April 14, 2022
Beginning May 1, enrolled Tribal members will be able to go online or fill out a paper application to receive the disbursements from the American Rescue Plan Act. Allocations of $750 for youth up to 17and $1,750 for adults 18 and over. The only no vote was Councilman David Weeden.
An Interesting discussion was the report of statehouse lobbying efforts by the Hickey firm. The firm gets a flat fee of $12,500 a month which is a good deal for the Tribe. Because hourly billing is brutal. But most who know the process know that lobbyists rarely bill hourly. Nonetheless, we were raped by Genting law firms under the Cromwell administration so thankfully we are not going through that nightmare. Hickey has been working for 6 months. Their report was about sports betting and how we’re ” doing really well” with that. The marijuana opportunity, likewise. Aboriginal fishing rights were a little more detailed but there was no discussion of a means of enforcement of punishment for harassing and assaulting Natives while lawfully fishing. Councilman Aaron Tobey found a number of areas where the Mashpee Wampanoag were excluded and had been excluded from participating in projects (for 5 years) where we would receive major benefits.
So the lobbyist opened his presentation with the statement that he knew the Council was “unfamiliar” with the legislative process. That was telling, but also dangerous because there’s always someone in the room who is familiar. He praised Councilman David Weeden for finding “15” instances where the Mashpee Wampanoag or Native Americans were not mentioned in legislation….an intern could have done that in10 minutes. Left out were the tangibles. Where is the legislation or the amendments? Who are the sponsors in the House and the Senate? Where is the legislation in the committee process in the House and Senate ( some bills have 3-4 committee references which is a killer). Is your amendment attached to a bunch of bills? When is it coming to the floor for a vote? Which reading is it on… Who’s trying to kill your bills? When is the conference committee if needed? Which council member or staff is tracking the progress of everything? And there are many more things to watch. When you don’t know…it’s a boon for the lobbyist who tell you, this will take longer than we thought.
Don’t worry about the activity report attached to the invoice if you don’t understand what the hell is going on.
By the way, getting on calls with senators is an old trick. That’s what lobbyists do. They let you chat it up with a Senator or Rep but how long are you on the hook before you realize ain’t nothing happening? Another thing, they dumped the #3 rated congressional lobbying firm in the country with 120 lobbyists because they said they were not delivering. Well, no one told the people what to do. Course Genting was in charge. They are in charge again…in DC. Genting. In 12 years they never got our land in trust. They got us nothing. Geting is not our friend. The $850m debt looms waiting to gobble up anything we would make on the lucrative sports betting unless things change.
If you don’t know what to ask, it sounds glorious.
But Councilman Carlton Hendrick, Jr.asked the question. “How long is this going to take?” He got no answer. They hired Hickey for another 6 months.
Some good news was the CDC is incorporated..again. The Tribe can get down to business.
Lotta movement on the Council agenda. That’s a good thing.
April 12, 2022
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.
April 10, 2022
To be honest, Marie Stone dominated all of last week as the Tribe and the Tribal Council staff awaited the Council’s decision on her future as a treasurer. Well, as you know, Marie is complicated. The circumstances surrounding her “final straw moment” brought things to a head.
Marie’s downfall is of her own making.
Here’s the short version of what happened: The TA asked for the audit needed to facilitate the housing grant that she had been holding up for 10 months. The finance staff and the accountant completed it but Marie never gave it to the TA. He found out. Asked her for it, she went off in a scathing email to the TA. The header: RESIGNATION. It was laced with curses…the most potent was “mother fucker.” Marie finally went too far. We won’t go into detail, but let’s just say the majority of the Council said
” She’s gut ta go.”
The Wednesday meeting (Marie was absent) was the start of the effort and after the meeting, the Council went into executive session. Thursday morning she was locked out of the building. She was let in, got into her office. Grabbed some papers and left. Friday (she was absent again despite a demand that she show up) was the day to decide next steps.
Thank God It was Friday
So on Friday, the Tribal Council went through a lengthy strategic planning session which we will discuss later….and we have to say the council conducted itself like a deliberative body. Absent were the nasty snide remarks and unnecessary comments that dominate the meetings. Instead, they actually collaborated and joked even when they disagreed. You can guess why.
Marie was put on administrative leave without pay for two weeks but that does not appear to be the end of the story.
Stay tuned.
