Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2002-07-12

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY     2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 6-7
Ted McGaa, a
successful
American for a
successful America
page 4
Our Survival
is at Stake
page 4
U.S. Attorney
Heffelfinger testifies
before U.S. Senate
Committee on Indian
Affairs
page 6
Red Lake Gaming
management
bonuses
page 8
Commentary
Let's elect Brun, Stately,
Thunder, White, Greene
and Barrett to RLTC on
July 17th
page 4
Red Lake Gaming projects $3 million loss
Preliminary report of forensic audit released
By Bill Lawrence
Based upon financial information presented at the Red Lake
Gaming Board meeting on July 3,
at the River Road Casino, Red
Lake Gaming Enterprises is projected to lose $3,035,622 for the 12
months period, June 2002 through
May 2003. Based on the 12
months projections prepared by
Red Lake gaming management,
gaming will have to obtain additional financing of $4 million in the
form of a line of credit or refinancing ofthe original $27 milhon of
construction loans during the 12
months period to maintain a positive cash flow.' The Red Lake
Gaming Board authorized gaming
management to negotiate with
Merrill Lynch Financial, Inc. to obtain a $1.5 million line of credit
(loan) as soon as one can be arranged. The refinancing of the remaining balances of both the construction loans and the line of credit
is projected to take place in February 2003. A copy of the 12 months
projection is printed on page 8 of
this edition. The $3,035,622 milhon loss is calculated by subtracting the projected May 2003 cumulative free cash flow of $964,378
from the $4 milhon refinancing
loan.
To test the creditability of the
new 12 months projections presented at the July 3 gaming board
meeting, Press/ON decided to
compared one month ofthe projections, the month of June 2002, with
the 15 month projections (October
2001 through December 2002) for
the same month, June 2002, which
gaming management released during October 2001. In gaming
management's 15 month projection, they had the month of June
2002 with a monthly cash flow of
$30,631 (profit), whereas the recently released 12 month projection had the same month, June
2002 with monthly cash flow of a
negative
($1,976,548) (loss).
Thus in less than 9
months their projections were off by
over $2,000,000.
Comparison of
other monthly cash
flows for the two
projections also reflects significant differences calling into
question the accuracy and credibility
of those projections.
Other issues discussed at the gaming board meeting
were executive hiring authority, which
was tabled for future
discussion. Gaming
managers spent nearly 30 minutes
reporting on the flooding in the
Warroad area and its impact on casino operations. Brief financial reports were presented by CFO
Veldon Baird on gaming's consolidated financial condition and by
each casino manager on their respective operation. According to
CFO Baird, gaming's consolidated
operations reflected a profit of
$244,486 for the month of May
2002 and a profit of $1,770,591 for
RED LAKE to page 6
Editor's Note
In related Red Lake gaming and financial
matters, Press/ON is printing on page 8 of
this edition a copy of the preliminary Report from McGladrey, Inc., regarding the
Forensic Audit of Red Lake Gaming Enterprises dated July 7,2002. Press/ON obtained the report from a source who prefers to remain anonymous. In addition
Press/ON is printing on page 6 copies of
Red Lake General Fund and Indirect Cost
Pool Budget Summaries handed out at the
Red Lake Tribal Council meeting on July
9. Finally in this edition on page 8 is a
copy of a roster of the managers of Red
Lake Gaming, their salaries and the
amounts of bonuses they received in
March 2002.
photo credit: Clara NiiSka
Press/CWpublisher Bill Lawrence gives testimony in opposition to a proposed "full faith and credit
rule" at a meeting of the Minnesota Supreme Court Rules Committee on July 10th. 'We haven't
had a chance to participate in the previous discussions by the Tribal Court/State Court
committee," Lawrence says. 'That committee has been dominated by tribal attorneys and tribal
judges almost since its inception, and has systematically excluded members of the Indian
community who are opposed to carte blanche expansion of tribal courts' powers."
