Karuk Tribe of California
Council Meeting Minutes
January 27, 2005
Yreka, California
Ayukii,
The meeting was called to order at 5:06 PM by Arch Super, Chairman.
Roll Call
Arch Super, Chairman
Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer
Roy Arwood, Member
Florence Conrad, Member
Robert Goodwin, Member
Alvis Johnson, Member
Absent
Florrine Super, Secretary
Robert Grant, Member
Robert Goodwin read the preamble to the Constitution aloud.
Approval of the Agenda for January 27, 2005
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the Agenda for January 27, 2005. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
1) Approval of the Minutes for December 22, 2004
Alvis Johnson moved and Leaf Hillman seconded to approve the Minutes for December 22, 2004. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
2) Justin Harrison
Not present.
3) Troy Hockaday
Troy states he has about ten issues to discuss with the Council.
First he thanked Phil, Arch, Dion, and Jennifer for working to establish a youth group at Jackson Street School. He states their next goal is to establish a group at the High School. He especially thanked Phil for his help.
His next issue is regarding the Karuk Fishing Rights and the status of that project. Bob states they currently have a working group established to work toward obtaining an attorney to work on the fishing rights actively again and try to move forward.
At the last meeting he was told there would be an article in the newsletter regarding the expenditures for the non-gaming distributions but it did not appear. Laura states that edition had already been printed and the article will appear in this next edition.
Next, he asked about the Tribe’s job descriptions and the fact that they almost all require a driver’s license but then they hire individuals that don’t have one and it feels like they are hiring who they want for positions. Sandi states that if there are jobs that don’t really require a driver’s license they hire whoever is most qualified. He states if it is not really necessary they should just remove it from the position description. Bob states that the wording should be adjusted to state that the applicant must possess “or have the ability to obtain” a valid driver’s license so that they don’t have this problem in the future when a driver’s license is not required immediately. Sara can review them as they are posted with the Directors to see if it truly is a requirement or not.
Next, he asked about the rules and regulations for Housing. He was told he would have them by Friday but still has not received them. Bob asked Josh, and he stated there is a reference copy in the Housing Office for him to review. Troy stated that he went to the Office and it was not there. Josh states he can go get him one right now. Troy states the point is he should not have to come back and ask the Council to get a copy of a policy three months later, it should have been there.
Next, he states that he and Erin were in an argument about wearing a hardhat while running equipment; he cannot locate a regulation that specifies this anywhere. He states for three and a half years he worked in equipment without a hardhat and wants to see the regulations that state this. Erin states they require hardhats for equipment operators while working on Tribal property for their own safety. He wants to see it in writing where this is documented. Dion states the Tribe is discussing developing Tribal OSHA Standards. Troy states they cannot enforce rules unless they are documented and in writing. Laura states they cannot write a policy for everything that goes on or they would be buried in paperwork. Troy states it stopped the job for the day to go get the hardhat. Erin states she is sorry; all she was trying to do was protect his best interest. Another point that Laura made is that the Council can always make exceptions to rules. He states then why should they have any. She states that directors use the Council for guidance and there are not always black and white answers to situations so they go to them for their judgment.
He asked what they are doing for Childcare in Happy Camp since the one closed. Dion states that all Happy Camp clients have had their needs taken care of through another center in the community.
He asked about the Yreka Housing and why Josh has a three-bedroom home that he stays in while there are Tribal families on the waiting list for a home of that size. Sheila states that is not only for Josh, all staff that travel back and forth are allowed to use that home. Bob suggests that he take that issue to the Housing Committee prior to coming to the Council.
Another issue is Tribal Members moving into Housing and then changing their membership or the Tribal Member moves out leaving a non-Indian in the home. Bob states a change will be coming as a result of their Housing Planning Session. Once it is approved it can be discussed publicly.
He asked about the recent vehicles they purchased for $30,000-$40,000 but then they state that they do not have any money for programs. None of the vehicles purchased are valued at that high of an amount. The Lexus for example Sara and Laura pointed out was purchased as a year-end model deal for $35,000 less $11,000 for the Durango trade-in so they only paid $24,000 for it. He states they don’t have money for programs but are buying cars. Laura states none of them resulted in large expenditures and a lot of the money from the non-gaming was used for support of programs such as Head Start and Childcare.
Next, he brought up the speed bump issue that still has not been addressed. Erin states that BIA provided a design to Housing for what is allowed, but it cannot be paid for with BIA dollars. Housing will have to cover the expense as the Tribe does not have dollars. Erin also pointed out they cannot do any work without the contract being signed off on which will take quite some time. He states that if they can give the Residents parking tickets, they should have a monitor and give them speeding tickets as well. Bob states they spoke of this also at their Planning Session and again reiterated that they cannot do anything until the contract is completed and they will discuss it again at their meeting in the second quarter of the year.
