Meet The Candidates a Great Event

Meet the Candidates in Snowbird last Friday night was a great event. All candidates for office were in attendance with the exception of Angie Kephart. The five of us who were there, myself, Diamond Brown, Carroll Ray Lambert, Adam Wachacha and Billy Brown, all conducted ourselves like gentlemen. There was no mudslinging, just efforts to convince voters why they should cast ballots for them. I wish to express my appreciation to the Snowbird Community Club for giving the candidates the time to speak.
On the same note, the Cherokee County Community club also has my appreciation for giving us time to address members of the Cherokee County community at a time when all of the candidates were in attendance.

Meet the Candidates in Snowbird, Friday at 6 p.m.

The Snowbird Community Club is hosting a Meet the Candidates event at the Snowbird Community Building at 6 p.m. Friday. All candidates for Snowbird/Cherokee County are encouraged to attend.
Voters and concerned tribal members residing and registered in those communities are also encouraged to attend.

Remember Our Veterans

The freedoms we have as American citizens are all due to the sacrifices by American service men and women. Members of this tribe have served in defense of the United States back before American Indians were considered citizens.
Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, freedom from illegal search and seizure and protection against double jeopardy are all because brave men and women risked their lives in protection of the ideals that make democracy great.
I express my gratitude to our armed services, and know that your sacrifices are not in vain.

The Tribal Supreme Court and Rob Saunooke

Rob Saunooke, pictured in the center on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, can argue cases in that same court. Yet the tribe's Attorney General Annette Tarnawski is trying to argue that he isn't fit to argue cases in the Tribal Court, and the tribal Supreme Court is actually giving her baseless case credence. Two judges in the lower court based a decision on precedents set by North Carolina courts and ruled that the law passed by Council couldn't apply retroactively to Saunooke.
Rob Saunooke has represented me, and he's represented me well. I have no complaints about his competence nor his professionalism. I congratulate Saunooke on his achievement, even if his representatives in tribal government want to stand in his way.
The actions being taken against Saunooke smack of ex post facto, which is prohibited in the U.S. Constitution. In fact it's even prohibited in Iran's constitution. It should also be prohibited in any tribal consitution or governing document.

Tribe Approves Wal-Mart

Tribal Council approved a lease for Wal-Mart to be located on Hospital Road in Cherokee. I'm opposed to this plan for two big reasons.
The first is that the tribe is building their store. I'm opposed to tribal money being used in any way for what should be private enterprise developments. Wal-Mart is one of the world's top retailers, if not the world's top retailer. Why in the world should tribal money be used to build a store for this corporation?
The other is Wal-Mart's effect on local economies. It destroys them. While the chief mentions that there aren't a lot of mom and pop stores in Cherokee that could be effected, the tribe could well find itself in the same situation as the city of Clyde. Wal-Mart decided they needed to expand, which meant a whole new store built. However Wal-Mart tends to keep their leases, at least for a while, on the old locations, preventing new businesses from locating in them. The city of Clyde is left with a giant empty store where Wal-Mart was. The same could well happen to Cherokee. Even in situations where other businesses can locate to old Wal-Mart locations, those typically end up being terrible locations, as when Wal-Mart left, the businesses connected to them typically fail. What happened in Murphy is a prime example.
A protest should be filed and Council should uphold that protest for these reasons.

Voters Can Vote for Two

While on the campaign trail, some of my meetings with various voters in Cherokee County and Snowbird revealed to me that some are under the impression they can only vote for one candidate. I wish to remind all voters that they can vote for two candidates.
Get informed. Learn what you can about all of the candidates, and cast your ballot for who you feel best fits what you think is best for the tribe. Above all else, vote. You can vote for two.

Economy and the Minors Fund

At the last Cherokee County Community Club meeting, Principal Chief Michell Hicks made the statement that he felt as though we'd found the bottom of this economic slump. I hope he's right. However, President Obama has wisely stated that we're not out of the woods yet.
Optimism is fine, but it needs to be tempered with reality and caution. Yes there are positive signs that could be forecasting a turnaround, but there still are plenty of negative aspects to the economy as well.
Some positives - the tribe hasn't laid anyone off yet. The casino so far is still making profits to the point where tribal members can get per capita payments from it.
Negatives - casino revenue obviously has been down, and the casino has had layoffs. Hotel occupancy has been down, and Cherokee's surrounding attractions have shown decreasing visitation. Decreases in visitation and hotel occupancy mean decreases in tribal revenue.
Even in good times, there still exists a need to protect the tribe's assets and the children's assets as well. The fact that many adults, myself included, lost their own money due to the market conditions is hardly comforting. Nor is it consolation to say, "The kids were just going to blow it when they turn 18." At least it was theirs to blow, and at 18 they had a choice in the matter. The losses to the minors was put upon them through no fault of theirs, and they had no choice.
There's nothing wrong with diversifying investments to grow the kids' per capita disbursements, even if it included stocks. However, as it is with many retirement plans, account holders have the option to change their investment strategy in a manner that protects the interest added to the principal (some kids did lose principal in contrast to the political rhetoric produced by the status quo) as the account holders get closer to withdrawal age. The kids are entitled to interest grown on their accounts just as much as the principal. And in contrast to the opinion that there was no way to avoid these losses, there was. Just ask Donald Rose, an accomplished businessman who actually made money from his investments last year.
There are going to be ups and downs in the economy. While it's fine to maximize growth in assets for the tribe during good times, the assets built in those times need protection during the bad times. Sound financial planning will be crucial for the future of the tribe.