Kosey returns to BOT Continued from page 1A
to reinstate Kosey. After the hearing Kosey said she was overwhelmed. “I’m excited to get back to work. I just want to finish out my term without problems,” she said. “I’m anticipating business on the board to be peaceful for the next two months.” A press release from the Board of Trustees to local media Oct. 2 said their regular duties will resume uninterrupted with Kosey back in her seat. The release also states: “The Court’s restoration of Kosey to the Board is consistent with the General Council motion to reinstate her. All sitting trustees are members of the General Council and thus have not supported any motions or resolutions that would negate the authority of the governing body. The Board has always been mindful of the General Council’s constitutional authority to elect the Board of Trustees, and will respect their decisions regarding the 2019 elections. On September 6, 2019 the Board approved Resolution 19-057 to direct the Tribal Election Commission to schedule a Special Election for the CTUIR membership to vote on a Constitutional Amendment to Article VI, Section 2 to read as follows: ‘No member shall be qualified to act as a member of the Board of Trustees who is a non-resident of the Umatilla Indian Reservation as defined in Article 1 of the Treaty of 1855.’ That Special Election will be conducted by the Election Commission in accordance to the Constitutional notice requirements. “ The BOT release said further decisions made by the court between now and Oct. 15 will determine the ultimate status of Kosey’s position on the Board. “Regardless of those proceedings, the Board of Trustees will continue to fulfill their duties as elected officials in the weeks to come.” Nash called it a “weighty” issue worthy of more debate and set a Oct. 15 hearing. Nash is hoping the two sides can work out an agreement so that Kosey can stay in office through the Nov. 12 election or even through the December swearing-in date. At the hearing, Dreveskracht said Kosey would be agreeable to the extension. CTUIR Executive Director Ted Wright said Oct. 2 that the two sides are trying to work toward such an agreement. Kosey is running for BOT Secretary. It remains to be seen what will happen if she wins and if her residency is called into question again. At that point, win or lose, the point of her lawsuit may be moot, Nash said. In the event an agreement isn’t worked out and the Oct. 15 hearing does take place, Kosey’s brief is to be delivered to Tribal Court by Oct. 7. The BOT’s response is supposed to follow by Oct. 11. Elected as an at-large BOT member in November of 2017, Kosey was removed by fellow BOT members 20 months later on Aug. 5, 2019. The BOT based their decision on election codes amended in November of 2018 that changed residency requirements for eligibility to
‘When was she not eligible? She was eligible until the law was changed. They changed the law to make her not eligible. They made it retroactive. That’s the problem.’ Ryan Dreveskracht, Sally Kosey’s attorney serve on the policy-making board. The key change to the residency requirement was the adoption of a diminished boundary to define the Umatilla Indian Reservation for purposes of elections. Prior to amendments, the boundary was “defined by the Treaty of 1855.” Dreveskracht argued that seven of the eight remaining BOT members “conspired” to rid themselves of Kosey, who they didn’t agree with politically, by enacting laws and then applying them retroactively. Dreveskracht told the Court that the BOT applied the amended election code retroactively “for no other reason than to get her off the board.” Nash said he made his decision in Kosey’s favor based on multiple reasons. He said he was “influenced” by the BOT’s application of the code retroactively. He said the BOT did not give Kosey proper and adequate notice that they were deliberating about her removal. And he said he was “informed” by the BOT’s lack of action with regards to two motions “passed nearly unanimously” by the General Council to reinstate Kosey to her Board position and to amend the Constitution to define the boundaries of the reservation using the 1855 Treaty. Kosey said after the hearing that she thinks Judge Nash was not happy that the Board ignored the General Council. “They (BOT) went against the General Council’s wishes,” Kosey said. “He didn’t like that. Why aren’t you listening to the people?” Dreveskracht, also after the hearing, agreed with Kosey, saying the “Board tried to pull the rug out from under the people and the democratic process.” Nash questioned Stacy about the BOT’s response to the General Council motions. “Was it the Board’s intent not to act on that?” Nash asked. “There was no Board response to the General Council for reinstatement,” Stacy replied. Nash asked, “Doesn’t the organizational chart show the General Council above the Board?” Stacy said it does, but she noted that the Constitution gives authority to the Board to govern and members of the General Council are not elected officials.
