Tribal Council makes appointments to boards and committees

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council tackled its annual task of appointing Tribal and nonTribal members to various commissions, committees and special event boards during its Wednesday, May 27, meeting.

Those appointed or re-appointed included:

• Jerri Schmidt to the Grand Ronde Gaming Commission for a term expiring in June 2023;
• Marline Groshong to the Ceremonial Hunting Board with a term expiring in March 2022;
• Faye Smith to the Culture Committee with a term expiring in March 2022;
• Siobhan Taylor to the Editorial Board with a term expiring in March 2023;
• Tammy Cook and Shelby Maerz to the Education Committee with terms expiring in March 2022;
• Tracie Meyer, Josephine Ingraham and Tiny Gibbons to the Enrollment Committee with terms expiring in March 2022;
• Harold Lyon and Angey Rideout to the Fish and Wildlife Committee with terms expiring in March 2022;
• Bernadine Shriver, Darlene Aaron, Faye Smith and Lindsey Ness to the Health Committee with terms expiring in March 2022;
• Linda Hale to the Housing Grievance Board with a term expiring in March 2023;
• Stephanie Craig and Angey Rideout to the Powwow Special Event Board with terms expiring in March 2022;
• Mel Holmes, Jon R. George, Khani Schultz and Jerry George to the Timber Committee with terms expiring in March 2022;
• And Albert Miller to the Veterans Special Event Board with a term expiring in March 2022.

Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez said that even with the appointments, there are still positions on Tribal committees and special event boards that need filling. They will be advertised in Smoke Signals.

In other action, Tribal Council approved applying for three grants.

The first grant to Spirit Mountain Community Fund would provide $100,000 to help construct two pre-school immersion classrooms as part of the Tribe’s Language Education Building Project.

The second grant to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would help pay to renovate the Dental Clinic to enclose the operation rooms to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as purchase high-intensity ultraviolet light equipment that would sanitize the rooms at night. The grant also might help the Tribe purchase an ambulance for when it takes over operation of the fire station on Grand Ronde Road.

A separate grant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would fund a biosafety cabinet at Health & Wellness and a specially designed health module to support COVID-19 prevention and contact tracing. It also could provide funding to help purchase the aforementioned ambulance.

Finally, Tribal Council sent proposed amendments to the Public Records Ordinance out for a first reading, which will solicit Tribal member comments and input.

The amendments would change the name to the Freedom of Information Ordinance and give Tribal members the ability to request Tribal records that identify them and give Tribal members the ability to supplement the records if they believe those records contain false or misleading information.

The entire meeting can be viewed by visiting the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and clicking on the Government tab and then Videos.