Casino employee cited three weeks ago is ‘no longer employed’

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Spirit Mountain Casino Marketing Manager Chris Cherry is no longer employed by the casino as of Wednesday, Sept. 4.

This occurred approximately three weeks after Cherry was investigated by Grand Ronde Tribal Police for personal use of a work computer, after he printed out a few sample pieces relating to his wife, Michael Cherry’s, reelection campaign signs. Cherry is running for a second term on Tribal Council.

Chris Cherry was issued a non-criminal citation under the Tribal Public Safety Ordinance for violating the campaign provision by using a casino graphics printer to print out sample proofs of the signs and was given a Nov. 20 court date to contest the citation. He told police and Smoke Signals that he used professional sign companies to print the actual signs, which the newspaper verified through receipts.

Tribal Council Secretary Michael Cherry had no advance knowledge of the incident, according to Grand Ronde Tribal Police reports and what she told Smoke Signals. She was not cited in the matter.

The updated information was made public during an Sept. 4, Tribal Council meeting by Vice Chair Chris Mercier.

“This is largely a follow-up to the issue with the last Wednesday night council meeting pertaining to the Spirit Mountain Casino and Tribal police investigations…I anticipate a number of questions and in an attempt to address them, I did reach out to the Gaming Commission and there was an active investigation going on and they will update council. …There were some concerns expressed (at the Aug. 21 council meeting) about possible Tribal member enrollment information on the file and as far as we know, it was campaign related materials given to all (council) candidates and not Tribal member enrollment information. And there was a human resources issue and I can tell people, and I’m not going to elaborate, but as of this morning, that employee is no longer employed at Spirit Mountain Casino.”

When contacted by Smoke Signals, Chris Cherry issued the following statement via email.

“The involvement of Tribal government and certain council members in an employment matter at Spirit Mountain Casino is, in my opinion, both unprecedented and unethical,” he said. “From a council member reporting the matter to the police, to staff directing the police to issue a citation, the casino taking employment action and referencing the issuance of the $50 citation that hasn’t even been adjudicated in court yet, and then a council member announcing an employee's separation in a public forum before the employee even received official paperwork, the entire process is alarming. It seems that due process has not been upheld, and after 28 years of service to the casino, this is a deeply disappointing moment for the community. Everyone observing this situation should be concerned about its implications for fairness and the impact on employee morale—especially for those who may have ever used their work computers for personal purposes. This is clearly political gamesmanship and unsavory tactics, which I pray the community will see through.”

Michael Cherry sent the following statement.

“Chris had a meeting scheduled at the casino with Human Resources at 5:30 p.m. that had not even taken place when the announcement was made at the council meeting, which was highly inappropriate, unprofessional and unnecessary.”

When contacted to confirm the investigation, Grand Ronde Gaming Commission Executive Director Michael Boyce declined to comment.

“The Gaming Commission investigations are focused solely on a licensee’s suitability to get, or maintain, a gaming license,” he said. “All information gathered in those investigations (is) considered confidential.”

Non-criminal campaign ordinance violations used to be investigated by the Tribe’s general manager. However, that was amended in recent years so that the general manager wouldn’t be in a position of potentially having to issue a citation to one of their supervisors, as the general manager is a direct report to Tribal Council.  

According to the police report and Smoke Signals interviews, Chris Cherry said he was using his computer to help troubleshoot a print quality issue that had come up with the signs.

He said in an Aug. 15 interview with Tribal Police that he had not printed the actual signs at the casino. Additionally, Michael Cherry provided Smoke Signals with invoices from the printing companies, Graphic Print Solutions of Lake Oswego, for a 6x12-foot billboard cover, three 60x30-inch signs and two 84x42-inch signs, and 1 Day Signs of Salem for 20, 14x16 inch brochures.