Minutes: May 9, 2018

SAC AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA

Tribal Council Meeting – May 9, 2018, 5:00 PM

Sac and Fox Tribal Chambers

  1. Meeting called to order at 5:05 p.m.
  2. Roll Call

Presiding Officer:  Anthony Waseskuk, Chairman

Tribal Council present:  Delonda Pushetonequa, Treasurer; Troy Wanatee, Jarvis Bear; Harvey Davenport, Jr.

Absent:  Adrian Pushetonequa, Vice-Chairman

Staff present:  Jay Finch, Attorney General; Bill Thurman, Comptroller; Allison Stewart, Tribal Council Secretary; Yolanda Pushetonequa, Executive Assistant

Tribal members present: Hilda Young Bear, Stevie Young Bear, Craig Young Bear, Christina Blackcloud

Visitors present: Deidre DeJear

  1. Ascertainment of Quorum – A quorum was ascertained with 5 council members present.
  2. Agenda approval – Chairman Anthony Waseskuk asks for any changes or additions to the agenda. Item j. Tribal Council Secretary is added and Rec Center is added (item l). Motion made by Troy Wanatee to approve the agenda with additions of Item J and I. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstained. Motion carried.

Adrian Pushetonequa entered the meeting at 5:10 p.m.

  1. Minutes – April 19, 2018 and May 2, 2018. Adrian Pushetonequa states that a phrase requires correcting: on Page 2, letter e., Strike “the tribe to” in the phrase “This grant would the tribe to promote.” In the same sentence, correct the word “allow” to “allowing.” Motion made by Delonda Pushetonequa to approve the minutes for April 19, 2018 and May 2, 2018. seconded by Jarvis Bear. Vote: 5 yes, 0 Motion carried.
  2. Reports – none
  3. Old Business
    1. Iowa Commission on Native American Affairs – Letter of tribal member interest; Recommendation for Appointment. One seat on the commission has been open for a while. The tribal can make a recommendation for the seat to be occupied by a member of the tribe. One of the current volunteers interested, Daniel Wabaunasee resides in Toledo and therefore is not eligible. Discussion on whether to re-advertise to the Meskwaki community one more time. Motion by made by Harvey Davenport, Jr. to recommend Robin Kapayou. Name error was made. Harvey rescinds his motion. Motion by Jarvis Bear to recommend Anthony Waseskuk for the Iowa Commission on Native American Affairs. Seconded by Harvey Davenport, Sr. Vote:  5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
  4. New Business
    1. Tribal / Community Member Requests
      1. Hilda Young Bear – Housing Request. Hilda Young Bear presents a request to be considered eligible for tribal housing. She discusses the situation regarding her house fire 15 years ago and her current living situation. She also details concerns she has about surveillance there and the implications they made regarding her visitors. Anthony Waseskuk states that the Tribal Council is currently waiting for the Housing Committee Policies and Procedures to be updated before proceeding with anything regarding Housing assignments. Jarvis Bear states we are not declining the request, but we would like to receive updated Housing Policies and Procedures first. No motion required.
  5. Stevie Young Bear – Housing Request – Stevie Young Bear approaches the Council and states he is here to request a house. He has applied to Housing this year, and also in the past. He describes the cases of lost applications over the past 2 years. Anthony Waseskuk states that like the last request before him we should wait until Policies and Procedures are ready and the Policies are a priority right now. Anthony states we are all in the mind of trying to help the people. We do realize there is a housing shortage. Jarvis Bear states that the Tribal Council needs to just give attention to the Policies and it is time to move on it. Delonda Pushetonequa states that we don’t know the exact status of the most recent activity. Jay Finch will pull all the most recent revision suggestions and Property Code revision. Jay suggests a Housing Policy retreat for three days or so for the Council to focus on the Policies. No motion required.
  • Graduation Pow-Wow Committee – Leah Slick-Driscoll. Leah Slick-Driscoll is unable to be in person at the meeting due to helping family with moving at college out of state, but she was able to message the pertinent information to Council. The Powwow is on the 26th but the next tentative council meeting is on the 23rd. Copies of her submission and dollar amount was also received. She states the Meskwaki Graduation Powwow Committee is asking for $2,500 and they raised $3,218 so far. They need $5,700 total. Motion by Jarvis Bear to approve a donation of $3,000 to the Graduation Powwow Committee. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
  1. Election Committee Recommendations for Appointment – Christina Blackcloud reports there are two vacancies on the Election committee. In addition, at yesterday’s special election, they collected three more volunteer names of interested people. Anneka Davenport and Mylene Wanatee are recommended for a 7-year term. Christina is also recommending an increase in pay to create more of an incentive. Current is $125 for Election days, for $25 Nomination Meetings. She recommends an increase to $100 per monthly meeting and $250 for election days which is a 14-hour day, and $100 for unforeseen meetings such as special elections and a referendum vote. Christina suggests that should an employee of the Tribe be on the committee, they should be granted Admin leave and still receive the stipend because by requiring Annual leave there is less incentive to be on the committee. The Committee requires much time and attention to various issues such as an update to the Code. Just 2-3 people show when a meeting is called and we need to increase incentive and participation. Motion by Delonda Pushetonequa to appoint Anneka Kapayou and Mylene Wanatee to the Election Committee. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstained. Motion carried.
  2. General Meeting – Waiver for Banned Tribal Members. The Tribal Council would like to issue a temporary general blanket waiver that will allow tribal members currently banned from Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel to enter the premises during the General Meeting. In the past, the banned members were allowed in the Convention Center only and could enter the back door only. Jay Finch will write up the notice to the casino and it will include restrictions such as no entering the gaming floor, and just between5pm-10pm. Motion by Harvey Davenport, Jr. to temporarily waive tribal member bans at Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel to allow banned members to attend the General Meeting on May 16, 2018, with the waiver limited to the Convention Center area only, from 5:00pm to 10:00pm on that day. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
  3. MBCH – Hotel Renovation Project – North Tower 1 Approval. Dirk Whitebreast, General Manager, Non-Gaming, presents the Tribal Council Resolution to amend Section 1.19 of the Gaming Commission Rules & Regulations. In the regulations, if there’s a change order pursuant to a master contract we have, it still has to be approved by the Gaming Commission. The amendment will require change orders to be rejected by the Gaming Commission within 48 hours or else become an automatic change; currently there is no time limit. This update will limit how long the approvals or rejections will take going forward once these become more frequent. The process needs to be put on a time limit because currently it costs the tribe money due to the wait. The lack of time limit is partly the reason for construction delays. Motion by Jarvis Bear to pass Resolution 7-2018 Gaming Regulation 1.19 Amendment. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

