Karuk Tribe of
Council Meeting Minutes
March 27, 2008
Happy Camp,
The meeting was called to order at 3:08 PM by Arch
Super, Chairman.
Roll Call
Present
Arch Super, Chairman
Florrine Super, Secretary
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer – 3:31
PM
Sonny Davis, Member
Robert Goodwin, Member
Alvis Johnson, Member
Absent
Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman –
absent, excused
Roy Arwood, Member
Florence Conrad, Member –
absent, excused
Quorum is established.
Sonny
Approval of the Agenda for March 27, 2008
Robert Goodwin moved and
Florrine Super seconded to approve the Agenda for March 27, 2008. 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Approval of the Minutes for February 28, 2008
Sonny
1) Kayla Super,
CASA
Not present, no report
included.
2) Jennifer
Goodwin, Education
Jennifer was present to
review her written report which was included in the packets.
She states the most important
information for her department is regarding her budget which grew thanks to the
Smith/Ince Family Donation which is funding scholarships and tutoring for
descendents which she has never been able to provide in the past.
Her report included a copy of
the Higher Education Grant Program Policy for their review, feedback, and
approval; it has been reviewed by the Education Committee and their changes
have been incorporated into the document.
Florrine asked if they could approve this later tonight.
Bob asked about the policy
and the degree requirements for who may receive assistance. You must be pursuing an AA or BA degree but
cannot receive assistance for a higher level degree. Where does that standard originate from? She states it comes from the Federal
Regulations. She also states many other
assistance programs follow the same standards.
She also included a copy of
the Education Committee meeting minutes.
She states that the Indian Club will be taking their College Campus Tour
in April this year. She states their
goal for the fun portion of the trip is to attend a Kings game in
Robert Goodwin moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Jennifer’s report. 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
3) Lisa Aubrey,
LIAP
Lisa was present to review
her written report which was include din the packets.
Carrie was present to report
along with Lisa and distributed handouts from their recent trip to
She discussed with them what
opportunities Tribes have to fight against budget cuts, what support is needed
from Tribal Members, Council Members, and co-workers to fight these cuts. There are certain times of the year that
opposition letters needs to be issued to agencies to push and fight for
legislation and stop the cuts that are being proposed. Letters need to go to the representatives
from the Tribes to push against these budget cuts. She states that she and Lisa took the
opportunity to speak to BIA representatives at the meeting regarding their
challenges in the communities they serve.
The TBAC meeting is where they are encouraged to advocate for their
programs that are receiving budget cuts.
Leeon Hillman arrived at 3:31 PM.
She states that they had the
opportunity to give input into programs that can help the Tribal Members;
welfare programs and SWEEP/TWEP programs are going away but there are
opportunities for pilot projects regarding community issues such as
meth-prevention and helping Tribal communities with that. They are taking funding away from certain
program and re-inserting it for other programs other than welfare assistance.
Lisa states BIA does not want
to duplicate services offered by other programs for example they cut HIP out of
the BIA program because HUD offers similar assistance. They are cutting duplicative programs and
there will be hardly any funding so they are going to need to be creative in
their programs to ensure that services continue to Tribal Members under
different programs that are necessary.
BIA is looking to increase
law enforcement funding because they predict that when welfare assistance is
cut, crime will increase which should not be a solution, they need to stop the
problems in the families before they cause problems requiring law enforcement
intervention.
There will be another meeting
May 18-19, 2008 in
Florrine Super moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Lisa’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
4) Davey Davis,
Maintenance
Written report only, not
present.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Florrine Super seconded to approve Davey’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
5) Susan Gehr,
Language
Susan was present to review
her written report with the Council.
Her phrases of the month
include: Vaa nukuuphat! (We did that)
and Pay uum kuuphi. (Do it this way).
There was discussion regarding the phrases and how they can be pronounce
differently.
Her report includes one
action item which is approval of travel to the ANA Grantee Meeting, May 12-14,
2008; the location has not yet been determined.
