Fair Time

During our Public Affairs update last Wednesday, an interesting issue came up. I am not sure if anybody has noticed, but the "Tilixam Wawa", which used to come out monthly, is suddenly being published much less frequently. That issue we discussed was of course whether or not to have one last issue before the election, as between setting a deadline, laying out the actual issue, and sending it off to the printers we would be pushing close to the election period, and somewhere, it seems in some people's minds, it is written that anybody who is a candidate for election should not appear in any Tribal publication lest that present an unfair advantage.
It was pretty clear from the update that a couple of Council members at least remembered, and were upset by, the fact that I appeared on the front page of the "Smoke Signals" during the election. In their view, the supposed policy that prohibited appearance of candidates had "gone out the window" with my photo from the signing of our Hunting & Fishing Rights proclamation. Whether that meant incumbents are now free to use the publications for campaigning or they were just venting I don't know. What I do know is that is does raise a legitimate question about how Council members can use what is supposed to be a tool for communication to the membership.
At the January General Council meeting, Angie Blackwell raised the new (and oddly unwritten) policy of Council censorship of the "Wawa", and she, as well as myself and Buddy West, were basically accused by a sitting Council member of using the publication for campaigning. That accusation would be repeated at the February General Council meeting specifically targeting me. Now the person lobbing the accusation has pretty much made it known who on Council they are loyal to, and who they would work to help un-elect. But that does not take away from the legitimacy of the topic, and I write this in the context of observing that a fellow Council member who has been less than diligent about submitting articles to the "Wawa" is intent on getting one in during this final stretch. I suppose they must be given the benefit of the doubt, because I think we have to be fair and open-minded in all this. On one hand this Council member could be re-elected and suddenly realize that communication is important, and try to have an article of pertinence in every issue, a practice I've tried to make habit. Conversely, they could just make every article a lead-in to their campaign, in which case it really could be construed as abuse of resources. We'll just have to wait and see.
I wonder though, what would be a fair and equitable policy, and more importantly, who would be charged with enforcing it. Statistically, incumbents on average usually have a clear advantage, provided they aren't lame ducks. Getting excessive coverage and a free platform for their candidacy only adds to the advantage, in fact, if the governing body controls all avenues of communication, they could virtually drown out the hopes of any challengers; they could practically render any opposition invisible by omission. If you read about government-controlled press in foreign countries, particularly those who would have the outside world believe they are a democracy, that is often how regimes stay in power.
The Federal Communications Commission actually has laws regarding that kind of behavior, especially with radio and television. They are informally called "Fair Airtime" rules. A broadcasting station can get in trouble for refusing access to a candidate. Unfortunately, we don't have an FCC in Grand Ronde, and I don't see one being formed any time soon.
Supposedly we are to have a meeting to discuss developing a policy. I am not sure what we'll do. Complete control of anything is never readily relinquished.