RHETORIC or INSANITY

2010 SAULT TRIBE ELECTION and INCUMBENTS...TAKE YOUR PICK: RHETORIC or INSANITY

Sault Ste. Marie,Mi...Which is it..a loan or a surplus. A letter has recently come to light addressed to the board and sent by the tribe's chief financial officer. In it, the officer answers board questions about the status of a $5,000,000.00 loan from a local bank, taken out in 2008 to balance the budget.

The financial officer points out that the tribe has made a good faith payment of $500,000.00 plus dollars this year and is negotiating with the bank to extend the loan for another six months. The elders lands' claim money was put up as collateral when the bank rejected a land proposal.

Here we are in 2010, and now this same board is boasting in the tribal newsletter about a projected $5,000.000.00 budget surplus for this year. Is there some deceptive rhetoric going on here..there obviously is. At the very least, it's very imaginative accounting.

The likelihood is that the board is playing politics. After all, this rogue board has always had an image problem and it is an election year.

Thank you, Charles Forgrave
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Deceptive rhetoric is what we have been getting for the last couple of years. It's time tribal members stopped accepting what the incumbents continue to feed us. We've seen what happens when the Board of Directors is complacent because they are unchallenged. They know that as incumbents, they don't need to try very hard to be reelected.

Albert Einstein said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Are we insane voting the same old non-productive board back to perform the same old non-productive nothings? Can you make a great sandwich from a loaf of stale bread? Before you decide to vote for the same old nothings ask them for a resume of all their actual accomplishments that brought real benefits to the tribe. Don't accept what they would like to do or what they voted to do or not to do, but what actions they took personally that actually benefited you as an individual or proved to be real tangible benefits for the entire tribe. The truth may surprise you.

Lynne Weaver