She cannot really request approval when she does not know the location;
it could be out of the area or it could be local.
Arch asked if she has
received any responses to her request for feedback on her strategic plan. She states it is ready to be submitted
tomorrow but she still encourages feedback because it is useful for program
planning. Sonny would like to have a
group session where many Language speakers get together and talk about the
language.
Florrine Super moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Susan’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
6) Jim Berry,
KCDC
Jim Burcell was present on
the behalf of KCDC to update them on their activities.
He states that he has been working
on many projects specifically for the round-wood project; he states it has been
recommended that item (g) be deleted from the MOU for the project. He states he will not elaborate too much as
they will be present later this evening.
He is supportive of the project and states it would be a wonderful
stimulus for the community.
He states the Karuk Community
Loan Fund is beginning to accept applications to fund small projects to build
their track record; the program is very promising for their future.
He states the KCDC Audit has
been completed and initial reports indicate that it was a clean audit.
Florrine Super asked if Toni
will be back to work before the audit for the Head Start Program. He is not sure at this time, her conditions
is on a visit by visit basis at this time.
Leeon asked if Jim has spoke
to Paula at all about the online store for the gift shop; he has not pursued it
as Paula is working with Eric on the project and it has been determined that it
can be completed in house without hiring a consultant.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Jim’s report.
5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
7) Hector
Garcia, Self Governance
Hector’s written report was
included in the packets.
Carrie updated them on a
phone conference regarding Amy and her position at BIA. Many of the Tribes are in favor of her being
selected for the position. There have
been three phone conferences to gather feedback from the Tribes on this issue;
they have decided to re-advertise the position and it looks promising that she
will be selected for the position.
She attended an economic
summit meeting in
Hector states that there is a
large reduction in Compact dollars proposed in the budgets; maintenance of the
BIA program is being reduced. He has
been advised at the meeting he attends that funding will be cut and will
continue to be cut each of the coming years as well. The Democrats state that even if they are in
the White House for the next term, they have advocated there will be budget
cuts as well due to the effects the War has had on the budgets.
Bob asked if there is any
news in funding for economic development in Indian Country. Hector states that Carrie obtained
information regarding this in
Bob states they are past the
point of determining what projects they should and could pursue; they need to
now move on to funding for the project they have decided to move forward with
and it needs to be started. If they
continue to speak of concepts and ideas, they will never start a project. They have decided the gas station, smoke
shop, mini-mart is the project they are going to do; now they need to do it and
all directors that are capable to contribute toward the project need to work
together to do it and push it forward.
Sonny
8)
April was present to review
her report which was distributed. It
included a summary of her activities since the last Council Meeting.
Her main focus has been the
Tribal Youth Program which primarily funds her position. She included a copy of the agenda from the
California Child Welfare Council meeting which she attended in
She distributed a flyer for
the Light of Hope meeting being held April 21, 2008 at 12 PM at the Siskiyou
County Court House to discuss CASA.
The 2008 California Tribal
Courts Conference will be held at the
April states for many years
she has been interested in the prospect of establishing a Tribal Non-Profit
Agency to open them up to providing assistance and obtaining additional funding
for the programs. She will be speaking
with KCDC to see if she can work through them to meet her goals.
April states her one action
item is approval to extend the Judicial Office of California, Administrative
Office of the Courts Contract trough June 2008 with an Amendment.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Amendment #1 to Contract 101-3718 with
AOC. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Robert Goodwin seconded to approve April’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
9) Hester
Dillon, Grant Writer
Hester was present to review
their written report with them.
She has one action item which
is approval of two months attorney fees for the FCC Filing project for the
Radio Station. The total is $1,147.95
(Invoice Number 377251) and she requires approval to pay that invoice from
discretionary. Arch asked for an update
on the project before approving the invoice.
It is for services that were provided regarding the Happy Camp contours
and forms required by the FCC for environmental/historical compliance. It is all work necessary to move the
application forward in the process.