Dreveskracht, in his filed complaint and in his oral argument, hammered home the point that the Board conspired to push Kosey off the board, and the chronology of the events leading up to her removal was not debated. “Ms. Kosey was sworn into office and then the Board changed the rules in the middle of the game,” Dreveskracht said. “She met all the requirements when she ran and then they came up with new rules that impaired her privilege to serve. That’s the definition of retroactive application.” Dreveskracht said the Election Code was amended specifically to remove Kosey. “They’d already made up their minds,” he said. Dreveskracht also told the Court that the Board’s decision to give itself “sole authority” should be “troubling” because it “conflicts with the constitutional power of the General Council.” Nowhere in the Constitution, he said, does the BOT have the authority to remove a Board member. “The only place that’s mentioned in the Constitution is vested in the General Council,” Dreveskracht said, suggesting the “law was changed haphazardly.” Stacy argued that the residency requirement in the 1949 Constitution has never changed. Only the Election Code has been amended. She said the Board expects that its elected leaders gain the expertise they need from living on the reservation and abiding by their own laws. In her response to Kosey’s complaint, Stacy quotes BOT Chair Gary Burke saying, “If you want to lead your people, then you have to live among them.” Stacy said the Board’s decision to amend the Election Code’s residency requirement was not arbitrary, but instead was made to “align with the constitution.” She said the Election Code is applied equally across the board to all members who are required to be a resident. Stacy noted that the Board did not allege that Kosey had misbehaved. Further, it did not hide the issue. There was extensive debate and several work sessions devoted to the issue. Kosey, in fact, voted against the Election Code amendment. “When she knew about the eligibility,” Stacy said, “she had nine months to do something about it … She was not barred from becoming eligible, but right now she has decided not to.” When he rebutted Stacy, Dreveskracht zeroed in on what he said is the problem. “I keep hearing ‘Kosey wasn’t eligible. Our hands were tied.’ When was she not eligible? She was eligible until the law was changed. They changed the law to make her not eligible. They made it retroactive. That’s the problem. Is there a compelling reason to retroactively apply it? No, there isn’t. There’s no been no reason articulated to apply it retroactively. They can’t get there, they don’t even try.”
‘Discover’ seeks to empower CTUIR employees Year-long module provides variety of supervisory training MISSION - The Pamáwaluukt Empower Program is accepting applications through Nov. 4 for tribal members interested in taking part in the Discover training module for 2020. Discover – a training for supervisory level positions offered through the Office of Human Resources – is available to tribal members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) who are employed with the governance and administration departments located in the Nixyàawii Governance Center. The Discover Program seeks enthusiastic, energetic, aspiring employees looking to enhance their knowledge, skills, and abilities throughout the year-long training course, according to Lorene Broncheau, Pamáwaluukt Staffing and Recruitment Specialist. The program does not guarantee an advancement for employees, but it does provide three months of
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Briana Spencer was the very first person to go through the Discover program. As a result, she worked her way up to Public Transit CUJ photo/Casey Brown Operations Supervisor at Kayak.
supervisory experience. The training module is designed to enhance the trainee’s knowledge of programmatic functions, supervisory roles and responsibilities, budgetary preparation and
Confederated Umatilla Journal
compliance, application of personnel policies, services provided and what primary challenges those programs and departments manage. Five tribal members have been or are currently working through the program. Brianna Spencer was the first participant in 2017. She currently is the supervisor of the Tribes’ Public Transit Operations. In 2018, Angela Hummingbird-Johnson and Alexandra Nilo went through the one-week-per-month program. Hummingbird-Johnson is a caseworker in the Office of Child Support Enforcement. Nilo, who worked in the Department of Children and Family Services, no longer is employed by the CTUIR. This year, Corrine Sams, a Community Resource Caseworker in DCFS, and Iosefa Taula, a Wildlife Technician in the Department of Natural Resources, are the Discover participants. For the supervisory level, employees must work with the tribe for at least two years and not be under disciplinary actions at the time their application is submitted. Discover on page 17A
October 2019