General Council briefed on 2017 draft budget

The general membership was briefed on the 2017 draft Tribal budget in executive session during the Sunday, Nov. 6, General Council meeting held in the Tribal gym.

Finance Officer Chris Leno reviewed the draft budget in executive session, which limits what Smoke Signals can report. His 30-minute presentation was followed by seven comments and questions from the sparse number of Tribal members who attended the meeting, which started about five minutes late because a quorum of 30 Tribal members had not been met.

Deadline to comment on the 2017 draft budget is 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5. All Tribal households were mailed a copy of the proposed budget in their November Tilixam Wawa.

In addition, Tribal members who did not attend the meeting can request a compact disc copy from Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Martin at 503-879-2034 or stacia.martin@grandronde.org.

The General Council meeting opened with an invocation from Tribal Elder and former Tribal Council member Steve Bobb Sr.

Veronica Gaston, Ann Lewis and Val Alexander won the $100 door prizes and Lise Alexander, Bobb, Julie Duncan, Debbie Anderson and David Leno won the $50 door prizes. Bobb, who is also chairman of the Tribe’s Veterans Special Event Board, donated his winnings to the veterans.

In addition, Joanna Brisbois won a gas card donated by Tribal Council member Brenda Tuomi and her husband, Ron, and Gary Williams won a donated jar of strawberry jam.

The next General Council meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, in the Tribal Community Center. The earlier meeting time is to accommodate the Tribal Council Christmas Party being held the same day.

Tribal Council Vice Chair Cheryle A. Kennedy also announced that the February General Council meeting will be held in Portland and the April meeting will be held in Eugene.

During other business, Gaston donated a crocheted blue blanket to Tribal Police Officer Tokata Tehama to show her support for the “thin blue line,” which is a popular reference to law enforcement throughout the country. Gaston was helped by Tribal Council member Chris Mercier in draping the blanket around Tehama.

The meeting, without the executive session, can be viewed on the Tribal website, www.grandronde.org, by clicking on the News tab and then Video.