There was discussion regarding the parking tickets and if it pertains to the homes or just the apartments. Josh states it will apply to the homes. They can only have two cars and if there is an additional car parked for over 24 hours they will get a ticket. What if you have four individuals that are residents and all own cars, why can they not have more than two cars. They state they cannot tell them a household can only have a specific number of cars. Bob states the residents need to address that with the Housing Committee and if they do not receive resolution, they can bring it back to the Council.
Leeon states that on his request to be placed on the Agenda he should send in the list so they are prepared for what he will discuss with them and not just state it is for “personal” reasons. He states he can do that and submit a list. Arch states that when there are simple questions such as these Tribal Members can call and have them answered at the office also. Knowing what the questions are will help because sometimes they may need to ask the staff for their input.
4) Jeannie Goodwin
She was present to request housing assistance as they live outside of the area in a motel in Talent and Housing will not assist them. They state they will discuss this with her during the dinner break in closed session.
5) Rodney Grant
Not present.
6) Florence Conrad
Florence was present to present appreciation awards to two hard working employees that have taken over a department due to the loss of the Social Worker. They have taken over and done an excellent job and worked very hard. They are Tanya Busby and Barbara Norman. They were presented certificates and flowers. Barbara thanked them she and states she really enjoys working with the families. Tanya thanked them also.
7) Old Business
Lorelei Super asked if she could be added to the agenda for closed session. Council states they will add her before the Council Members.
8) Dion Wood
Dion announced a program he has through the County to obtain a GED and not have to do a specific program to obtain it. The Childcare program still does not have funding for new clients and until they are he is maintaining a waiting list and working with the County on their five year plan to make the two programs work together. He states the tutoring program is getting in motion and reported on it since Jennifer is not present. The Housing has a tutor and so does the Tribe at the Naa Vura Yee Shiip building in Yreka – they can contact Hermanett Albers for that service. He also distributed information about an internship to introduce Tribal Members to international marketing. It is a year long program that can be very beneficial. KCDC will run with the program but they should be thinking of staff to send to this. He states they are getting ready to go to Sacramento to negotiate for TANF dollars and will need involvement from Self Governance to move forward on that program. It will allow the Tribes to administer their own TANF “Welfare” Program and hope to be able to start that on October 1, 2005 in Siskiyou County and then extend into Humboldt County. Trista provided some additional information regarding this program and their planning strategies. He states Hoopa currently has 61 jobs available and if anyone is interested in working there they should get ahold of the Hoopa TERO Office. They will be building modular homes in factory in Hoopa. The Tribal tax meeting was very informational and productive. February 28, 2005 will be the next meeting.
Leeon Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Dion’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
9) Erin Hillman
Erin states she has nothing to add to her written report but did state that Sara has prepared the wording for some additions to the Fiscal Policy and she will be drafting wording for the construction amendments to present to them in the near future. KCDC has a prospective applicant for the Economic Development Coordinator position which will be helpful to move toward passing through programs to them. Also they had their CSD on-site visit and it went well, with no findings and they are impressed with the way the dollars are used and will fund them to provide the second set of training for the High Risk Kids Workshop that was started last year.
Leaf Hillman moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Erin’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
10) Sandi Tripp
She was present to review her written report. There are two items that were faxed yesterday and placed in their boxes to be added.
The first is Contract 05-C-022 with Jim Ferrara, not to exceed $500, for the period of January 27, 2005 through September 30, 2005 to assist Humboldt State graduate students in locating Karuk cultural reference materials for studies currently underway. It will be paid from Water Quality funds: 5060-13-7600.00 and is in the budget.
Leaf Hillman moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Contract 05-C-022. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
She also requested approval of Resolution 05-R-06 to accept the amount of $9,263 from US Fish and Wildlife Service for the Fall 2005 Chinook Survey.
Robert Goodwin moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve Resolution 05-R-06. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
She also states that every year the water at Iron Gate Dam “turns-over” and the sediment and nutrients that come from the upper basin are released into the River. They want to prove that the water is full of nutrients and kills the aquatic life and they would like to do an investigation into that. She distributed a draft scope of work for a Contract with USFWS in the amount of $3,015 for the period of January 27, 2005 through March 31, 2005 to determine water quality of Iron Gate Reservoir during the Fall “turnover” to determine if the nutrient loads increase as a result of the turnover in Iron Gate Dam. They can review it and a final Contract can be prepared.