There has not been much feedback since she has been out of the office;
the invoices are due since they came in while she was gone and were on hold
until she returned. She will forward a
written update for the Wednesday meeting as she cannot be present at that
meeting.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve payment on the invoice. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Hester states that she will
be away next week with
Scott states he met with Dion
in Yreka on Tuesday and they have reviewed possible sites; with the
right-of-way property at the trailer park, it is possible to continue the road
through from
Hester states that these
projects can be very profitable through the tax breaks allowed for Tribes; one
location is bringing in $800,000 in profits each year.
Consensus: Hester, Rick, Scott, Dion, Jim Burcell,
Daniel Pratt (eventually-TANF), and anyone else they feel appropriate to
include were identified as the Workgroup to put together a timeline for this
project and determine what the next steps will be.
Rick distributed a sketch to
them regarding the location for the
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Hester and Rick’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
10) Earl
Crosby, Natural Resources
Not present. The written report was handed out as there
were technical/power difficulties down there last week.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Earl’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
11) Scott
Quinn, Land/Transportation
Scott was present to review
his written report.
He distributed a revision to Contract
08-C-014(R) with SHN; there were some changes to item 5. Erin and Barbara Norman have both reviewed
this and accept the language as written.
Arch has the approval sheet for the Amendment.
Leeon Hillman moved and Alvis
Johnson seconded to approve Contract 08-C-014(R) with the changes. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
He also distributed
Resolution 08-R-038 requesting that he and Sandi Tripp be designated as
alternates on the Humboldt County Tribal Transportation Commission’s Board of
Directors. Leaf is the current
representative.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Florrine Super seconded to approve Resolution 08-R-038. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Sonny
12) Dion Wood,
TERO
Written report only, on
travel.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Dion’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
13) Dave
Wrobleski, People’s Center
Dave was present to review
his written report; he states he has no action items.
He states the CAP assessment
grant has been approved and a consultant will be coming to work on that.
On May 9, 2008,
Arch inquired who would like
to attend the conference. No one
responded as most everyone’s schedules are full for the next couple of months.
Florrine Super moved and
Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Dave’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
14) Erin
Hillman, Administrative Programs & Compliance
She states the visit from the
Smithsonian went very well and there were ten Tribal Members who participated
in the event. She states that Fred
Nahwooksy was on the other end of the tele-conference which was nice. They were able to take the representative
from the Smithsonian downriver and show him their sites so that he is familiar
with their areas. She will let them know
when the film is completed.
He announced that Kelly
Worcester and Rosie Bley were absolutely wonderful at the
She states that Paula, Eric,
Gerry, and Sharon were able to meet to determine their plan for the development
of online sales at the Gift Shop. Laura
was very happy to hear that will be going forward and Eric will be presenting
procurement necessary to move that forward this evening.
Alvis Johnson moved and
Sonny
15) Laura
Mayton, CFO
Written report only, on
travel.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Laura’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
16) Sami
Difuntorum, KTHA
Sami was present to review
her written report; she has no action items tonight.
There were some changes
including; the revolving loan – there are now 20 loans with 1.7 million
obligated. The available balance is now
$211,640.59.
The Home Grant projects are
moving forward.
She states the fiberglass
panels have been obtained for the
They continue to work on
their other projects as well. A current
appraisal has been received for the facility that they plan to acquire from
Head Start but they have to work out the funding issues prior to moving
forward.
She states that site visits
will be the next step in the Harvard Project and their award nomination for
Environmentally Responsible Building and Community Development. The site visits will occur during the summer
and then finalists will be invited to
She states that their
meetings in DC went well to attempt to acquire funding for renewable energy
projects on
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Sami’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
17) Fred
Burcell, Construction
Written report only, not
present.
Bob inquired about the
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Fred’s report. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
18) Sara
Spence, Human Resources
Sara was present to answer
questions on her written report; there are no action items at this time. A copy of the Strategic Plan was included as
well as a flyer for the upcoming Tribal Reunion.
