The Native Blog

Article submitted by Tribal Member

Wrong Recall

Has anyone been to the government center lately?  I heard that council members, Ryan, Rey, Junior and Nabby were running around telling the employees not to listen to Chairperson Tracy.  They even told Chairperson Tracy that she was to listen to them and not the people of the tribe, they are in charge now?  They even told Chairperson Tracy she can no longer represent the tribe in the Shab-eh-Nay deal.  What is going on in our government, because the recall failed they decided to takeover any way?  Ryan, Rey, Junior and Nabby are not competent to run our tribe and here's why:

Ryan won't be at the Transition Celebration because he thinks he needs to be at the Shab-eh-Nay parade, which the tribe is donating $500 dollars to and is sending a drum.  But since Ryan thinks his family needs a little vacation, he is going to use the government house for them and the drum will have to be put in a hotel, at a cost of $1500 to the tribe.  I guess Ryan thinks this is ok because in his budget for his department he includes healthcare coverage for his family, he is used to the tribe paying for his family's needs (they are not even enrolled members of the tribe).  Ryan doesn't even attend important Shab-eh-Nay meetings, he missed the last one because he had to go on a golf junket sponsered by a bank that he later put $5 MILLION dollars of our money in.

Rey won't be at the Transition Celebration either he needs to be at Shab-eh-Nay too, guess he also needs to attend those events on the calendar he posted on the refrigerator of the government house.  No wonder he is always up there and not attending to tribal business.

Junior and Nabby were actually at work to tell the employees not to listen to Chairperson Tracy?  What a shock, they never show up to work anyway and his assistants are usually mis-using their P-cards, our tribal money.

It looks like the recall was focused on the wrong person.  Maybe its time find out  what business with Ray, Ryan, Junior and Nabby are up to.  What are they doing?  Does anyone know, we have the right to know!

-Joe

O Pechanga says...

O Pechanga says about the recall:

"I came to this blog looking to spread the word about what has happened to my family, from the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

I've been looking through the blog here about the recall. I didn't realize when I came here, that I KNEW Tracy.

She, from my dealings with her through the Native American Chamber of Commerce is an honest woman, straightforward and someone whom I trust. She is also friends with my cousin. This is such a small world. I found out TODAY, from one who I am working with on our situation that Tracy was from your band.

Were I a Potowatomi...Tracy would have my full support."

George responses to 'Recall Lies'

"With the Bingo losing money, the thought never occured to them to improve some things rather than shut it down and put all those people that worked for a living out of the income to feed their families and pay bills. Easy to say for people that don't deal with living on the reservation and making a living for a family.

So, I guess then when the tribe takes over the casino if it loses money it will be shut down...right. According to the reasons stated.

Trying to control the tribe...HA! Don't make me laugh cause it not a laughing matter. I let be known I have no more interest in running for any political office in the PBP elections. Also Badge has also let it be known that he isn't interested in running either. Control of the tribe has already been lost to those that haven't grown up with the tribal teachings, that instills the respect for our elders and seeing to the people's needs, without squeezing money out of them for it. Outsiders! Carpetbaggers as it was put by another person. Those that come in here to make money for themselves and to hell with the reservation people.
I still say the tribe isn't a corporation. The Prairie Band Potawatomi is a nation of people, with people needs. Tribes do have corporations that deals with the business of revenue making for the tribe. Other tribe's corporation officers are voted in by the people, but us...the officers are to be choosen by the Chairman and T/C.

Letters to the editor are censored out so the people reading it can't read it certain things. My letter that was cenosored displayed no foul language or calling anyone names. It was in a question form...to the people. Of course I did state some things about the Tribal Newspaper (and I use the term very loosely) when it censors things out at the prompting of the tribal government...it's a concern.

So now you're saying the Chairperson lied to the white people in Illinois as a ploy. Is that her tactic to get what she wants? Then maybe she has been doing the same to membership of the PBP.

Lets get on with the recall and let the chips fall where they may."

