So Alex Rodriquez (and a Black lady) showed up at the government center in a black suburban and headed to the second floor of the Tribal Council government center today probably to see his friend David Greendeer the Tribal Administrator. Or maybe to meet with others…we don’t know…so we are not going to spread “misinformation.” Rodriguez, a consultant who brokers tribal businesses, was central to the controversy over the Tribal 8a effort put forward by Greendeer at the council meeting in early March. Essentially, Super 8a status establishes contract preferences for businesses owned by a tribe. It’s a lucrative game because big businesses can partner with tribal-owned businesses and oftentimes get gargantuan no-bid contracts. Of course, if you’re a broker like Rodriquez, it’s a cash cow. But it’s like being an insurance agent. You have to keep getting new clients.
Anyway, the Council agreed to “allow Greendeer to accept 8A contracts on behalf of the tribe.” They met Friday and discussed the Super8a. Greendeer was explaining it. He’s worried about ” misinformation.” So Winnie questioned the TA asking why he and Alex originally said they would put up the $200 K for the 8a but when the Tribe got “all this money” all of a sudden we are paying Alex $200 k. The TA said that there would be no payout of the budget on anything without Council authorization. That’s what he said but we don’t wanna spread any “misinformation.” Of course, that was an appropriation in the budget for the CDC. Nelson, a Council member and a member of the CDC said he did not ask for that. So you may be wondering why the mysterious Alex showed up. We are too. They probably think the coast is clear, maybe not.
Message to Alex, we are not yahoos ripe for the taking. But we don’t want to spread any “misinformation.”
More importantly, the comptroller is helping to pull together a real budget for Council review very soon. Let’s see what is in the plan. Sorry, we dropped the ball about Comptroller John who has been on board for two or three weeks. The poor guy was already having difficulty with Marie which comes as no surprise.
The most important thing to many tribal members is financial assistance from federal funds.VC Carlton Hendricks, Jr increased the total payout ESTIMATE for ages 0-17 $750, 18 + $1,750 TO BE FINALIZED AFTER COUNCIL REVIEW OF THE BUDGET balance.
You know, the Council members, even the ones you don’t agree with are doing their best. They are trying to get along and doing a lot of clean-up. It won’t hurt to call them or staff members and say thank you before complaining. We are all relations. No one cares about us but us ( especially the outsiders). Thank them for their work. Maybe you can help. It feels really good to help.
