Sault Ste. Marie, Mi... The Sault Tribe is fortunate or unfortunate; however, you want to view it to have several Tom Delay's on the board. Mr. Delay met newcomers to Washington at the steps of the nation’s capital. He opened their car doors and if they needed a pack of cigarettes, he had it for them. If they needed a valet, there was someone available. If they needed help with anything at all, he was Johnny on the Spot.
Over the years, Mr. Delay became one of the most powerful men on the hill. His competitiveness and pay to play and fund raising activities made him one of the most sought after men in Washington.
Some tribal board members are like that: directors Abramson and Bouchor and Causley welcomed directors-elect Hollowell and Pine with open arms. They did everything they could to make them feel at home on the board. They ingratiated them to the point where they won their support on an issue of utmost importance to them... board secrecy. An issue that just happened to co-opt them and put them at odds with most of the membership and on another issue, ignoring the results of referendums, after which their having voted upon they were no longer representatives of the people, but…directors, belonging to the system.
Directors...not civil servants but corporate directors…who reviewed reams of information absorbing countless facts and who ultimately overlooked all the tribe's activities, both governmental and entrepreneurial. Who belonged to the ruling clique that controlled the board now, who were thus in a position to control legislation and peddle influence and strike fear into the hearts of those who defied them.
Suddenly these newly elected directors knew a great deal more about what was going on in the tribe than those who elected them. Having no one to answer to when they didn’t feel like it and with the tribal newsletter available to spout their views in, they now looked forward to the support of their counterparts at election time. Coached in the mechanics and strategies of retaining their newly won seats, having gained a position allowing them to dominate the very people who elected them, they had, so to speak, turned the tables.
Whoever would not play by their rules now, they would have very little to do with if anything at all. Members worked for them now, rather than the other way around. They were directors...conscriptions to a board culture and in doctrinaires to a system, who wouldn’t need the general membership again until the next elections…and then only for a short while.
Thank you, Charles Forgrave
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Quip Pro Quo vs. the New Constitution
Sault Ste. Marie, Mi...There's a feeling of foreboding in the air. Director Bouschor is trying for a comeback. He's trading on his success in beating the payout rap and the metals awarded him by hanger's-on and other, scratch my back I'll scratch yours' leaders in the community. Director Bouschor operated in the wings of the Payment Administration and successfully obstructed the implementation of the new tribal constitution. With the help of his henchmen on the board as well as those employed in various governmental departments, he successfully blocked reforms the Payment administration worked hard to put in place.
Director Bouschor resents Aaron Payment for turning on him after mentoring him for years. What's he missing here: Payment renounced his quid pro quo style of government. He decided there had to be something better and he went on to graduate school and earned a Master Degree in Public Administration. He studied governmental systems and learned things that his mentor didn't know.
Quip pro quo...it's when public officials, in a position to make a difference, peddle that influence to turn a dollar for themselves. In exchange for an order with a vendor, they ask him to pay part of his campaign expenses. If a construction firm wants to work for the tribe, they have to pony up. Lawyers have to divvy up for tribal business sent their way. Constituents have to blindly support them for putting their children to work or helping with financial aide for college or admission to a trade or business school.
Board members as well as constituents often point out that director Bouschor signed the contract for Greektown without lawyers or anybody else present...just him and the Greeks. Many believe he got a check in the mail every month as a result of that deal. Payment isn't quip pro quo. At a public meeting in the JKL Building several years ago, he attuned to his constituents for his mentoring by and his following in the ways of director Bouschor for several years.
Bouschor is out to restore his standing in the tribal community. He's out to make a name for himself again. He has no interest in the new constitution or in better government. He refers to those things as revolutionary. He sees himself as a tribal chief and tribal members as his subjects. He wants their blind support. With his imperialistic style of leadership, he dominates the very people he claims to work for. He's a failed businessman who has a desire to be a corporate leader. He's all about money.
Since the nineties the tribe hasn't seen one business success. Bouschor accrued all his medals in the monopolistic years of setting up tribal casino on trust land across the Upper Peninsula. With that market saturated, economic development in the tribal community stopped. Without the tax breaks of trust lands and a monopoly in the market place, the Bouschor people weren't able to compete. In the ensuing years since then the tribe has lost tens of millions of dollars: with some estimates being as low as $80,000,000.00 and others as high as $1,500,000,000.00.