"We are concerned about due process fortribal members in tribal courts," said Lawrence. 'There
is no separation of power protecting rights in tribal courts, there are serious questions as to
whether some tribal courts are legally authorized, and we at Press/CWhave heard about serious
problems in all of the tribal courts in this state. The tribal courts are too often used as a weapon
against Indian people. There are inherent conflicts of interest and questions of competency,
trouble getting documentation, and ongoing problems of political manipulation."
Lawrence advocates full hearings before the state legislature on the "full faith and credif
issue, rather than the far less public consideration by a court committee.
Supreme Court Rules Committee continues consideration
of proposed "FuU Faith and Credit Rule"
by Clara NiiSka
The Minnesota Supreme
Court Advisory Committee on
the General Rules of Practice
met on the afternoon of July
10,2002 in the Minnesota Judicial Center in St. Paul.
"Recognition of Tribal
Court Orders and Judgments"
was the first item on the
agenda. The rules committee
is considering the Tribal
Court/State Court Forum's petition to adopt a "full faith and
credit rule" which would require Minnesota courts to recognize tribal court decisions
as valid. The rule would re
quire anyone objecting to a tribal
court decision to legally "prove"
that it meets certain specific criteria and should not be accepted.
The rules committee is still
considering the proposed rule.
Tribal attorneys/tribal court
judges including Andrew Small
and Henry Buffalo have been
lobbying heavily for acceptance
of the rule, which would substantially increase the power and influence of tribal courts.
The proposed rule would also
require tribal court recognition of
state court judgments, although it
provides no mechanism for enforcing acceptance on any ofthe
reservations.
The interface between tribal
courts and state courts is both legally and politically comphcated,
and Press/ON will cover it more
depth next week.
Michael B. Johnson, Senior
Legal Counsel for the State Court
Administration, has taking responsibihty for notifying the pubhc ofthe Rules Committee's ongoing process in considering the
proposed 'full faith and credit'
rule, and is accepting written submissions to the rules committee at
120-D Minnesota Judicial Center,
25 Constitution Avenue, St. Paul,
MN 55155.
th
Red Lake run-off
elections on
July 17
by Clara NiiSka
Six seats on the Red Lake tribal
council will be decided in run-off
elections to be held July 17th (absentee voting for the twin cities
area urban area will be held at the
Minneapolis American Indian Center on July 15lh).
Incumbent Bobby Whitefeather
faces challenger and former chairman Gerald "Butch" Brun in the
contest for the chairman's seat.
The other two officers' positions
were decided in the May 15th elections, with incumbent secretary
Judy Roy winning over challenger
Kathryn "Jody" Beauheu by 61 %,
and recently-appointed incumbent
treasurer Darrell G Seki, Sr. winning by 54% of the vote.
The open seat for Ponemah district representative was also decided on May 15th, with incumbent
Clifford Hardy winning by 69%.
Both representatives for the Red
Lake district will be determined in
the July 17th elections. Roman
"Ducker" Stately, Jr. faces Donald
ELECTIONS to page 5
MN Corrections Department axes
Walks Tall program funding
By Jeff Armstrong
A state-funded program to assist Native prison inmates in the
transition to life on the outside is
no longer walking tall after this
month's announcement that the
Department of Corrections is ending its funding for the program.
On July 1, the DOC notified recipients of $421,000 in annual
grants for the Walks Tall program
that they would receive no further
funding as of that date.
"It was a shock when we did
get that letter," said Gloria
Hanson, interim program director
for Leech Lake Walks Tall. "That
only gave us a few days notice."
Hanson said she had been informed at the end of May that the
Leech Lake program's grant application had been approved.
