Election Turmoil at LLBO
By Diane E. White
On
Thursday, March 13, Arthur “Archie” LaRose, Secretary-Treasurer vs.
District
Representatives, Richard Robinson, Lyman Losh and Burton Wilson Tribal
Court
Trial began with B.J. Jones serving as Judge. Last week’s Native
American Press
reported this case. Since the Trial was so limited in scope members of
the
Election Board wanted to be heard. In addition, Richard Jones plead the
“5th”
to whether certain Petition Validation Committee / Election Board
members received
political payola for their service. As for this story, Richard Jones is
still
taking the “5th”.
The Leech
Lake Election Board has always been made up of one appointee per
Reservation
Business Committee (RBC) member. In April, 2002, the election for
Secretary-Treasurer and District I and II committee representatives
appointed
to the Election Board:
· Election Judge,
Louella Novak
· Election Administrator, Susie Dvorak
· Election Teller, Kay Jackson
· Election Clerk, April Greene
· Alternate, Bernice Pemberton
Richard
Jones, Government Relations Specialist, presented the board members
with the
Policies & Procedures that govern the election process and outlines
various
duties. Not every member accepted the guidelines and would not follow
them;
however, they may not have been officially accepted by the RBC. The RBC has governed the election board as a
general practice, even though the position of “Secretary” generally
means
oversight of the election process. These positions are temporary,
full-time (except
the Alternate, who serves as needed), and the hourly wage range is $15
– $17
per hour.
Given the
constraints, it is not hard to understand how this board became so
politically
motivated over the next year when the Reservation’s inner-turmoil
occurred. One
of the Board members indicated that after the completion of the June,
2002
election, they did not receive notice informing them their temporary
positions
were over and so they collected a weekly paycheck even though they had
no
official duties.
Then the
Petition to Remove Eli O. Hunt created the first Petition Validation
Committee,
which was made up with two appointees per RBC member and one alternate.
The RBC
did not allow any person who signed the Petition against Hunt to serve
on the
Committee, however, they did allow members of the Election Board to
serve on
this Committee. Novak and Pemberton served on the first Petition
Validation
Committee. Ultimately, this Committee
was unanimous in their final outcome of accepted “resident eligible
voters.” This
lead to the Public Hearing and the Recall Election that ousted Hunt and
opened
the Chairman’s position to a new vote.
At the
beginning of the Recall Election, the RBC appointed two new members to
the
Election Board ostensibly removing two positions. Archie LaRose’s
appointment
was Wallace Storbakken and Burton Wilson appointed Sherrie Rodriguez.
No other
changes were made. How the decision to position Storbakken as Election
Judge
and Rodriguez as Administrator is not known and why the previous Judge
and
Administrator were not notified their temporary terms were completed is
not
known.
When
Storbakken and Rodriguez reported for duty, they were asked to leave by
Kay
Jackson who reportedly stated, “If you have any integrity, you’d get
off your
ass and walk out that door.” Since neither did so, Novak, Jackson and
Pemberton
left and did not return. Their departure left open the Teller and
Alternate
positions and Harold Monroe was appointed as Alternate. April Greene
then
served as Teller and Clerk. Dvorak and Rodriguez both held the position
of
Administrator.
Early in
December, Archie Larose, Secretary-Treasurer, was served with a
Petition for
Removal which triggered the second Petition Validation Committee being
formed.
This time the RBC allowed only seven members, which included persons
who signed
the Petition to be on the Committee, thereby some Committee members
having a
vested interest in the 20% validation of eligible resident voters. None
of new
Election Board served on the second Petition Validation Committee, but
it is
not known whether this is by design or by accident. The second
validation
committee did include Novak, Jackson and Pemberton who were also
members of the
“Majority Committee” that validated enough resident eligible voters
despite 27 affidavits
requesting to be removed from the Petition and 33 off-reservation
petition
signers. Kay Jackson testified at court on March 13 and presented to
the RBC
(at an earlier date) that the Committee personally telephoned
petitioner
signers and asked if they “felt” they lived on the Reservation. She
also
testified that the Committee accepted signatures without actual proof
through
accepted practice of comparing signatures.
The
Election Board completed the Primary and General Elections and had
since vacated
the board’s office and positions. They
complained that Novak, Jackson and Pemberton were officially terminated
from
their positions and then reinstated by Acting Chairman Richard Robinson
who
assigned them to write the Policies & Procedures for the Election
Board and
to prepare a voter roster. The reinstatement included full back-pay and
$16.00
per hour each. Previously, Pemberton was reportedly authorized by
former
Secretary-Treasurer, Linda G. Johnston to be paid a full-time wage even
though
her position was clearly “as needed” and there was no vacancy to
provide her
with a paid position. This precedent set the way for Monroe to also be
paid a
full-time, temporary position even though he was an Alternate. Monroe
was in
the office every day serving.
Mary Reich,
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Enrollment Manager, testified that she is
responsible
for the enrollment database since 1990. She determines the number
needed in
“eligible resident voters” for purposes of Petitions to Remove elected
officials and verified that the number fluctuates based upon 1) new
voters
(turning 18); 2) deaths of voters; 3) new voting members enrolled
within a
Band; 4) voters moving onto Reservation boundaries; and 5) voters
moving off
Reservation boundaries. Reich also codes voters according to location:
1) On
Reservation 2) Off Reservation; or 3) Near the Reservation. Enrollment
numbers
are also used by grant-writers when preparing grants. The Voter Rosters
are not
available to the public and are kept under lock and key. Richard Jones
testified that the Executive Director, not the Secretary-Treasurer
keeps this
key. Members of the Election Board indicated the need for a voter
registration
process not a voter list being needed; and a need for policies and
procedures
regarding the recall election process. The current process acts like an
election not a referendum vote. The first phase is a referendum vote
and should
not allow for a protest according to the Board. The second phase of a
recall
does act like an election and includes primary and general elections.
This
election currently allows the “ousted” official to run again for the
same
office and term he/she was removed from.
LaRose
fought the Petitioner’s validation citing his due process rights were
violated
as evidenced by the Committee breaking into two outcomes, a “Majority”
Committee accepted enough eligible resident voters and a “Minority”
Committee
did not. His complaint was brought to Tribal Court. Testimony of this
court
case resumes this Friday at 8:00 a.m. in Tribal Chambers with Kay
Jackson
completing testimony. Zenas Baer will complete testimony with defense
witnesses, closing Arguments by both attorneys, Baer and Randy
Thompson. A
judicial decision is not expected on Friday, March 21. |
