The young chairman handled an extremely difficult decision by confronting a problem involving a close friend. He won respect by putting the Tribe first.
Council members were determined but not very happy about what they had to do. The detail of Marie’s misbehavior was sad and tedious. But it left no doubt about the charges she faced and the overwhelming support for her removal as tribal treasurer. The charges were malfeasance and non-feasance, which is abuse of authority and wrongdoing by an elected official. There were 5 counts for malfeasance starting with the curse laden email, 2 being unauthorized use of the American Express Card with 11 charges, count 3, the loss of financial consultants who were unable to work with her and the abusive behavior toward financial staff and finally abandonment of duties. For non-feasance there were many issues including no tax return, failure to pay TERO vendors, never filed the ARBA (which was payments to tribal members among others) and abandonment of her duties.
The motion to expel Marie Stone received the seven votes necessary but not before Councilwoman Winnie Johnson left the meeting prior to that vote. At this point the Council vote to expel Marie Stone is subject to tribal court review if Marie Stone choses to appeal.
Some good news the Council adopted the Code of Conduct put together by Councilwoman Rita Pocknett and moved forward with the purchase of Del Sol. Both are significant to good government and address a serious problem that is killing our people.
