campus of Portland Community College, 12000 S.W. 49th Place. The Eugene meeting will be held at 5 p.m. in the Lane Community College Longhouse, 4000 E. 30th Ave.. The Grand Ronde session will be held following the April 16 Tribal Council meeting.

Leno said the Bureau of Indian Affairs will send out voter registration packets on April 9 and ballots will be sent out on May 22.

Tribal voters are being asked to end Bureau of Indian Affairs participation in Tribal elections and to institute limits of three consecutive terms for future service on Tribal Council.

Also included in the April 2 Tribal Council packet are authorizations to proceed that:

• Authorized the Natural Resources Department to supply two logs for use by Tribal Engineer Jesse White in construction of the plankhouse-style entrance at Chachalu;
• Approved the Fish and Wildlife Committee to require background checks for applicants to become ceremonial hunters. The screenings will look for felonies and fish and game violations and be conducted by the Grand Ronde Police Department;
• Recommended Fish & Wildlife Program Manager Kelly Dirksen to serve as the Tribal representative on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative Conservation Team.

Thorsgard, Jordan Mercier, Jan Looking Wolf Reibach, Tribal Council member Jon A. George and Marcus Gibbons provided the drumming to open the meeting.