WHO TO BLAME

By Tom Biron
Our tribal members can step in and take over the tribal management very easily with a little help. The disaster we now face is the fault of our past and present leadership and they will not accept responsibility so we are left to waiting until they are exposed by outside sources. The federal government should have stepped in by now but they are no better at managing our resources than their/our tribal managers (our board) so we tribal community members are left on our own to deal with these matters. If we let it go any further we will be locked into another 20 year (minimum)cycle of pay and pay more to many of the same players we have made very rich over the last 20 years.

The formula for success is in our hands, not the current leadership. They have only a formula for failure and more failure until all is lost. It is plain to see. The history is well documented and the failures are such that even the outside world is discussing our losses.

The telling of this tale is that our own leaders are not telling us what they have planned for all of this as a closing strategy but believe me they are in negotiations with many of the same people who we now make payments to who will take the debt for certain returns and payments for a certain amount of time etc and so on.

The new deal being developed right now is the same as ever because our tribal leaders are the same. They know no difference and the outside world is openly discussing their lack of expertise in these matters.

Because the courts required them to hire experts does not mean they hired the best experts with our tribes best interests in mind. In fact, the interests of our debtors appear to be the only ones being acted upon while our tribal leaders wait until the bloodletting process is over. Then, when they no longer can do anything because it is all gone, they will return to our community and announce their intentions to rebuild our local tribal economy (the upper peninsula Casinos) which they all but destroyed as they lost eveything we sent downstate because of foolish deals and stupid acts of egotism and arrogance.

More needs to be said and our tribal members need to call them on the carpet and demand they tell us what is happening right now in the Greektown fiasco. Tribal citizens need to know how much we have lost and what is being planned to retire our debt, or carry it on in others forms with other companies who will pick it up and we will then pay them. We need to know the details of all of this now before it happens. If it has already happened then we need to know that with details of who made the deals and when and where and how the decision was made to enter into the new arrangements. All of the information should be published in our tribal paper each month as the details of this disaster are revealed.

One thing that must be avoided at all costs is leveraging our local tribal Casinos in such a way that they become the payors for the Greektown debt. That cannot happen or we are screwed. We will never recover from that arrangment even if they say it is the only way out. That can be avoided if we know about it and fire the idiots who are negotiating us towards that sort of arrangment. We need to get out now and get out completely. No more debt can be incurred from Greektown. It was a stupid idea to begin with which has been proven to be the worst development plan ever for this tribe and we all know who led us there. If we do not act to get rid of them now they will keep us locked up down there for as long as we can make some sort of payments but this outcome negates any potential for investing in our own local communities and we will never recover from this disaster. Cooler heads will soon prevail. The outcome is clear to me. We have lost everything and unless we end it now someone else will take it over and do it for us. The proverbial writing is on the wall.

One thing the Detroit news did was announce the end of this era of weak tribal leadership. Others can see what is going on and it is costing them too so intervention is underway. We can see it clearly even if our own tribal leaders cannot accept it or manage it in such a away that our tribe survives this ordeal. One important step to take towards survival is an open meeting to share the details of our disaster, to tell us what is going to happen to us and our families because of the Greektown fiasco. If the tribal board does not do this it is because they are too corrupt to do it and someone else will be assigned to tell us what is going on as it is required by law.

I am saddened by these facts because I know many of the board membrs and they seemed like caring people at earlier dates in their careers but once they entered into the board positions they became dishonest and weak, frightened of what they were elected to deal with as tribal representatives. I can only advise all of the board members to try and seek help with their fears so that they can reach out to the tribal membership in this time of need when all of our hopes are diminished by this disaster.

Disaster situations are extremely difficult for tribal community members people to deal with, especially those who had hopes and dreams pinned to the promises made by tribal leaders relevant to the Greektown flagship that was going to provide income and resources in volumes that would answer all of our economic woes.

Not too long ago local tribes had 50% or more unemployment and lived in impoverished environments that gave rise to alcoholism and suicide at alarming rates. Several successful tribes paid their members per capita which ended these problems quickly and without delay for many but our tribe did not share the profits with tribal members because they elected to invest in Greektown because it would bring us self sufficiency. Be careful of these words - self sufficiency. They imply failure because they imply our resources will be kept from us so that these fools can keep on paying their friends who live in other places. We cannot ignore the facts of their previous decisions related to "self sufficiency" nor allow our elected leaders to ignore or avoid the reality of the fragilities that could be exacerbated by the Greektown disaster and how it is affecting our own tribal community health and welfare.

We are in a critical moment of tribal history and these guys are still selling us out for all they can get, the same as they always have. The proof is in the Greektown disaster and its history of debt incurred for losing agreements which are slowly being revealed in the current negotiations. We need all of the details of these negotiations so that we can stop them. If we wait any longer it will be too late once again and we will be stuck with this situation for another generation or more. We owe it to our grandchildren to end it now.