Letter of Support from Cecil Walker

"It is easy to say you are Prairie Band Potawatomi it is much harder to walk the path as a Prairie Band Potawatomi.

I believe in our democratic system. I believe in the election of Tracy. Do I always agree with her, no, but that is a good thing. Do I want her removed, absolutely not. She has been the first with education, successful business experience and fore site to sit in the Chair position. The leaders of this recall vote are not qualified in my opinion to run the Tribe. That is why they were probably not re-elected.

I do believe Tracy has and will continue to hold this office with integrity and sound ethics. You do not need to be raised on the reservation to know what is needed on our reservation. If that is the case how does Badger know what is needed since he was not raised on the reservation. I was raised on the reservation and I am very proud of where I come from. I still have strong ties to home. As to all of you I to have my vision of what our Tribe will one day be and will be able to provide for our People.

The arguments I have read are all opinion and personal observation. Business is not based on opinion or personal observation, it is based on facts and the decisions should be made from facts. Tracy has not violated our constitution therefore there is no basis of fact to recall her.

Politics in itself is a strange bedfellow. As we see on a daily basis the fighting and infighting of Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately our own council has built many surf domes around their position. I do not always agree with their decision or their work ethics. But we, the people elected them. Therefore I will support them and debate with them if I disagree with their position on an issue. I will also accept their decision in the end. They have a right to their opinion, that is why we elected them. I, like all of the Tribal members, have a right to our opinion. We each have a right to debate and negotiate with the Council. The bottom line, we the people elected each of the Tribal Council members. If we do not like the job they are doing then we do not vote for them in the next election. But until that time we work with them and support our Council' final decision.
It is important for the Tribal Council to work as a whole with the interest of the Tribe as their guide. Their decisions will affect many generation of our people to come.

As to the Shab be nay land, those contracts were set in place many years ago by another council. Time has proven they were not good decisions. I feel the Council today has done an excellent job working on the Shab be nay land development and have made fair decision for all parties both Indian and non-Indian in the work they have performed on this development. That is the Potawatomi way to be fair, honest and just to all with sound ethics and morals. That is what my Grandfather, Joseph Nioce taught me. He also taught me that fairness, honesty, ethics and morals were ours to give away or keep. No man can take this away from you unless you allow this to happen. He was and is right.
It is easy to say you are Prairie Band Potawatomi it is much harder to walk the path as a Prairie Band Potawatomi.

Our support belongs with the general election results, and I will support Tracy."

Cecil Walker

'Recall Lies' by Leslie

"George, lets start with the Truth and address the "issues".

The Chairperson and Council decided not to correct the information that was printed in the local newspaper about sovereign rights because it was a  political ploy to stop U.S. Rep. Hastert from interfering in our business.  Guess what? It worked!  Chairperson Stanhoff emphasized at the meeting that the sovereign rights statement in the newspaper was a mis-quote.  If you had been at the meeting you would have not used this as a reason to begin the recall.  Be at the Council Meetings and read the minutes before you "go off making unfounded statements", as you like to accuse me of doing.

Your idea that  "Those Bingo Employees that lost their jobs when the Bingo was shut down. Did most of those members sign that first petition to recall Tracy Stanhoff? Could this be a mass reprisal for them signing the petition?"  is once again a lie.  The FACTS are that the Gaming Commission is the agency that shut down the Bingo Hall, because it was losing $10,000 dollars a month.  The Chairperson has nothing to do with the Gaming Commission.  The Gaming Commission will re-evaluate re-opening the Bingo Hall after the transition is complete.  AGAIN, all these facts are available in the General Council Meeting minutes, which any enrolled member of the tribe has access to.

You reference Joyce Guerrero as another "act of reprisal"  however that has already been proven to be another lie.  Joyce's predicament is the doing of her own sister who is in charge of Enrollment, this is a family feud that began years ago, long before Chairperson Stanhoff arrived. 

