Opening The Door

I’ve gotten a lot of compliments recently regarding my proposal to put the issue of Tribal Council members on the Spirit Mountain Gaming Incorporated Board of Directors into the hands of the General membership via advisory vote. In all honesty, I am still unsure of how to take that. You see, I am unsure if some of the people who have thanked me are grateful because they foresee the practice continuing since we were basically ready to pull the four Council off the board regardless of the lynch mob that was present Thursday night. In other words, they expect the membership to vote in favor of keeping them on. Or are they just happy to have a say in what is really a major decision, one that frankly I think is more important than people really think? I am not sure, honestly.
The Tribal Council had numerous discussions about this over the past few months. What spurred those discussions was the realization that there had been a number of events which had occurred at Spirit Mountain over the past year plus which I believe would have made anybody with common sense or integrity skeptical and alarmed. I am not going to get into those right now (sorry Rosemary), because they will be brought up very soon anyway. Trust me on that one. But what I am ready to get into is my own sense of frustration over the reaction we have received for even proposing this.
For those not in the know, word had gotten out about this Wednesday even though I think there was clear effort to act like nobody knew about it. I know this because two of the Council members who didn’t agree with our impending decision basically indicated they would be rallying support with a few phone calls, and said so deliberately within earshot of me. Wednesday’s Tribal Council meeting didn’t get over until after 9 p.m., and most of it was held in Executive Session, where we were allowed to expound on some of our concerns within legal limits, which unfortunately was just a fraction of our reasons. The crowd that night was definitely a stacked deck, and not in our favor. Nor were they especially nice.
Fast forward now to Thursday night, the Special Tribal Council Meeting in which we were supposed to actually do the deed. It was basically the same crowd, with more support. It was also all the usual suspects amongst my, or should I say our, detractors. We might have had one or two friendly faces, but not many. Two hundred years ago they would have been carrying five sets of rope.
So there we were, poised to engage in a very unpopular, if necessary decision, and in all likelihood the crowd that night was ready to take this to dawn. Thus my proposal: The Council each present their argument in a special publication, no more than 800 words each, with September 15 as a deadline to respond. The deadline for our arguments would be one week. Furthermore, every Council present would give their word that they would honor the decision of the membership. Nearly all of us agreed, though one of our number was a little vague in his assurance. There you have it.
Now in retrospect I’m a little tempted to pat myself on the back because of the overwhelming popularity of this decision. A meeting that seemed destined for a hanging ended with graciousness and applause. But realistically, the proposal I made seemed about the only one likely to be met with compromise by all of the Council. Plus I had all the previous night to think something up, after not being able to sleep. I guess we’ll see how this turns out. Either way, I am very excited.
I must admit though to being a little dismayed though too. The reaction to our potential decision was vicious and mean-spirited. Tribal members who happen to listen to this audios of both meetings will notice that readily. I can’t claim to be a stranger to that after three years on Council. But I can claim to be appalled.
I am appalled because we didn’t just make up our reasons for wanting to do this. What we can cite as reasons are shocking in some respects, and the ones we can’t cite would probably be even more so. But the reaction of some Tribal members in both meetings was directed more at us for pushing the issue and "rocking the boat" so to speak. Or in hindsight, was it because what we were doing we were doing to Council members they supported? I tend to think the latter. That is what disturbs me the most. The politics of Grand Ronde have become so partisan, supporters have become so loyal to their "party", that the real issues in this matter are irrelevant. They hate me, Angie, Buddy, Wink, and Kathy so much that they’ll defend wrongdoing if it means making us look bad. I’ll never get over that.
For all our differences, and some of these have been public, I was very content when Betty Bly took the podium and spoke her mind. Indeed, she and Monty Parazoo seemed to among the minority that night who truly understood why we felt the need to do what we were going to do. Betty in particular understood that it really boiled down to one simple concept: right and wrong. In this case she acknowledged that there had clearly been wrongdoing at Spirit Mountain Casino, and that some Council board members appeared to not care, in fact they even seemed to defend it, all because of who the perpetrator was, (and if I may go so far, their political allegiance to that individual. But that is my comment, not Betty’s).
Betty Bly in fact provided what to me was the perfect illustration of my frustration. Speaking to the issue of trust, she simply inquired, or seemed to be inquiring anyway, as to whether one of the Council board members in question had abused their credit card. A good friend of this Council member yelled at Betty immediately from the back of the room. And if looks could kill, then a very vocal supporter/Tribal Elder/former Council member would have struck her dead. In fact, that is the quickest I’ve ever seen this person jump out of their seat. I told Betty I was reluctant to respond. Angie Blackwell however noted that the credit cards are the people’s money. But despite that the issue Betty raised might be perfectly legitimate, even if correct those people were ready to defend it, and even assail the person who dared bring it up. Politics overrides integrity sometimes I guess.
Because of this reaction, I honestly can’t predict the outcome of this advisory vote, especially if voters are more focused on the "who’s" of it all and not the "why’s". In other words, they don’t like us, and for that reason alone they’ll vote against it, regardless of risks to the Tribe and casino. But if there is any victory in this, it is as Monty Parazoo pointed out: Do this once, and Tribal members will want to do it again. Heck, they will expect it.
For that reason and possibility alone, it was worth one very vicious and degrading meeting, a severe headache, and a night with little sleep.