Tribal Council OKs general manager agreement

After spending almost five months as interim general manager, former Social Services Department Manager David Fullerton is now officially the Tribal governmental staff’s new leader.

Tribal Council approved an employment agreement effective as of Jan. 7 with Fullerton during its Wednesday, Jan. 20, meeting.

Fullerton started working for the Tribe in June 2001 as an Indian Child Welfare caseworker. He managed the Social Services Department from December 2001 through late August 2015 when he was tapped to serve as interim general manager.

Before joining the Grand Ronde Tribe, Fullerton was the Social Services director for the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington state. He also has worked as a probation officer for the Lake County Youth Court in Poulson, Mont., and as a sociology instructor for Stone Child Tribal College on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana.

Fullerton earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Montana in Missoula, where he minored in both Native American studies and criminology. He graduated from Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved the Yeti Logging Unit timber sale, which will harvest approximately 6,652 million board feet of timber in four regeneration cutting blocks on Reservation trust lands and make an estimated $2.3 million for the Tribe.
• Appointed John Lillard to the Timber Committee and Joann Mercier to the Election Board. Both terms expire in March 2017.
• Approved the Tribe’s $76,450 State Homeland Security Grant application to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. The Tribe’s application projects include radio studies and equipment, funding for a sandbag loading station and continuing active shooter training.
• Approved the enrollment of an infant into the Tribe because he or she meets the provisions outlined in the Enrollment Ordinance and Tribal Constitution.

By consensus, Tribal Council approved the agenda for the Sunday, Feb. 7, General Council meeting to be held at the Monarch Hotel off Interstate 205 near Clackamas Town Center. The program will include a Tribal investment presentation from Robert W. Baird & Co. representatives in executive session, results of the Elders Committee election and three $100 and five $50 door prizes.

Emergency Operations Coordinator Jamie Baxter also recognized new members of the Tribe’s Community Emergency Response Team, which includes Tribal employees Lauri Smith, Rhonda Leno, Egypt Leno, Shannon Simi, Stacia Martin, Chelsea Clark and Holly Engles.

Also included in the Jan. 20 Tribal Council packet were authorizations to proceed to nominate Tribal Council member Brenda Tuomi to the National Indian Health Board Centers for Disease Control Tribal Advisory Committee, appoint Tribal Council member Denise Harvey to the Polk County Sheriff’s Advisory Team and direct the Natural Resources Department to submit draft management plans for the Chahalpam and Rattlesnake Butte properties to the Bonneville Power Administration and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for agency review and public comment.

Another authorization to proceed OK’d sending a proposed constitutional amendment to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for approval that will ask Tribal voters to remove the parent on the roll at time of birth and time of application requirements from the Tribal Constitution and add language to the definition of Grand Ronde blood.

The meeting, in its entirety, can be viewed on the Tribal website, www.grandronde.org, by clicking on the News tab and then Video.