In your response to my article,"You say 300 people can't represent the tribe. It's Tribal Constitutional law."  Yes, however 300 people will not WIN the recall election and many of those 300 people were tricked into signing the petition.
Besides, now that we know your reasons for the recall, it seems you sold this recall to these 300 people on lies.

You said, not me, that the Newspaper was involved in a conspiracy, here are your own words, "...our tribal newspaper should be out from under the scrutiny of the Tribal Council and be allowed to print the truth in government and our tribal leaders dealings"  to readers this suggests that you think the newspaper is working with the Tribal Council to mis-lead the people, and you are still accusing the paper of this when in own your own words you say, "The Tribal Newspaper (if it were free press) would be a vital element to a true democracy of this tribe,"  You are the one attacking the newspaper, saying it is not free press, these are your own words, George.

You say, "Main thing is...the tribe is not a business corporation, and we aren't to be treated as stockholders in a company."  Yes, the tribe is a business corporation in one sense because we are running businesses and as tribal members we should be treated as stockholders, that's a good thing.  This is only common sense, George.

I have "a grip" and many of our tribal members do now too, because we have uncovered the lies that are the basis of this recall.  We know that the Truth will continue to be revealed and by stopping you we will protect our tribe for future generations.   

Chairperson Stanhoff is our Idol because she has proven herself to be a strong leader and will never give up."

Sincerely,

Leslie

Dis-Enrollment Hearing

Letter to PBP members on a dis-enrollment hearing.

From Joyce Guerrero

Our family received a letter dated May 23, 2007 from the enrollment department of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, signed by Arlene Lingo.

It is a Notice of Intent to Dis-Enroll my grandson Aaron Michael.
The letter goes on to state reasons: briefly they are that years ago when Aaron’s application was processed there was a miscalculation made by the Enrollment department and the Enrollment Committee and Tribal Council at that time. All three entities failed to catch this error if that is the case.

My Mother Agnes Wabski Kitchkommie was correctly the 4/4 full blood. Apparently my Father Joseph A. Kitchkommie came up “erroneously” the letter says.

I question the timing of this action. The fact that this letter comes at a time of this recall petition process I have to wonder who is targeting my family. I will not state if I have or have not signed the petition. I have however; as a Gaming Commissioner been put in the position of having to confront Tracy Stanhoff more than once on her lack of following protocol in the area of regulations. It is no secret as this was done in front of other Commissioners and Council members and that I have been vocal with questions in meetings to her regarding the IL project.

We have been given a date of hearing on this matter of June 4th, 2007 in front of Tribal Council to decide. I have no reassurance that the entire tribal council will decide on the fate of my grandson’s enrollment. We all know that one person now on that council overpowers the weaker ones.

My family will live with the decision of that hearing and persevere. Aaron has been for 12 years a Prairie Band Potawatomi tribal member. He asks does this mean he cannot say that he is Prairie Band Potawatomi anymore? He does not understand at his age the political ramifications and mean spirited actions that children can get caught in the middle of. I wanted to share this experience because I think this is not a good sign for our future of our tribal members.

Can an outside group go to someone and point a finger at your family and start dis-enrollment procedures? Or one individual? You will always find angry, disgruntled, unhappy people willing to participate in these causes. I welcome this hearing to be heard and share my original paperwork, if for no other reason than to prove that there was no intent to deceive or falseness committed on our behalf and I want that to be a part of that hearing that day. Is council prepared to have more hearings?

It could be your family next. Thank you so much for having this venue to get out information.

Joyce Kitchkommie Guerrero

Some Facts On The Recall From Leslie

"Well, after some investigating we now know some interesting facts about the recall petition.

The leaders of the recall want not only to oust the Chairperson, but they are also after the Council and the PBPN Newspaper (according to George's letter).

According to George the Newspaper is part of some conspiracy to undermine and destroy the tribe. I would like to see his evidence for this.