Dirk Whitebreast, General Manager, Non-Gaming also presents a request for Tribal Council to approve a new Change Order for an updated ROM for the South Tower from $24,846,450.00 to $27,511,714.00. Motion by Delonda Pushetonequa to approve the change order for revised ROM of the South Tower from $24,846,450.00 to $27,511,714.00. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote:  5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Blue Stone Strategy Group – Additional Scope of Work: Assessment of Meskwaki, Inc.

Tribal Council recaps discussions at a previous work session: Blue Stone will look at Meskwaki, Inc. structure and efficiencies, etc. A motion will be needed to allow Blue Stone to do additional work beyond the original consultation. Through this additional work, they will charge hourly at first while they get an idea of how much more consultation they will do. Motion by Jarvis Bear to approve the additional Scope of Work to be conducted by Blue Stone Strategy Group, as discussed in a previous work session. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

Human Resources Director, Azadeh Tavakoli enters and requests an Executive Session. At 7:15 p.m. Jarvis Bear made the motion to enter into Executive Session. Harvey Davenport, Jr. seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

At 7:41 p.m. Jarvis Bear made the motion to come out of Executive Session. Harvey Davenport, Jr. seconded. Vote 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Executive Director Appointment

Motion by Jarvis Bear to hire Bessie Scott as Executive Director effective immediately. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes,  0 no. Motion carried.

Jarvis Bear made motion to hire Oliviah Walker as Deputy Executive Director effective July 2, 2018. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded the motion. 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Emergency Medical Service Program – Budget Approval

Jerod Pushetonequa presents the updated budget proposal to launch a Meskwaki EMS program. This covers equipment, supplies, jump packs, uniforms, and hardware/software to provide Emergency Medical Services to the Meskwaki community. Motion by Jarvis Bear to approve $60,000 for Meskwaki Nation Emergency Medical Services Program as detailed in the budget presented. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

Jarvis Bear makes a motion to appoint Rudy Papakee, Sr. As the administrator of the Emergency Medical Services program. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Attorney General – Attorney General was originally Item h. on the agenda, but was addressed in item 8. D.
  2. Tribal Council Travel – Delonda Pushetonequa explains that there are two conferences in one location, Anaheim, CA: A Native women’s leadership conference and an economic development conference back-to-back at the same location. Motion by Jarvis Bear to approve Delonda Pushetonequa and Bessie Scott’s travel on June 4-6, 2018 to Women’s Leadership and Economic Development Conference. Harvey Davenport, Jr. seconded. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstained. Motion carried.

Jarvis Bear, Anthony Waseskuk, and Adrian Pushetonequa are planning to go to DC to work with Mike Smith regarding budget cuts and 1948, on May 21-23, 2018. Harvey Davenport, Jr. makes motion to approve Jarvis Davenport and Adrian Pushetonequa’s travel to Washington, D.C. May 21-23, 2018. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 2 yes, 0 no, 2 abstain. Motion carried.

Troy Wanatee presents the training on July 9-11, 2018 at Mystic Lake, ‘How to Engage Communities’ workshop by the Indigenous Language Institute. All council members are encouraged to go. Discussion about making sure the school and language department are aware of this. Harvey Davenport makes a motion to approve any tribal council members interested in attending ILI’s How to “Engage Communities” workshop at Mystic Lake July 9-11, 2018. Seconded by Delonda Pushetonequa. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

Comptroller, Bill Thurman, states that David Burrell of Pinnacle Bank is trying to set up a meeting with Vanguard and Bill would like to relay who is going along, in order for David to complete the meeting set up. Harvey Davenport makes the motion to approve travel for Delonda Pushetonequa and Bill Thurman to Philadelphia, PA to go along with Pinnacle Bank to meet with Vanguard at a date to be determined. Seconded by Jarvis Bear. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstained. Motion carried.

  1. Tribal Council Secretary Appointment

Motion by Jarvis Bear to appoint Yolanda Pushetonequa as non-voting Tribal Council Secretary. Harvey Davenport seconded. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain. Motion carried.

  1. Meskwaki Settlement School Superintendent

Job will be posted after Superintendent is notified of today’s motion. Delonda Pushetonequa makes the motion not to renew the Superintendent contract for the Francine Hall, Superintendent for the next school year. Troy Wanatee seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Recreation Center

Motion by Harvey Davenport to appoint Rudy Papakee to coordinate a committee of tribal employees and two community members at large to explore planning options for a recreational center. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Adjourn

Motion made by Jarvis Bear to adjourn. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.