However, Walks Tall fell victim
to administrative budget cuts in
WALKS TALL to page 3
Lac Vieux Desert Band thwarted:
Judge rules that Detroit need not
rebid casinos
By Jean Pagano
Reporting from Detroit
U.S. District Judge Robert
Holmes Bell ruled Tuesday that
to force Detroit to redo its casino
licensing practices would be
worse than the damages done. As
reported here in Press/On on
June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court
sent the Lac Vieux Desert Band
of Lake Superior Chippewa's (the
Band) case back to the U.S. Dis--
trict Court in Grand Rapids. In
this case, Detroit, MI, et al v. Lac
Vieux Desert Band, the Band argued that the method in which
Detroit awarded casinos hcenses
was unconsitutional. The Band
sued and Judge Robert Holmes
CASINO to page 6
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web page: www.press-on.net
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.    Copyright, Native American Press, 2002
Founded in 1988
Volume 15 Issue 6
July 12,2002
photo credit. Bill Lawrence
New Leech Lake Secretary/treasurer Arthur"Archie" LaRose was sworn in by Lyman "DeDe" Losh
at Leech Lake Bingo Palace on July 5th. At left is outgoing Secretary/treasurer Linda Johnston.
Power struggle
in Leech Lake
as RBC seeks to
block LaRose
v*"rom financial
audit
By Jeff Armstrong
Less than a week into his
four-year term, Leech Lake
RBC secretary treasurer Archie
LaRose accused chairman Eh
Hunt and his supporters of unconstitutionally interfering with
LaRose's exercise of his duties
of office.
"My duty as secretary treasurer is to safeguard our funds
and resources on the reservation," said LaRose. 'Trying to
strip me of my duties is unconstitutional."
LaRose said reservation officials have denied him access to
financial records and reportedly
issued a directive to block the
secretary treasurer from signing
checks and overseeing the fiscal
management system. Ironically,
such tactics would mirror those
of Hunt's 1996 rivals, who obtained a tribal court injunction
against the chairman's asserted
powers of office after Hunt fired
the executive director and other
top administrative managers.
Hunt tore up the injunction and
photo credit. Bill Lawrence
Leech Lakers congratulate (from right to left) newly installed tribal
council members Burton "Luke" Wilson, District I representative;
DeDe Losh, District II Representative, and Archie LaRose, Secretary/Treasurer; and Leech Lake Housing Board memberGuy Greene.
New school board members were also congratulated at the Swearing-in ceremony held atthe Leech Lake Bingo Palace.
continued to serve as chairman.
"I said to Eh, in '96 you were
fighting for change. Now you're
fighting against it," said LaRose.
"But he has to remember, the
people put us in here. The people
can take us out any time."
LaRose said the hysterical response ofthe RBC only increases
the urgency of his efforts to secure
an independent audit of Leech
Lake expenditures and financial
practices.
"They've obviously got something to hide," said LaRose. "The
government should be helping the
people. Instead, they're sent to
tribal referral, which the people call
tribal refusal. It's who you are and
who you know that decides who
benefits from these programs.
That's got to change."
The chief reservation financial
officer says he intends to hire two
controllers and one internal auditor
and has called for the abolition of
the corporate commission. The latter proposal died for lack of a second at a July 8-9 RBC meeting, but
it is the sole item on the agenda for
a special 9am RBC meeting Monday, July 15 at the Palace Casino.
Photo credit: Clara NiiSka
Candidate for Red Lake tribal council chairman Bobby Whitefeather stands in front of the crowd at the
Minneapolis American Indian Women's Resource Centeron Wednesday evening, July 10lh. The event,
advertised by Whitefeather's campaign committee as a "debate," turned into a community discussion.
For whatever reason, Whitefeather's organizing committee neglected to invite challenging candidate
Gerald "Butch" Brun to the 'debate.'
A debatable debate
Whitefeather appears in Minneapolis on July 10th
by Clara NiiSka
About sixty Red Lakers showed
up at the Minneapolis American
Indian Women's Resource Center
on Wednesday evening, July 10lh
for an event advertised by the
Committee to Re-elect
Whitefether as a "Debate ... featuring Bobby Whitefeather &
Butch Brun." Brun and
Whitefeather are contending for
the Red Lake tribal chairman's
seat in the July 171" Red Lake runoff elections.
DEBATE to page 3
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