All of the tribal slush funds (self-sufficiency funds) have been used up. The elders are told they have nothing to complain about because the tribe is paying them 12% on their land claims fund...which doesn't exist any more and once amounted to $29,000,000.00.
The trouble here is the question it raises: Is director Bouschor mentoring Chairman McCoy? It doesn't look good. Chairman McCoy broke his campaign promise to separate the chair and the CEO roles of tribal government. He's exercising the authority of tribal CEO despite last summer's referendum separating those two positions. Like with director Bouschor himself, this reflects the little respect he has for the will of the people. Even under the articles of the present tribal constitution he's clearly a rogue chairman.
There is an answer: it's in the articles of the new constitution. Quit selling your souls for a few dollars more. Pull your hand back and say no to a handout from tribal officials. Educate yourself and find your own job, be it with the tribe or elsewhere. The Bouschor Regime is the worst thing to ever happen to the tribe. It's corrupted the heads of many of our large familys and has establish corruption as the only way of doing the tribe's business.
Don't mistake or underestimate director Bouschor. He's the tribe's dapper don...a master manipulator and a behind the scenes operator. Nothing good will ultimately come from activities on the board.
Appreciate it: the Payment Administration, whether you liked it or supported it or not, called together a committee of community members and they, with the help of two constitutional lawyers, wrote a new constitution for the tribe. The answers are in it. Study it over. Support it.
All the tools for doing cleaning up government and changing the way it does business are in between the covers of that document.
Thank you,
Charles Forgrave
Director Bouschor resents Aaron Payment for turning on him after mentoring him for years. What's he missing here: Payment renounced his quid pro quo style of government. He decided there had to be something better and he went on to graduate school and earned a Master Degree in Public Administration. He studied governmental systems and learned things that his mentor didn't know.
Quip pro quo...it's when public officials, in a position to make a difference, peddle that influence to turn a dollar for themselves. In exchange for an order with a vendor, they ask him to pay part of his campaign expenses. If a construction firm wants to work for the tribe, they have to pony up. Lawyers have to divvy up for tribal business sent their way. Constituents have to blindly support them for putting their children to work or helping with financial aide for college or admission to a trade or business school.
Board members as well as constituents often point out that director Bouschor signed the contract for Greektown without lawyers or anybody else present...just him and the Greeks. Many believe he got a check in the mail every month as a result of that deal. Payment isn't quip pro quo. At a public meeting in the JKL Building several years ago, he attuned to his constituents for his mentoring by and his following in the ways of director Bouschor for several years.
Bouschor is out to restore his standing in the tribal community. He's out to make a name for himself again. He has no interest in the new constitution or in better government. He refers to those things as revolutionary. He sees himself as a tribal chief and tribal members as his subjects. He wants their blind support. With his imperialistic style of leadership, he dominates the very people he claims to work for. He's a failed businessman who has a desire to be a corporate leader. He's all about money.
Since the nineties the tribe hasn't seen one business success. Bouschor accrued all his medals in the monopolistic years of setting up tribal casino on trust land across the Upper Peninsula. With that market saturated, economic development in the tribal community stopped. Without the tax breaks of trust lands and a monopoly in the market place, the Bouschor people weren't able to compete. In the ensuing years since then the tribe has lost tens of millions of dollars: with some estimates being as low as $80,000,000.00 and others as high as $1,500,000,000.00.
All of the tribal slush funds (self-sufficiency funds) have been used up. The elders are told they have nothing to complain about because the tribe is paying them 12% on their land claims fund...which doesn't exist any more and once amounted to $29,000,000.00.
The trouble here is the question it raises: Is director Bouschor mentoring Chairman McCoy? It doesn't look good. Chairman McCoy broke his campaign promise to separate the chair and the CEO roles of tribal government. He's exercising the authority of tribal CEO despite last summer's referendum separating those two positions. Like with director Bouschor himself, this reflects the little respect he has for the will of the people. Even under the articles of the present tribal constitution he's clearly a rogue chairman.
There is an answer: it's in the articles of the new constitution. Quit selling your souls for a few dollars more. Pull your hand back and say no to a handout from tribal officials. Educate yourself and find your own job, be it with the tribe or elsewhere. The Bouschor Regime is the worst thing to ever happen to the tribe. It's corrupted the heads of many of our large familys and has establish corruption as the only way of doing the tribe's business.
