Tribal Council OKs new General Council ordinance

Tribal Council adopted a new General Council ordinance at its Thursday, Jan. 12, meeting that will govern how the nine monthly meetings are held annually.

Tribal Council held a rare Thursday morning meeting after a winter storm forced closure of the Governance Center in Grand Ronde on Wednesday, Jan. 11, and postponement of the regularly scheduled 4 p.m. meeting.

Staff Attorney Holly Partridge said at the Tuesday, Jan. 10, Legislative Action Committee meeting that only one Tribal member submitted a comment about the proposed ordinance when it was sent out for a first reading.

The ordinance is designed to set forth uniform policies and procedures regarding the powers of General Council and to facilitate orderly and productive meetings, which are usually held the first Sunday of the month from September through May annually. (The June General Council meeting, held the last Sunday of the month, is reserved for Tribal Council nominations only.)

For example, the ordinance states that if a quorum of 30 Tribal members is not present when the meeting is scheduled to begin, the Tribal Council chair will announce a 15-minute grace period to reach quorum before the meeting is canceled.

The ordinance also designates that every September meeting will be an update from Spirit Mountain Casino, every October meeting will be an overview of Tribal investments and every November meeting will review the proposed budget for the next year. It also requires one General Council meeting be held each year in Portland and Eugene.

Regarding advisory votes, the new ordinance requires community meetings to seek membership input concerning possible advisory vote topics be held in Portland, Eugene and Grand Ronde. Any approved advisory votes will “generally be conducted in conjunction with a September Tribal Council election.”

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Appointed Andrew Freeman to the Fish & Wildlife Committee with a term ending in March 2018;

• Appointed Izaiah Fisher to the Youth Council with a term ending in March 2018 or until he graduates from high school;

• Approved the 2017 annual agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior totaling $2.7 million in self-governance funding;

• Approved a contract between the Health & Wellness Center and OSIS for technical expertise and service management of a new electronic health records system. The $149,121 contract will save the Tribe about $45,000 annually by reducing the need for one full-time employee;

• Re-appointed Tribal Council Vice Chair Cheryle A. Kennedy as the Tribe’s representative on the Oregon Legislative Commission on Indian Services with a two-year term expiring in December 2018;

• And approved the enrollment of two infants into the Tribe because they meet the membership requirements outlined in the Enrollment Ordinance and Tribal Constitution.

Also included in the Jan. 12 Tribal Council packet were authorizations to proceed that approved a 1.7 percent cost-of-living increase in 2017 for Tribal governmental employees, approved a comment letter for the Columbia River Systems Operations Environmental Impact Statement, and approved revised imagery and retention of the name “Indians” by the Scappoose School District.

Tribal Lands Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach performed the cultural drumming and singing to open the meeting.

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