Florrine Super moved and
Sonny
19) Summer Goodwin,
Summer is present to address
the Tribal Council and request assistance toward their Eighth Grade Classes’
trip to
Leeon Hillman moved and
Sonny
She also announced that they
will be doing a Lasagna
20) Mike Hentz,
Community Member
Mike and Alan were present to
discuss the Happy Camp Arts Center Project including their vision of the
facility and what can be housed in that building. It will be an excellent opportunity for the
community.
A section of the Tribe’s
Bob states this would be a
wonderful location to hold Basketweaver’s Gatherings twice each year; Alan
would love to link the Arts Center with the People’s Center so that Happy Camp
can become a destination for art and culture as well as utilizing their
opportunities for river and forestry sciences that are unavailable in other
locations. Alan states the center itself
will be an architectural model to be built with alternative methods and be
studied by students.
Doozie states that everyone
should go to the Art Shows because the paintings that are there are beautiful
and Alan is a wonderful artist! She
encourages everyone to attend if they can; Alan states that all shows are open
to the community and everyone is welcome.
Mike states that once the
core facility is constructed, the out buildings can be later built as learning
projects to continue to expand and incorporate new activities at the center.
21) Beth
Buchanan, Community Member
Beth is present to address
the Council and speak to them about fundraising for a community park
project. She is seeking permission to
publish a letter she is drafting in the Tribal Newsletter. She has volunteered to work with the Happy
Camp Community Services District on raising funds to improve the park with the
addition of bathroom facilities, solar outdoor lighting, some drinking
fountains, and a small outside stage to be used for events. The landowners have committed to selling the
park to the HCCSD as long as it remains as a community park. She has committed to fundraising to develop the
park. It will be a one page letter to be
used locally and non-locally for fundraising.
She would like to print that in the Newsletter that the Karuk Tribe
publishes. All the local organizations
in Happy Camp will be contacted for fundraising support as well.
Consensus: To allow her to submit the letter for review
to be included in the next edition, they can then let her know if they will
allow it to be published.
22) Eric
Cutright, IT Director
Eric was present to address
the Council and request approval of several purchase requests for his
department.
The first is for Microsoft
licensing to cover all existing computers utilized by Tribal staff, all RPMS
users for the health program, and all Tribal servers. The lowest price is from CDW in the amount of
$159,500.16 ($53,166.72 per year). They
will need to review this in three years and renew the licenses. It is included in the budget and has been
reviewed by Laura as well as Erin. It
covers all Windows platforms from current and going back as well as all Microsoft
Office programs from current going back.
They are given a package deal through CDW. If additional employees are hired above their
current limit, they can purchase additional licenses at the discounted rate as
well. All departments will pay for their
users from their budgets; servers will be paid from Indirect.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the purchase request for Microsoft Licensing
from CDW Government, Inc. in the amount of $159,500.16 ($53,166.72 per year). 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
The next request is for the
purchase of new Finance Department computers, there are six to be replaced. They will be funded from Indirect. Their computers are about six to seven years
old and require upgrades justifying replacement.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve the purchase from Gateway in the amount of
$4,961.82. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
He submitted procurement to
purchase his own computer along with the new EHR Technician which will be hired
next week and a monitor upgrade to the IT Technician’s computer; all from the
Indirect Cost Pool. CDW in the amount of
$5,712 has been identified as the requested vendor as the best product to
fulfill their needs although it is not the lowest price.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the purchase from CDW in the amount of
$5,712. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Eric apologized to Paula that
he was not able to fully complete the procurement for the People’s Center. She asked that he update the Council. He states that he has worked with the staff
to identify the needed items to implement an online Gift Shop for the Center. The first piece is the implementation of a
shopping cart site; the next is merchant services allowing for credit card
processing online and fraud protection as well; Gerry is confident to design
the site so it matches the main Karuk website and has the same feel; the last
item is a domain registration so that they have their own website such as www.karukpeoplescenter.com and a
SSL certificate to protect purchasers from fraud. The computer at the People’s Center is also
very outdated and will need to be replaced and a digital camera purchased to be
used for products that will be sold which will be included in the procurement. There will be an advertisement on the Karuk
homepage linking visitors to the Gift Shop site. The costs should not be more than about
$2,000.