Don't mistake or underestimate director Bouschor. He's the tribe's dapper don...a master manipulator and a behind the scenes operator. Nothing good will ultimately come from activities on the board.
Appreciate it: the Payment Administration, whether you liked it or supported it or not, called together a committee of community members and they, with the help of two constitutional lawyers, wrote a new constitution for the tribe. The answers are in it. Study it over. Support it.
All the tools for doing cleaning up government and changing the way it does business are in between the covers of that document.
Thank you,
Charles Forgrave
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Your Right to Vote is in Their Pockets
Elections during the past thirty years have been plagued by ballots missing through the U.S. mail and ballots mysteriously appearing in the counting room. Each time, it benefited the Bouschor Machine in one way or another. It isn't a coincidence that the Election Committee has been chaired by a "core family" member. In some cases, entire families are denied their right to vote through a snafu with the mail or a software problem.. wink.. wink.
Despite the fact that they have received their ballots for twelve elections prior, individuals who were clearly opposing the Bouschor menace failed to receive their ballot during critical elections that could have change the balance of power. Each time that they inquired about their voter registration, they were told everything is fine. They were told that they should have received their ballot.
So, what can you do about it?
Filing charges against the Election Committee Chairman for negligence, and incompetence will not get you your vote. All you will get from Abramson, Causley, McCoy, Pine or Bouschor ....is ..."We really know that it is a problem. We are addressing the issue,".....what they are really saying , is...."So What?"
It will take great effort to unseat the mafia.
Desire, money, time and a coordinated effort is required here....to get your vote back.
RJ
Despite the fact that they have received their ballots for twelve elections prior, individuals who were clearly opposing the Bouschor menace failed to receive their ballot during critical elections that could have change the balance of power. Each time that they inquired about their voter registration, they were told everything is fine. They were told that they should have received their ballot.
So, what can you do about it?
Filing charges against the Election Committee Chairman for negligence, and incompetence will not get you your vote. All you will get from Abramson, Causley, McCoy, Pine or Bouschor ....is ..."We really know that it is a problem. We are addressing the issue,".....what they are really saying , is...."So What?"
It will take great effort to unseat the mafia.
Desire, money, time and a coordinated effort is required here....to get your vote back.
RJ
Monday, April 11, 2011
A Symbol of the Need to Control
Sault Ste. Marie, Mi...It's eighty miles from the Soo to Whitefish Point. Still, both of these communities are in unit one.
Unit one takes in the Soo area as far out as Kinross. Then it snakes westward becoming a narrow strip of land taking in all of the small communities along the shore.
It's as extreme example of Gerrymandering; done by the politicians of the Soo to beef up the number of directors in their area to give them more clout on the board.
Thus the snide reference to the Sault Tribe as the Sault Saint Marie Tribe of Unit One Indians. Of the the thirteen directors on the board, the Soo has five of them.
What do the people of Whitefish Point have in common with the people of the Soo? Not as much as they have in common with the people of Newberry...or even Munising. Still, they're not in either of those units.
As much as anything else, this disproportioned claim to the voting membership is a symbol of the deeper problems plaguing tribal government. Where simple fairness should rule how the tribe does the people's business, power and the need to control rule it instead.
Thank you, Charles Forgrave
Unit one takes in the Soo area as far out as Kinross. Then it snakes westward becoming a narrow strip of land taking in all of the small communities along the shore.
It's as extreme example of Gerrymandering; done by the politicians of the Soo to beef up the number of directors in their area to give them more clout on the board.
Thus the snide reference to the Sault Tribe as the Sault Saint Marie Tribe of Unit One Indians. Of the the thirteen directors on the board, the Soo has five of them.
What do the people of Whitefish Point have in common with the people of the Soo? Not as much as they have in common with the people of Newberry...or even Munising. Still, they're not in either of those units.
As much as anything else, this disproportioned claim to the voting membership is a symbol of the deeper problems plaguing tribal government. Where simple fairness should rule how the tribe does the people's business, power and the need to control rule it instead.
Thank you, Charles Forgrave
Monday, April 4, 2011
WHY YOU VOTED NO TO ROMULUS
Most Sault tribe citizens would love to see their tribe move forward into new revenue-producing deals with reputable business partners. We don't criticize or push for a voice just for lack of something better to do. Wouldn't anyone with a shred of common sense be very careful of who they trusted with their major sources of revenue?
