There’s something to be said for experience.  We know this by how badly Cedric Cromwell, Aaron Tobey, Mark Harding and Yvonne Frye Avant squandered what political capital they had.  And they did it in short order.

Incapable of Running the Government

Even premiere politicos keep the staff ( for at least 6 months ) until they find competent replacements. But Cedric and his gang were so giddy with power, greedy and incompetent they got rid of everyone and replaced them with unqualified family members or girlfriends.  In a brand new government run on federal grants supplemented by investors…well it gets a little dicey.  Scandal after scandal, and no budget for the first three years they were in office.  No audio taped records of meetings for the first 7 months they were in office.

Consequently they have what is called “Tah Tah’s Most Random and Occasional Meeting Minutes “never to be revealed to anyone.” It’s so bad they haven’t had any minutes since June ( Ahemmmmm). Cedric and his former oh so cozy pal Tah Tah have been raging back and forth via email about who’s at fault for all this “mismanagement.”  All this is also emailed to the few traumatized staff who come to work. The place is like The Walking Dead.

Sack the Pros

The Greenhorn in them couldn’t be disguised. Early on, Cedric, Aaron, and Mark Harding went about firing all the professionals.  The nationally recognized lobbyists and experts in environmental, Indian, gaming, and intergovernmental law were all fired.  That left us vulnerable and definitely rudderless when it came to dealing with the Carceri decision in particular.  The Trifecta was clueless about the case that could have been addressed early on and remedied by these professionals.  Hopes for our casino ended with that incredible misstep. We would have had our own sovereignty casino.  We would not need a state license to have gaming. They didn’t care about land in trust and establishing a real government and tribal court.  They just wanted to get paid.

Then they started firing tribal members with expertise and bullying the Elders. They fired the Elders too and finally ran them off the tribal council grounds when they demanded financial statements and records. Aaron created his famous “Elders Council” made up of his family members under 62 years of age. They never had more than 5 members who wore bomber jacket to identify themselves. Tribal members ignored them and recently they were disbanded.  So now they busy themselves disrupting the Elders meetings with their boisterous defense of “Aaron’s Crappy Compact” and such.

 The Truth about Middleboro

The Middleboro deal fell apart for two reasons.  Cedric would not sign the agreement to continue the financial relationship with the investors, but he wanted them to keep paying $330 K a month without explanation of expenditures. After all, there was no more professional staff to pay, he fired them all. He abandoned the intergovernmental agreement with the Town of Middleboro.  The collapse of the deal had nothing to do with Glenn Marshall and everything to do with vengeance and poor business acumen. The deal was 99% complete with the tedious environmental and ancient land ties validated for land in trust.  The beautiful land site exceeded 530 acres ( for $6 m). The $225 m commitment to the town was for the mandatory infrastructure (expansion of roads, emergency, police & fire services to accommodate thousands of new people) payments required with all high impact developments such as a resort casino. It was broken up into installments over 20 years. More importantly, the Tribe partnered in a good faith effort with the state to complete highway 44.The investors got 6% of the net profits, tribal members got a decent initial installment that increased, and Middleboro got   the benefits of a real resort casino.  Oh yeah….we got a reservation in Mashpee and Middleboro and true sovereignty. Course you will recall Cedric let that LIT application languish and be rejected last January.

Cedric, Aaron, Mark and Tah Tah kept paying themselves these huge salaries with no job descriptions, just titles. When  they got into office, they ran through about $2 m in 6 months on God knows what. By May of 2009 the investors stopped paying. They stopped paying themselves for a few months and Mark Harding brought the Genting deal to the table.  It was the ultimate desperation play to keep a salary for themselves and their family members.  During a recession and with their ignorance of Carceri, the Cromwellians signed  away our future on a deal with Genting that benefited them only.

The 17% interest on the loan is staggering. Twelve lawyers making huge money on impossible ventures. Nothing has panned out for this administration.  Raynham, Fall River (millions lost on land designated for the Bio Tech by the state), Plymouth, and finally Taunton. Taunton. 40 acres that are buildable. No hope of getting land into trust, no expert to do the ancient ties to Taunton (because we have none), a blank environmental evaluation ( takes years). The compact was so bad the Department of Interior questioned whose side Aaron Tobey was on. Between 20%– 25% goes to each of these entities;  the state, the town and Genting, leaving tribal members nothing and enough to give the Cromwellians a check for getting us into the mess. It’s clear Genting is gonzo by the deadline they set of May…some sources say sooner.  It‘s not soon enough.

