Is it true? That “It’s not the crime it’s the coverup?” The insidious 45th President wears a famous idiom around
Delay, delay, delay…the ultimate desperate measure.
his neck like an uncomfortable shirt collar. So, Trump is in such bad shape his only option is trial delays because of the overwhelming evidence against him. And he’s taking all of his conspirators down with him. The parallels are similar surrounding the Plymouth Episode. The hearing in Plymouth has been “rescheduled” 4 times. Let’s see what happens today on September 19 because the charges are hard to ignore. There have been many efforts to try to make it appear that the Tribe supports what allegedly happened that November night in Plymouth…. which is a stretch to say the least. Topline here: Trump can’t rally people to publicly defend him and likewise, Tribal members are not endorsing bad behavior. Course our Tribe is feeling the pinch that is actually impacting our ability to find investors for the casino mostly. Economic development that is desperately needed is also taking a hit because some view us negatively.
LATE TO THE POW WOWS
Tribal members have started getting more email notices about the Council meetings and the reason is obvious. Attendance on the Zoom calls have dropped dramatically. While summer has a lot to do with it, rumors abound. And word is out about all the operations management failures and financial issues. The last Council meeting revealed some good results by Councilwoman Rita Pocknett’s department, Indian Health Services. Course Rita’s programs are totally independent of the Tribe. She answers to the federal government only. Early drafts of a permanent building were unveiled. They were impressive.
Once again Magpie missed an opportunity to score benefits for the Tribe because he won’t do the work. Thus the collapse of the Tribes’ Historic Preservation program under his direction.
Next came what turned out to be a dog and pony show and it was very interesting because of the MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) concerning Vineyard Wind 1 (the controversial windfarm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard) was front and center. David Weeden went into Magpie mode with a full throttled (20 minutes) lecture to government officials. Those poor people looked like they were going to their execution. He droned on about government-to-government relations, sovereignty and our sacred relationship with the ocean and all nature, at nauseum. It was embarrassing. This project is described as the nation’s first commercial scale offshore wind farm. It’s a monster. About 15 miles south of the Vineyard 62 turbines will go up in federal waters and through underground cables connect with the Cape’s Cod’s center south shore in Barnstable. This was a 10-year battle with everyone. The Aquinnah, Barnstable and we were against it but not really players in the discussion. A major PR program that spent a lot of money pushed the deal through.
Barnstable got the best end of the deal of course, $16 million. The tribes’ benefits were negligible. Course Magpie kept talking about wanting more out of the deal. So, he went on about scholarships….over and over and over. We certainly need to expand our scholarship programs. But that’s all he had. Course that’s because he never even scanned the 500-page document. But Councilman Nelson Andrews did, pointing out that the Tribe should receive $4 million or more annually instead of over a 30-year period as is stated in the MOA. This is Magpie’s wheelhouse and as usual, he’s late to the pow wow or absent altogether. So they’re back to the negotiation table, thanks to Nelson. But sitting through Magpies nonsensical lecture was killer.
Mimicking the Trump Management Style
So in March, Chairman Brian Weeden took over Tribal Operations by making his
Greendeer in Boston, in full regalia having his own pow wow, in the middle of the work week. Wow! That’s not what we pay him to do. So, did he take a vacation day? No need.
buddy, Tribal Administrator David Greendeer report to him. And the rapid disintegration of finances, programs and governing essentials is scary. First, you have a TA of questionable character and ability who does not come to work and ignores the problems. He’s spotted all over the country hanging out and still getting paid $125 K a year…but who knows. They give out raises freely! Supposed to have been fired but he’s staying right by Brian’s side just long enough. Still hanging out, grinning, chilling, and drumming. Throw a damn dart at a map of the United States…his behind is probably there. Anywhere but at the Council. His hire, the comptroller can’t put a budget together, ain’t put a budget together. That guy makes $150k a year. Crisis mode is constant without resolution. The answer to the homeless crisis was a task force that went absolutely nowhere. Committees and commissions try to function and get no support or guidance from the management. We all know the other huge problems that Greendeer ignored and that’s why we are in this mess.
And for those who don’t want to talk about this chaos or cover it up…. everyone knows about it! Unless you live in a cave you have to know that you can’t hide what’s in plain sight.