It's obvious that the tribal members have more common sense than those on the Sault Tribe board who tried to push the same old fishy deals with the same old fishy dealers from the past. We remember the names of those we prefer not to do business with but why doesn't Bernard Bouschor, Lana Causley, Joe McCoy, Debra Pine, Pat Rickley, Keith Massaway, Catherine Hollowell and Cathy Abramson remember?
Here's a reminder of why you voted NO to doing business with Ted Gatzaros:
According to an article by David Ashenfelter,Detroit Free Press Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (Feb. 2003),a federal prosecutor said in court papers that Ted Gatzaros and Jim Papas were accused of conspiring with a Maryland businessman to swindle the federal government in a multimillion-dollar loan scheme.
The government alleged that Gatzaros and Papas defaulted on loans in the early 1990s, then paid a Maryland businessman, William Schainker, to illegally acquire the defaulted loans at a large discounted price, at a federal auction. The government also said that Schainker transferred the notes to Gatzaros and Papas, and that the plan was designed to clean up Gatzaros' and Papas' financial problems.
Lawyers for Ted Gatzaros & Jim Papas responded to the U.S. Justice Department that both were victims of a fraudulent scheme and were not involved in any criminal or improper conduct.
But also in Feb. 2003, a news article stated that William Schainker, of Chevy Chase, Md. who was accused of illegally helping Gatzaros and Papas buy back defaulted loans at a large discount, pleaded guilty in federal court. As part of a plea deal, Schainker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Why, why, why would an elected board decide to do business with those who were involved in an attempt to defraud the federal government? Most of the above mentioned directors also protected the former police chief, Fred Paquin, who is now serving a year in federal prison for defrauding the federal government.
We voted NO, but the eight Sault Tribe representatives simply switched out the names, mixed it up a little bit hoping to confuse you, repackaged it, named it a horse of a different color, and continued to move forward with their plan.
The lack of trust is not just with Gatzaros, Pappas or the new guy Sawruk, but with the same old Sault Tribe elected officials who continue to involve us in the same old questionable deals over and over and over again. Bouschor, McCoy and Causley...always seem to be in cohoots with the wrong people. Just more examples of that 'Birds of a Feather' proverb. They just can't be trusted to do the right thing. They are why we voted NO.
Lynne Weaver
It's obvious that the tribal members have more common sense than those on the Sault Tribe board who tried to push the same old fishy deals with the same old fishy dealers from the past. We remember the names of those we prefer not to do business with but why doesn't Bernard Bouschor, Lana Causley, Joe McCoy, Debra Pine, Pat Rickley, Keith Massaway, Catherine Hollowell and Cathy Abramson remember?
Here's a reminder of why you voted NO to doing business with Ted Gatzaros:
According to an article by David Ashenfelter,Detroit Free Press Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (Feb. 2003),a federal prosecutor said in court papers that Ted Gatzaros and Jim Papas were accused of conspiring with a Maryland businessman to swindle the federal government in a multimillion-dollar loan scheme.
The government alleged that Gatzaros and Papas defaulted on loans in the early 1990s, then paid a Maryland businessman, William Schainker, to illegally acquire the defaulted loans at a large discounted price, at a federal auction. The government also said that Schainker transferred the notes to Gatzaros and Papas, and that the plan was designed to clean up Gatzaros' and Papas' financial problems.
Lawyers for Ted Gatzaros & Jim Papas responded to the U.S. Justice Department that both were victims of a fraudulent scheme and were not involved in any criminal or improper conduct.
But also in Feb. 2003, a news article stated that William Schainker, of Chevy Chase, Md. who was accused of illegally helping Gatzaros and Papas buy back defaulted loans at a large discount, pleaded guilty in federal court. As part of a plea deal, Schainker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Why, why, why would an elected board decide to do business with those who were involved in an attempt to defraud the federal government? Most of the above mentioned directors also protected the former police chief, Fred Paquin, who is now serving a year in federal prison for defrauding the federal government.
We voted NO, but the eight Sault Tribe representatives simply switched out the names, mixed it up a little bit hoping to confuse you, repackaged it, named it a horse of a different color, and continued to move forward with their plan.
The lack of trust is not just with Gatzaros, Pappas or the new guy Sawruk, but with the same old Sault Tribe elected officials who continue to involve us in the same old questionable deals over and over and over again. Bouschor, McCoy and Causley...always seem to be in cohoots with the wrong people. Just more examples of that 'Birds of a Feather' proverb. They just can't be trusted to do the right thing. They are why we voted NO.