But it’s also clear that state lawmakers and the Gaming Commission are weary of the incompetence and have no faith in Cedric’s ability to get this done.  They want timelines and plan to bid this out.  And the Cromwellians  have to face the Feds about all those unaccounted for millions. Last we knew, Cedric, Aaron and Cheryl Frye Cromwell were still under active  federal subpoenas “continued indefinitely”.   So Brooke Scannell can write all the columns she wants for Cedric, saying everything’s just grand.   People,  we were better off 40 years ago.

A moron knows Middleboro was an immensely better deal for the Tribe than Taunton.  You have to be crazy to even dream of building a resort casino in Taunton on 40 acres. Ahemmm.

A positive story on us

CBS News did a wonderful story about our  language, and Joan Avant did a good job of  making sure the viewers understood the importance of reclaiming our lost words.  Reel Wamps has to say Joan did a very good job indeed.  We all know Joan has an imagination and is very…very creative. Clearly she was filling in for someone else.   There was no talk about formal education, or linguists,  just this generic story about a little tribe trying to get their rap back. The other thing is that network producers check up on those things, and then the fraudulence is spread all over 60 Minutes you see.  The old microscope always pops out Brooke Scannell.

So it’s no wonda that the great” prognosticator, fabricator, impersonator” Jessie  “Little Scam-A-Lot”  was not front and center with ” Her Greatest Hiest” of all,  The Wampanoag Language. She’s in the story cover video waving her arms for emphasis before an outdoor class of children learning hello, good bye and thank you over and over.  In Jessie’s classes you’re never able to hold a conversation.  Just do the greetings.  The first class is the second class and the third and so on. If you want to learn it…Google it on the internet…it even has the phonetic pronunciation of one of the most difficult languages in the world.

So Jessie did not want to draw attention to herself or her lack of credentials for the lost language she claims to own. She just couldn’t take a chance with those pesky producers who don’t trust and but do verify.

And Jessie is trying to get her hands on another grant for  millions of  dollars to open a charter school. Do we hear more gasps. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas. She and her good friend Cheryl Frye Cromwell went to DC to pitch the project and are very excited about their prospects and clearly anxious to get their hands on that money. Who cares about whether she runs for Chairman or Vice chairman or Governor! With Paula Peters as your campaign manager…you’re destined for greatness. ( Tee hee )

Get more moola girls…but don’t get caught !

Those pesky producers started calling, curious about what we have to show for  $41 million in loans. The internet just expedites such unpleasantness.

But the gleeful beneficiaries of the Genting  moola boast of lobsters at Thanksgiving of all times of the year. A ” Wampanoag Thanksgiving” no doubt.  Whatever that is.   Everyone’s talking about how tacky they are….Stop and Shop was a buzz.

But again, Joan did a good job, copy and paste the link into your browser. It’s something positive to enjoy.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50135817n

Three Tribal Council members stopped the attempt to rig the upcoming tribal election.  Carlton Hendricks Jr., Selena Jonas and Laura Tobey Miranda voted against a multitude of changes to the Tribal Election Ordinance .Their vote killed the changes disguised as minor revisions to the tribes election laws.  While 6 Council members ( Cheryl Frye Cromwell, Mark Harding, Marie Stone, Yvonne Frye Avant, Winnie Johnson, and Patricia Keliinui ) voted for the controversial changes, the Ordinance Regulating the Adoption of Ordinances Resolutions and Measures says ;

“After considerations of the Ordinance and after all debate and amendments have been made the Tribal Council may enact an Ordinance by the affirmative vote of nine (9) members of the Tribal Council present.”

So  the author of this election law overhaul, Mark Tilden, the Navajo lawyer who loves to play golf with the Tribal Supreme Court Judge Henry  Sockbasen ,  once again gave his bosses some very expensive  bad advice.   And apparently he thought no one would notice that they had to have a super majority vote to pass the travesty.  When questioned by Hendricks, Tilden could not say who told him to overhaul the election laws that allowed Cedric’s sister -n-law  Kimmie Frye, to dispose of  voter challenges and    “The Court of No Resort“ to dispose of election irregularities. Voter suppression is hard to disguise. Especially when the overhaul allowed Jessie’s illegal minions to register by mail.  That was a glaring mechanism designed  to wrench control from the true Mashpee.

No stuffing the ballot box !

And the paper trail on these birds is long. Long and telling.

Cedric and crew want to rig another election. They are so desperate to stay in office,  they have to  change the rules 2 months before an election. But we have to say that they were stopped this time   only because Selena and Laura decided to stop the bleeding.  It takes guts to stand up and say you’ve had enough and that’s what is required sometimes.  Sometimes doing the right thing is the only thing you can do.

Bunch of  problems with these Election Ordinance changes  That’s why Cedric Tobey Cromwell never looked up during the Sunday Meeting. He knew Mark Tilden…the Navajo predator, had him covered. Tilden is the only Indian lawyer of the 12 on the payroll who  is  willing to work against tribal members to get paid. That’s his job exclusively.  Squiring Kimmie Frye around.  Chuckle.