On March 14, 2005 there is a proposition for the four Tribes and citizens go to Sacramento to put together a party of people to march through the City into the Capital and have a Native American demonstration there. The more people that go the more powerful it will be and she would like as many people as possible to come. She will announce it and provide details in the Natural Resources Newsletter that will come out soon. Leaf states if she left that information with a sign up sheet at the offices they could monitor how many people want to go and could determine how many buses they will need to get everyone there.
She requested a date for the mid-month meeting, they selected February 7, 2005 at 3:30 PM in Happy Camp.
She would also like approval for a phone vote for the Ben Riggan Contract. They can approve it on Wednesday at their Planning Meeting.
Leaf Hillman moved and Roy Arwood seconded to approve Sandi’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Resolution 05-R-04 enrolling six new members into the Tribe bringing current enrollment to 3,371. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leeon Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Resolution 05-R-03 relinquishing two members from the Tribe. 6 haa, 1 puuhara (Leaf Hillman), 0 pupitihara.
Florence Conrad excused herself from the discussion.
Consensus: To take the request for a $2,000 grant and $1,500 loan to the Wednesday meeting for further discussion.
Directive: For Wes to look into possible changes to the Assistant Social Worker job title.
Directive: For Barbara Norman to negotiate with Child Support for Tribal Member #227 and then bring their offer back to the Council at their Wednesday meeting.
Directive: For Sara to add Barbara Norman to a Wednesday agenda to discuss services she can provide to the Tribe.
Florence Conrad returned to the discussion.
Leaf Hillman moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve a loan to Tribal Member #414 in the amount of $1,665 at 5% interest to be repaid $100 per month. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Robert Goodwin).
11) April Attebury
April’s written report was reviewed; she was not present, on travel.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve April’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
12) Hector Garcia
Hector was present to review his written report. He has no action items or anything to add. The next Consortium meeting will be 2/4/05 in Yreka at the Housing Office at 10 AM.
Roy Arwood moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve Hector’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
13) Chris Kleeman
Chris was present to discuss his report with the Council. He has one item to discuss with them in closed session. He distributed information to them regarding the installation of a wireless network in Happy Camp. He distributed the procurement documents for a replacement RPMS Server as the current server is not functional. His proposal is to replace the server with a new server with a higher capacity. There are Tide’s Grant dollars that were drawn down so Wes will have to check with them regarding spending those dollars as the grant period has ended. The cost is $7,557 from Gateway and can handle the current and future (3-5 years) growth. Wes states that if the Tide’s dollars cannot be used for the server, they could use a portion of the HRSA dollars since the X-ray machine that was budgeted to the grant had to be replaced before the dollars came in.
Chris states that Housing is willing to submit dollars toward the wireless network which would run about $17,000 at its highest estimate. He also addressed security concerns that always arise when this is discussed. He has the capability to run encrypted technology through the servers in each location to protect that data. This change will result in lower monthly phone expenses.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the purchase of the Gateway server from Tides/HRSA dollars for $7,557. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leaf Hillman moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Chris’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
14) Laura Mayton
Laura has two action items to present to the Council. She has written a letter to request permission to pass through the fire crew to KCDC starting with their next project and that request has been granted, she just needs Council approval to make that change.
Consensus: To pass the fire crew through to KCDC starting with their next project.
She states they have also discussed passing Head Start through as well and Toni is doing some research on that subject as well.
Her other action item is approval of the Fiscal Year 2005 Indirect Cost Proposal at 60.91% which is almost the same as last year.
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to submit the Fiscal Year 2005 Indirect Cost Proposal. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Laura’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
15) Trista Parry
Trista states that she has no action items at this time or changes to her written report. Leaf asked if she has submitted any grants for the Senior Nutrition Center site in Happy Camp. Trista states that there are several items in the Happy Camp Center that can be moved and Sami felt that she could justify purchasing several items through Housing and then let her know what the remaining needs are after that. Troy asked what happened about the $10,000 that was granted to the Family Resource Center to help with kitchen supplies a couple of years ago. It was when they were going to do the kitchen projects such as jams, jellies, cookies, etc. They remember it being requested, but don’t know if there was a check issued.
Leaf Hillman moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Trista’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
16) Sami Difuntorum
Written report only, not present. Josh was present on behalf of Housing.
Florence Conrad moved and Roy Arwood seconded to approve Sami’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
17) Toni McLane
Written report only, not present.
Directive: For Toni to be present at the Wednesday meeting on 2/2/05 to see if she has any information about passing through the Head Start program to KCDC.
Roy Arwood moved and Florence Conrad seconded to approve Toni’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
18) Lisa Aubrey
Written report only, not present.
Roy Arwood moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Lisa’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
19) Susan Gehr
The Yreka Language class is currently on break, if they would like to start one, they can contact Phil Albers Jr. to get one going. They may need to look at a different date or time to make it easier to come to.