Lynne Weaver
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Needed Referendum Reforms
Sault Ste. Marie, Mi...Director Miller of unit 4 has it right about needed referendum reforms.
Mr. Miller believes the tribe needs a rule in place that prohibits payments ...like those to Indian Energy and Fred Paquinn and Bernard Boushor...before the possible 30-day referendum period expires.
In the case of Indian Energy, the tribe stood to lose a million dollars if that investment proposal was voted down, in that a million dollars was already invested into the company before the referendum period expired.
In the case of Fred Paquinn and Bernard Boushor, $18,000.00 and $300,000.00 plus respectively was paid out before the referendum period expired.
As director Miller explained...otherwise the referendum process and the right of the membership can be circumvented or at the very least, rendered powerless.
Take note of this directors McCoy and Pine...you're the ones who've been playing Russian roulette with the membership's money...not the tribal members themselves. $20,000.00 for a referendum is peanuts compared to the money you have wasted and put at risk.
Mr. Miller believes the tribe needs a rule in place that prohibits payments ...like those to Indian Energy and Fred Paquinn and Bernard Boushor...before the possible 30-day referendum period expires.
In the case of Indian Energy, the tribe stood to lose a million dollars if that investment proposal was voted down, in that a million dollars was already invested into the company before the referendum period expired.
In the case of Fred Paquinn and Bernard Boushor, $18,000.00 and $300,000.00 plus respectively was paid out before the referendum period expired.
As director Miller explained...otherwise the referendum process and the right of the membership can be circumvented or at the very least, rendered powerless.
Take note of this directors McCoy and Pine...you're the ones who've been playing Russian roulette with the membership's money...not the tribal members themselves. $20,000.00 for a referendum is peanuts compared to the money you have wasted and put at risk.
Tribal Citizens / No Faith in Their Government
Sault Ste. Marie, Mi...Years ago the huge country of China was ruled by the 'gang of four." It was during the Chinese cultural revolution and the Maoist were on the tear.
The Sault Tribe doesn't have a group on the tear, but it does have a 'gang of six' or seven ruling it. It is one of the frustrating realities of its government and how it works...or doesn't work, whatever the case may be.
Seven directors, usually four or five from the Sault (unit one), and two or three from the outer units (Hessel and St. Ignace), join together and trade favors and rule by way of a simple majority. Just as often as not, the remaining five or six directors are left out in the cold...excluded from having access to insider information.
In that 'the gang' gets away with blatantly ignoring the constitution and referendums and in that it controls the judiciary and the election committee and the tribal newspaper and its websites and radio programs and the hiring and firing of everybody and everything else...citizens are left with is a government which dominates them.
A government that serves itself first and those it purportedly represents second. A government which refuses to police itself and allows blatant corruption to continue unchecked. That allows directors to break tribal election laws and steal money from it and get away with it. To routinely break their oath of office to the point where the oath doesn't mean a thing anymore...to get off with it completely and without even the slightest of consequences.
The situation is so dire that citizens are lucky to experience democracy even once every four years...as even the election process itself is so corrupt that many creditable individuals have absolutely no faith in it
Thank you, Charles Forgrave
The Sault Tribe doesn't have a group on the tear, but it does have a 'gang of six' or seven ruling it. It is one of the frustrating realities of its government and how it works...or doesn't work, whatever the case may be.
Seven directors, usually four or five from the Sault (unit one), and two or three from the outer units (Hessel and St. Ignace), join together and trade favors and rule by way of a simple majority. Just as often as not, the remaining five or six directors are left out in the cold...excluded from having access to insider information.
In that 'the gang' gets away with blatantly ignoring the constitution and referendums and in that it controls the judiciary and the election committee and the tribal newspaper and its websites and radio programs and the hiring and firing of everybody and everything else...citizens are left with is a government which dominates them.
A government that serves itself first and those it purportedly represents second. A government which refuses to police itself and allows blatant corruption to continue unchecked. That allows directors to break tribal election laws and steal money from it and get away with it. To routinely break their oath of office to the point where the oath doesn't mean a thing anymore...to get off with it completely and without even the slightest of consequences.
The situation is so dire that citizens are lucky to experience democracy even once every four years...as even the election process itself is so corrupt that many creditable individuals have absolutely no faith in it
Thank you, Charles Forgrave
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