All the Amendments to the Election Ordinances protect the current officials. They would never pass a public vote  before any tribe in any forum in the United States, and Mark Tilden knows it.

1. Amendment to Section 2:   Allows 1,000 new people to register by mail. 

THE NEW PEOPLE ADDED TO THE ROLLS OUT NUMBER THE MASHPEE 2 -1. THANKS TO JESSIE. THIS GROUP SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED ON THE ROLLS BECAUSE THEY ARE INELIGIBLE. THEY  WILL TAKE  OVER THE TRIBE. BUT JESSIE  THINKS THESE ILLEGALS  WILL REMAIN LOYAL TO HER AND HER COUSIN CEDRIC.  IT’S ALL AT OUR EXPENSE..  WE LOST CONTROL TO THE WHITES IN THE 70′ s.  WHAT’S OUR  EXCUSE THIS TIME? THE TOBEYS?

Voter Fraud is inevitable because WE HAVE NO INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT OF DISPUTES LIKE MOST GOVERNMENTS. Instead you are referred to the Elections Committee that is run by Cedric’s sister- in -law, Kimmie Frye and a bunch of  Tobeys and Elzy Tubbs ( Probation Scandal) no less.

(b) Amendment to Section 2:

• Amendment to Section 1:  The Election Documents normally stored in a Federal Records Center ( Nashville BIA) will be stored in the Tribal Archives.

Okay…you can’t get the documents from the 2009 election.  What do you think happens with this change?

• Amendment 2 and 9  : The election committee determines whether the complaints you make before the election are worthy of a hearing and the good  old worthless Tribal Court determines whether the election irregularities  are worthy of review and if so the outcome. Bet you feel confident in that process.
  

WITH THESE CHANGES THE ELDERS ARE NO LONGER THE DECISION MAKERS THEY WERE BY LAW  IN 2009  WHEN TRISH AND TILDEN DECIDED THE ELDERs WOULD NOT DECIDE THE ELECTIONS. SHE DECIDED CEDRIC WOULD RULE.

THESE CHANGES ARE AS BAD AS YOU THINK THEY ARE. THE LANGUAGE IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE AND DISCOURAGE THE EVALUATION OF THE CHANGES.  NO GOVERNMENT ALLOWS THIS.  IF YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING ELSE STOP THE ELECTION SUPPRESSION ON MONDAY.

IT’S YOUR TRIBE. RIGHT NOW.

Cedric Tobey Cromwell has a new strategy.  He laid it out during the marathon council meeting that resembled Cirque du Soleil.

He’s going to ask the Bureau of Indian Affairs to ” provide guidance ” on drafting a new compact. Call it a serious cry for help on a casino that clearly is gonzo. Especially since the governor is trying to get a job in DC despite his scandalous tenure and the talks between the tribe and the state are non existent.

Let’s  add  that the Bureau’s disdain for us right now only means the scrutiny of our so called government will only intensify.

So.  Cedric’s  officers and Council paid nearly $ 4 million dollars for legal counsel  over a few months that resulted in the  worst compact in the United States. Why not ask  one of the 12  top notch lawyers for help?You over  paid them enough for bad advice and the pursuit of  projects that they knew were not possible….more fodder for the Bar Association.

The news articles saying that the Cromwellians have spent$40 m  is an under estimate, because no one knows what the Cedric Tobey Cromwells have done.  We have not seen  a budget for the first  3 years they were in office. Of course Reel Wamps  kept you informed for nearly 4 years while the newspapers printed the Administration’s press releases as though they were gospel.  Now Cedric will not return their phone calls.

But when you’re a pimp, you only worry about your money.  The lawyers are worried about questions of over billing and…….

The tribe is stuck with the bill and no way to repay it.  There’s a waiver of sovereign immunity. But the misfeasance and  malfeasance remains a problem….for Ceddie and crew. No contract with the Malaysians will protect them from government prosecution.  The government could care less about your exemption for personal liability for the loans. The government is interested in your willful participation in fraud, and the fact that the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is damned near destitute as a result! Cedric, Aaron, Mark, Yvonne, Trish, Cheryl, Selena and Laura will not be able to show the government one piece of evidence to account for nearly $50 million dollars loaned to us by the Malaysians. Not good, not good at all.Nothing to show for an average of  12 -14 million in debt a year at 17% interest.  Nothing but shame and despair.

Good luck to all preparing to launch their campaigns  today at the  Sunday Meeting.  Sitting by silent while the tribe suffered for 4 years does not make you any better than the current scandalous scoundrels. And if you’re waiting for a groundswell of support….you better not hold your breath. Mashpee folk may be helpless right now, but they’re not stupid.