His next item is a request to
purchase blackberry phones for the new EHR technician and Gerry so that all
staff will have the same equipment and can communicate with each other
regarding work orders and needed repairs while out in the field. If he orders the unit by the end of the month
there is a discounted price. Leeon asked
how many have been issued so far; the estimate is about 10-15. Leeon pointed out that the monthly cost is
twice that of an ordinary cell phone.
Florrine states that her computer went down and was able to retain her
information through the phone which was wonderful!
Leeon Hillman moved and
Robert Goodwin seconded to approve the request for blackberries for Gerry and
the EHR Technician. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
He states that he has worked
with Dr. Willett and Chris to implement a solution for the phone service at the
Orleans Clinic to eliminate the loss of phones during power outages at the
Clinic.
23) Requests
None at this time.
24) Phone Votes
25)
Informational
None at this time.
26) Committee
Reports
The NCIDC meeting minutes
were included for their information.
Closed Session from 6:17 PM to 9:45 PM
Robert Goodwin moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Resolution 08-R-032 removing three Tribal
Members. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Alvis Johnson moved and
Sonny
Sonny
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to increase Employee #8900’s hours by 8 hours per week
to work on economic development projects.
5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Consensus: To table Tribal Member #1019’s request to the
Wednesday Meeting.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to deny the request from Tribal Member #3143. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the request from Tribal Member #491 to
initiate a payment agreement for delinquent debt in order to be eligible for
LIAP assistance; deductions of $25 per SWEEP check will be paid to KTHA and $25
per SWEEP check to KTOC. 4 haa, 0
puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Alvis Johnson).
Florrine Super moved and Leeon
Hillman seconded to deny the request from Tribal Member #3159. 5 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Consensus: To allow Mike Edwards to attend hearing with
Tribal Member #2917.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Florrine Super seconded to approve travel costs for Leaf C. Hillman, Clifford
Marshall, and Heather Lightning and rental car expense; Employee #5541 will be
advised to follow the travel policy for approvals in the future. 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Leeon
Hillman).
Florrine Super moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Resolution 08-R-037 for ICWA Resolution in
Consensus: Discussion will be continued regarding
personnel issues at the Wednesday Meeting when all Council Members can be
present.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Sonny Davis seconded to approve travel up to $1,000 to the 8th Annual
Biennial Language is Life Conference being presented by the Advocates for
Indigenous California Language Survival (AICLS) for Florrine Super, Vina Smith,
Kayla Super, and Arch Super, April 4-6, 2008 in Marin Highlands, Ca. The Language Program has $1,000 available;
any additional costs will come from discretionary and require further approval. 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Florrine
Super).
Discussion: Tribal Member #567 has again requested
permission to have cattle at the Ranch in Happy Camp; Bob suggests that they
contact the Forest Service to determine what is going on and also speak to DNR
regarding if they will still be fencing off the ranch with the riparian funding
they applied for.
Consensus: To refer the request for ceremonial
assistance in prison to Leaf Hillman for review and possible assistance.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to pay the difference in costs for lodging on Council
Member #7225’s trip to
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to pay $300 for assistance to Tribal Member #891. 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 1 pupitihara (Florrine
Super).
Request: For a copy of the detailed breakdown of
discretionary expenditures included in CFO’s report at the Wednesday meeting.
Request: For update from CFO and Self Governance
regarding their research into HUD and Indirect funding issues and ensuring that
the Chair and Vice Chair position continue to be paid.
Directive: For Human Resources Manager to research Codes
of Conduct for Council Members.
Next Meeting Date:
April 24, 2008 at 5 PM in
Meeting adjourned at: 9:47 PM.
___________________________
Arch Super, Chairman
Recording Secretary, Sara Spence