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THE CURRENT STATE OF THE TRIBE: WHY AND HOW WE GOT THERE. A letter by Laura S. (Butler) Jarvis to all Caddo Members Dear Caddo Members: I have a twofold reason for writing this letter. Don't know if you received a letter dated December 31, 2002, from the Chairman asking you to attend the January 18, 2003 Membership Meeting or another letter to attend the Membership Meeting to be held April 26, 2003. Either way, this letter is written both to ask you to attend to become informed of some actions taken by some of the current government real estate Council and to send you copies of some material that I and others have some questions on. I am writing this letter personally because I know somewhat how the Chairman works. I was the Vice-Chairman for a year (filling this position for her unexpired term as Vice-Chairman) when she ran for Chairman. I was not at the complex every day, only when needed and was not fully aware of the day to day operations or what came in and went out. In this period of time apparently there were two petitions brought to the office to recall her. Never seen or heard of either one. Based on her comments I was involved in the immediate termination of four (4) employees. I later find these employees did not deserve to be terminated but it was her goal to remove them when she became Chairman. I voted to allow the Enrollment of Shirley Howery Gouge (Enrollment Clerk) which is against the Constitution. This was done after she told the Council she had not received any monies from the Comanche Tribe with whom she was an enrolled member. There is a letter proving she did in fact receive money as an enrolled member of the Comanche Tribe (believe you can ask to see a copy at the Membership Meeting on April 26). This has been brought to the attention of the Council and especially to the Chairman's attention. Ms. Gouge is now listed on the Caddo Enrollment. This is illegal until the Constitution is changed to allow this. At this point I would like to add that Ms. Gouge was hired as Enrollment Clerk at the same salary that the former Enrollment Clerk (who was terminated) received. My Ballot for the Secretarial Election was sent to Dallas, Texas, where I worked for the Department of labor until my retirement in 1995. I moved back to Arapahoe basin Colorado in May 1995 and held the position of Vice-Chairman and my address was listed as Dallas, Texas. I had to live within a 65 mile radius to run for office. I understand over 800 Ballots that had been sent out (using the Agency's names and address's which the Caddo Enrollment Office gives them) were sent back to the Agency. I also understand Ms. Gouge has been trained, has had Agency help, been sent for training, has had one to two people in the Enrollment Office for help and still our records have not been updated. She has been in this position for several years. When this Council asked for and had a Secretarial Election, that was not one of the items changed though it had been discussed on several occasions. The items changed appear to be to support the Council positions for four (4) year terms and to up the Membership, again to support the Council positions for more votes. This Secretarial Election basically was put together by the Council and was not taken to the Membership as far as I know. Don't know what this Secretarial Election cost but there are many changes that need to be made in the Constitution and had this been taken to the Membership for their input we would not in the near future be out more money for another Secretarial Election to make those changes that need to be made. It is my understanding that when the Chairman was elected the Tribe was operating on approximately $27,000 but with the Oil & Gas and Motor Fuel our budget is now approximately $376,000 plus. Do not know where all this money is going but do know the Tribe has many needs. Understand a good portion of it is going to salaries, insurance, taxes, maintenance, excessive telephone bills, upkeep of the Complex and the programs, etc. Also understand when the Chairman was elected there were approximately 35 to 40 employees including Head Start, now there are 37 Tribal employees, 22 Head Start employees and 21 Gaming employees. While it is good to have our Caddo people employed at the Complex, firstly believe there are more non-enrolled Caddos working at the Complex than enrolled Caddos and that most of the Directors or higher paid individuals are not Caddo. Do not believe we have any more programs other than the Casino. Some of the money mentioned above could be spent on our Higher Education. The grants have dropped from $1175 to $800. Ms. Parker, without going to the Membership as required by the Constitution, don't believe some of the Council were informed, borrowed money ($77,679 -Copy Attached) to build an Education Building to house a Distance Learning Center. Understand, Joy Martin, Oklahoma Education Specialist (don't know if that is her title), she is over Riverside Indian School, came to the Complex and line-itemed or whatever, wrote in $45,000 out of the Adult Education monies for the Chairman to buy the building to house the Distance Learning Center. The building is sitting empty other than the Higher Education Director is housed there. Since we are paying for the building there is no money to start the Distance Learning Center. Believe the