George says they are only advocating for the good of the tribe, yet we did not elect George, Mami or Badger to represent us.  They only represent a small group of members who signed a petition (many were misled about what they were actually signing). 

It's only their opinion, that we gave up our sovereign rights when the land was purchased in Illinois , if they truly understood the legalities of the purchase then they would realize their opinion is meaningless.  This land purchase is an investment, that our children will reap the benefits of.

George says the casino transition should be the Chair person's focus, it is and the transition has been completed months ahead of schedule saving us, the tribe, millions of dollars.

Some very important steps need to be taken before we waste our time and money on a recall vote.  First, we need to make certain that the recall petition signatures are actually enrolled members of the tribe.  Second, that they knew what they were signing and purpose of the petition.  Thirdly, allegations against the Chairperson must be proven with evidence, not rumors, here-say, or mere opinion.

An important point that as tribal members we must be aware of is that to vote on the recall the tribal member must be at the meeting on the reservation if and when the vote takes place.  How is this fair to the tribal members who live off the reservation?  This is an important issue, and if we are truly interested in protecting the rights of all tribal members then shouldn't we let them vote too?  As Badger so eloquently said at the last council meeting about the per capita vote, "how can 100 people make policy for the entire tribe, you know, this is something that belongs to the entire tribal membership.  I think it is only fair we give all tribal members a chance to vote on that, you know to voice their vote, in the process we call the democratic process."  I guess for Badger the democratic process works only when it acts in his best interest.

Badger, George and Mami are leading the tribe down a dangerous path.  Do we follow them?  Have we not had enough of their leadership that's why we didn't vote for them isn't it?   Remember, the Chairperson was elected by an overwhelming number of votes.  The results of the recall could possibly send our tribe into the hands of the federal government's control.  We are proving to them that we cannot work together and every time we elect new leaders we destroy them as quickly as we can.  I can assure you that the DeKalb residents of the Shab be nay land are celebrating today, because they see we are not a united people, and know that we will never be successful at managing even our ancestral land. 

What can you do to stop the recall?  Be on the reservation at the Bingo Hall, the day of the recall election.  For those of us who live off the reservation and suffer from financial hardship .... well I guess we will have to begin our own Longest Walk."

With gratitude,

Leslie Morgan

George's Response to 'Letter to the Nation'

"Yes, I did send Tracy a letter to say, sorry she was treated so harshly...in a few words, that she should have been given a chance without being totally condemned at the start. To start off with at your wlecome dinner...you stated you were honored to serve at the pleasure of the Tribal Council. A Chairperson serves at the pleasure of the people.

We have seen what she did with that chance. Showing her lack of knowledge with regards to our rights as an Indian Nation. With no backgound in leading a tribe and never having lived on the Potawatomi reservation, has no clue as to what the people need. Tracy has shown she doesn't hold that same respect for the elders as an Indian raised on good Potawatomi elders teachings. When the seniors are not given a little free help in making home repairs and such, but instead are told they would have to pay 18 dollars an hour to get it done.

By giving away our soverignty in a bid to get gambling in Illinois, doesn't show good leadership to me. Why did we pay 8 million for lands that belonged to us. It was just a matter of taking it through it's proper route...Court of Claims. We would have gotten all the Shab be nay acreage instead of paying 8 million for that small parcel, then make a statement that we would give up our rights on the rest of the property.

Nothing in the PBP Tribal Constitution gives the Chairperson the right to make those kinds of concessions without the consent of the people.

When we should have all our efforts here, to make this casino transition work to our good, the council is off in Illinois trying to make other deals and get in the paper. Like they have no priorities.

Don't even blame the people that speak up when wrongs are done. It's those misguided souls that she is hiding behind, hoping to make us feel guilty for something we believe is right and just...speaking up for the people and the freedom of speech. Don't let your voices be silenced.

Supposedly we went to war so we could keep those rights. So, let's bring your voices and votes to the Recall meeting and lets get the tribe back on track.