The Karuk Language Restoration Committee will meet February 26, 2005 to plan for future priorities of the Language Program and possible grant projects that may be coming up. The meeting will be in Orleans at 12:00 PM at the Panamnik Center.
She requested out of state travel for herself to Boulder, CO, February 14-20, 2005 to work with Bill Bright on the Karuk Dictionary.
Roy Arwood moved and Leaf Hillman seconded to approve out of state travel for Susan Gehr, February 14-20, 2005. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Florence Conrad moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Susan’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
20) Scott Quinn
Written report only, not present. The Cemetery Plan needs to be forwarded to their Wednesday meeting for discussion.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Scott’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
21) Wes Valentine
Wes was present to address the Council. The first item is his resignation, his last day will be April 1, 2005 and he still has quite a lot of work to do before then.
He has an action item for out of state travel for Mike DeHart to attend a CEU conference on Saturday and Sunday to Las Vegas, March 4-6, 2005 to obtain his annual credits and not have the Pharmacy closed for more than one day. The funds will come from the Pharmacy Training Line item.
Roy Arwood moved and Leaf Hillman seconded to approve out of state travel for Mike DeHart, March 4-6, 2005. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
His other item is regarding a confidential situation. He would like to discuss the process for using the Federal Government and not the Tribal Government for resolution of legal matters and the ramifications of that. He will remedy the situation tomorrow but would like to know if they want to hold the discussion for closed session or on Wednesday. The implications of the situation are very significant and people need to understand. They would like to discuss it on Wednesday.
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Wes’ report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
22) Jennifer Goodwin
No report, on travel.
23) Fred Burcell
Written report only, not present.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Fred’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
24) Sara Spence
Sara presented Contracts 05-C-023-R and 05-C-024 with Lynn Parton and Blanche Keller to be the Council Cooks; it has been broken into two contracts this year each being paid $60 per meeting and mileage if it occurs through December 31, 2005 to cook for Council and Health Board Meetings and other activities as they come up.
Leaf Hillman moved and Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Contracts 05-C-023-R and 05-C-024. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
25) Chelsea Reed Request
This will be discussed in closed session.
26) Phone Votes
The phone votes were read aloud by Robert Goodwin.
a) Authorization to pay Metal Masters $4,427 for repairs to the HVAC system in Happy Camp. Passed.
b) Request for approval of amendments to FY 2003 IHP. Passed.
c) Request for out of state travel for Arch Super to attend the HUD Regional Consultation Conference in Scottsdale, AZ. Passed.
d) Request for approval of Contract to lease office space for the Karuk Tribal Court at $385.00 per month. Passed.
e) Request from Florrine to do bulk mailing to the community of Yreka in the amount of $69.44 announcing Council meeting info and then do the same in Orleans and Happy Camp. Denied.
27) Committee Reports
Florence Conrad presented revisions to the ICWA Policies. The Committee has gone over it and made necessary changes and would like them to approve the revised policies. Bob asked about there being no wording in the mission statement about helping children of other Tribes that are in their area of jurisdiction. She states that can be done and then it can be approved on Wednesday at their meeting.
Closed Session from 8:43 PM to 12:15 AM
Consensus: To review the termination of Employee #6142 and decide what type of action they will take in accordance with the Personnel Policy that addresses this and then respond to the request following that meeting through Dion. They will discuss it on Wednesday.
Consensus: For Chris to do small in-service group trainings on basic computer skills and email accounts in each department. He can also send out a generic message regarding passwords and how to choose a good one and how easily they are accessed.
Directive: For Barbara Norman/Tribal Court to contact Tribal Member #3370 regarding his establishment of an ICWA Case.
Consensus: To accept the CASA Committee’s recommendation to change the supervision for the CASA Program Coordinator to be Florrine Super.
Consensus: To discuss the Secretary position at the Wednesday meeting.
Consensus: The Health request can be discussed at the Wednesday meeting with Anna present to discuss the situation and any additional information she may have.
Directive: For Fred to look at the vehicle and decide if it is possible to easily do the repair and determine if the mechanics have time.
Directive: For Jamie to again send a reminder to all cardholders regarding the policy on submitting VISA receipts in a timely manner.
Roy Arwood moved and Alvis Johnson seconded to approve the hire of Craig Tucker as the Klamath River Campaign Coordinator effective March 1, 2005 to be paid from Salmon Recovery Funds between the Karuk Tribe and Yurok Tribe; any additional amount will be paid from DNR funds. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Next Meeting Date: February 24, 2005 at 5 PM in Orleans.
Alvis Johnson moved and Roy Arwood seconded to adjourn at 12:20 AM.
Yootva,
Arch Super, Chairman
Recording Secretary, Sara Spence