Adult Education monies are to help people get their GEDs, update their skills, prepare them for the job market, prepare them to enter college, etc. There is no money to help them now. We Have A Building! Would like to touch on the INFCA project. Understand some who receive this letter may have been involved and possibly this could have been a good thing for the Tribe. However, the Caddo Membership was not aware or involved in any of the ground work and most certainly would not have given Mr. Moore the permission to use the Caddo Charter, the Caddo Seal, the Constitution, Letterhead, address, etc. (Copy Attached). From the outside of the organization, and that is where we were, it looked like a sell out. Mr. Moore had been turned down by several tribes. While I agree that the BIA is sometimes an obstacle they are part of our history and will always be somehow involved in the Tribe. We do know where they are and can deal with what we know, to associate us with some foreign entity, and to the Colorado photo streem extent this was done without our knowledge did not help the Membership to accept it. Yes, according to the letter read by the Chairman at the last Membership Meeting, we do have buildings, roads and quite a few employees. The other Tribes around here consider us the laughing stock of the Tribes. We have the buildings, roads and employment, but are doing nothing to bring in any money other than the Casino. They have even let the Smoke Shop fold. Heard it was because Joe Vasquez and his daughter took money. Also heard that was not the case. Understand because they did not require Brenda Epperly Smith to sign a slip when they took their daily money to her there was no record they gave her the money. Believe they did give her the money. However, if she was their boss, whatever, why did she not require them to sign a statement of how much money was given to her. That should have been part of her job. Is that the way to run business. No accountability on either side. So where did the money go? Understand the Agency could not find where Mr. Vasquez or his daughter took any money. Those of you on the Economic Development Committee, would like to ask you, other than INFCA, what other Economic Development have you been looking at? Understand the Eakley Project is or was in the works, but again, this has to be brought to the Membership. Sounds good, but let us know something. We really would appreciate it. We all want what is best for the Tribe. This paragraph is not to make any negative comments about your committee, simply to ask that you inform the Membership what is going on. We need you, you need us. We really can work together, we don't need a play by play account, just what is in the works. Will comment a little on the letter read by the Chairman at the January 18 Membership Meeting. Firstly, do not believe that it was necessary or appropriate for the Chairman to read this letter, this was a Membership Meeting, not a Council or Chairman's meeting. The Chairman is to call the meeting to order, not control or run it. This is a quarterly meeting set for the Membership to ask questions, exchange opinions, possibly let the Council know what they feel is important to the Tribe, to share ideas, etc. To date, when the Chairman has held a Membership Meeting, she has managed to either start an argument among the members of the Tribe or has something planned to keep the Membership at bay. There usually is no time for questions, discussions, etc. The Membership is so disgusted at that point they usually just leave and go home. The Chairman states when she became Chairman "there was not that much to oversee". Actually most of what she named in her letter was already in place when she came to office or was already in the works. Believe Ruby Cozad was responsible for the paved roads and drainage system being accomplished through our Roads and Transportation Program. Understand this is run through the BIA. Some, if not all of the Tribes take advantage of this program. Again, Ms. Cozad got this program going for us and the work on redoing the Caddo Country roads and bridges. Would like to ask what equipment we have or are we going to purchase through this program? Understand money is made on these projects since the jobs are contracted out. Is this money set aside to buy this equipment? Understand there is Caddo preference when these jobs are done, would also ask how many of our Caddo people were hired? Ruby Cozad also did the renovating of the Cultural Building. Believe the small museum is a small room on the Northeast end of this building. Charlene Wright displayed some items in there when I was still on the Council. Was very nice, she did a good job. Believe the two (2) Head Start Centers were in effect when the Chairman was elected into office and believe two (2) of the Co-op Programs for 4 year olds was already in existence. Don't know if we are the only Tribe to have this program but do know it is a very good program and could and should be used as a model for other Head Starts. Understand we do have a very good Firefighter Program. Is good to hear the fire truck is providing income to the Tribe. Is this money put back into the Program? I assume the Crew Representative is Gary Parker, the Chairman's son. Some of you will know that I have had a problem with Mr. Parker, at one time, and for some time, being the only Crew Boss or Representative