Instead of listening to rumors and heresay...our Tribal newspaper should be out from under the scrutiny of the Tribal Council and be allowed to print the truth in government and our tribal leaders dealings. The people need to know the truths, to make a more informed choice when they vote for those in office. Or is the Tribal government afraid to allow the truth to be told here to the people. Keep us in the dark and feed us what news you want us to hear. That's how dictors operate.

The recall is just a tool for the people to use when a tribal leader is getting out of hand and taking the tribe down. In the present day there is not just one leader that is taking this tribe down.

We have to keep pushing forward people, for our rights...cause no one else will."

George

Letter to the Nation from Tracy Stanhoff

Letter To The Nation June 2007 From Tribal Chair Tracy Stanhoff

Dear Tribal Members:

Again, I am writing to you all with a heavy heart.   A petition for my recall as your Tribal Chair has been delivered to our Election Board.

What this recall process means, is that the Election Board has 15 days to verify the signatures on the petition and then, if valid, the Election Board has to call for a recall hearing within 30 days from signature validation.

During this hearing a vote may be called for my removal of office, a tribal member must be present during this hearing to vote on whether I stay.  The rules say that there will be no voting amongst our entire population - you must be present at the hearing to vote.

From what I understand from what is reported to me by those who have been presented the recall petition, a group lead by Badger Wahwasuck, Mamie Rupnicki and George Wahquahboshkuk want me removed from office.

I have done nothing illegal, against Tribal Council policies or against our Constitution.  But, I also understand the more recent history of the Tribal Chair's position in our Tribe.  The Chair has been and is under attack from some, since in recent times we have had recalls, resignations and appointments in order to staff this important role.

When I was first appointed as our Interim Chair by Tribal Council last January, I visited with a tribal group headed by Badger and Mamie the evening before my swearing in.   Instead of a curious welcome from our Tribal membership there, I was treated in a manner that George felt compelled to apologize to me in a letter he wrote to me after the meeting writing in his letter, "First of all let me say, personally how ashamed I am of how you were received at the Senior Center by some of our more colorful and rude tribal members.  I can assure you that there are a lot of us out here that doesn't act in such a shameful manner, as you witnessed."

The Tribal Council has had Badger and Mamie's group in a few times to discuss their questions on Tribal business as all of our members have a right to express their opinions.   It has been reported to me that when this group arrived last Friday with the recall petition, some in the group were tribal members who have personally met with me to discuss and to ask for my office's assistance with solutions for a wide variety of personal situations.  Although I am troubled by their actions, nevertheless, my office has always been and will always be open for all Tribal members who need assistance.

I will continue to lead our Tribal efforts to: complete a successful, faster than planned, casino transition to self-management saving the Tribe millions of dollars in fees and lost revenues; pursue the Shab-eh-nay Reservation re-jurisdiction negotiations for the historic complete reacquistion of our lost Reservation and establishment of a new gaming facility; formulate the diversifying of our Tribal businesses through the 75 highway/150th Road development and our 8(a) SBA application; and other tasks that Tribal Council is completing right now.

I am proud of the progress that we, Tribal Council, make everyday in our efforts to "move our Tribe forward".   Our last 16 months in office together has brought the Tribe much success.

As a sovereign Nation, we have the right to elect our officials - we have a right to vote. It is unfortunate that we have some in the Tribe jeopardizing our sovereignty by continuing on this recall process without cause and trying reverse just election results.

We need to continue moving forward. I hope I will have your support at this upcoming recall hearing,

Tracy Stanhoff

Late Breaking News from the Rez...

Badger's Blog says a recall petition that has been turned in on our tribal chairwoman! I sure would like to see tribal members send me the pros and cons of this petition, especially in light of how we elect people to our tribal council and most of them never show up for work once they get in! The Chairwoman works over sixty hours a week and the rest of them don't show up for work...I mean what is fair here? Where else can you get sixty grand a year and not show up for work except on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribal Council...? Why don't we recall those that don't show up for work too?