the Caddo Tribe had while we had around 80 Firefighters and understand it is not that hard to train for Squad or Crew Bosses. Think I heard at the January 18 Membership Meeting that others were being trained as Squad Bosses and Crew Bosses, believe their last names were Mason and Martin, or was it Parker. Believe these are the Chairman's nephews. Am told repeatedly this is how you do things when you are in office, you select, train, hire your own. That is not the way I believe. This is not a family type business. This is Caddo business. Have heard there was double dipping by a person in this Program. Understand the U. S. Forest Service was billed as well as the Caddo Tribe. Also heard three (3) persons on the Program got into some trouble while out west on a fire. Would like to know if the persons involved in these two incidents are still with the Caddo Fire Fighting Program and was any action taken. Am not overly enthused about the Goat or the Buffalo Projects. Most people know goats eat anything and no farmer wants them eating either their grazing or farmlands. Usually that is reserved for their cattle. The Bison, I think are gorgeous animals and have heard they are a good food source for healthy dietary habits. However, believe it would be very costly to feed, capture, butcher and find a storage place for the meat in this area. Would also like to know how many peanut farmers we (Caddo) have that are affected by the new farm bill. Actually, don't know anything about the new farm bill but don't know of many (Caddo) peanut farmers. While the Chairman says we have hired a grant writer who is constantly looking for grants and working on them, she doesn't say how many grants this person has actually got for the Tribe. Would like to know how many and how this person is paid. Is this person paid a percentage of the grants they get or are they salaried? The Chairman mentions 638 and government funds cannot be used as matching funds, can we not use monies out of the Motor Fuel and Oil & Gas as matching funds? It is mentioned that it was hard work to develop the infrastructure such as Codes and Ordinances during this Chairman's term. Actually, I understand that some Codes and Ordinances were already in place when the Chairman came to office, including the Tax, Gaming and Tobacco Ordinances. Understand they needed to be updated but were already in place, also that Ruby Cozad was very instrumental in getting these updated and in place. Do know the Oil & Gas was in place, I was on the Council when Lehman Coyote was hired to start collecting this money. In fact, worked closely with him on this. He was very adamant that these monies not be commingled with the Treasury monies. On the Motor Fuel, believe all Tribes receive this money from the State of Oklahoma. Understand this money is being deposited with the Tribes Treasury money. Is there a way monies from both these sources can be identified from the regular Treasury money to assure it is being spent as the guidelines allow? Understand Mr. Cast is doing a good job in the NAGPRA and Historical Preservation Program. Do believe some of the past Tribal Chairpersons had already initiated some of the work that has been accomplished. The Chairman points out that life insurance and a retirement plan are now offered. Someone correct me if I am wrong but understand that some employees pay for life insurance and there is no retirement plan. Do not know if the majority of the employees are Caddos or not but would like to know if they are enrolled Caddos. Do know we have some well paid employees at the Tribe, would like to know how many Directors we have that are enrolled Caddos. It is my understanding that though we have a building to house the Distance Learning Center we have no money to open it. Actually, was told Alys Cruikshank had this program moving along pretty good at one time, then was released from her contract. I question how the Chairman thinks we can pay big payments on a building she purchased or leased to purchase, using Adult Education Funds and still get the program up and running. Where are we going to get the money for this? It is my opinion that the Caddo Membership is being short changed, at this point there is no training, no chance to get their GEDs, updating their skills, preparation for the job market, etc., because of the purchase of this building. Borrowing the money for this building was not brought to the Membership as required by the Constitution. Some of you know I also had or have a problem with the Council purchasing land without going to the Membership. Was told it was not taken from the Tribe but was money received from the Ramah settlement. Tell me Council, was the real estate money from Ramah earmarked just for the Councils use as they wanted? Do not believe so, that money belonged to the Caddo Tribe, not to the Council. The Chairman says we have to obtain trust status before we can do anything with the land, understand we also have to get the 11 and 40 acres through EPA and it may not make it. Is this true? Have been hammered for asking this but would like to ask the Council how much taxes are we paying on the 40 acres, 11 acres and the mobile home in Anadarko? The Eakley school sounds pretty good as far as we know but we don't know much about it. Believe some of you who receive this may be able to answer questions concerning this project. Sincerely, Laura S. (Butler)