Michigan Indian

News Coverage of GTB Election Delays (and Copies of GTB Election Board Decisions)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Election Board decisions: Election Board Opinion Russell McClellan 7 13 10 and Election Board Supplemental Opinion.

From the Leelanau Enterprise:

A General Election to seat three members of the seven-member Tribal Council of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians has been delayed yet again.

The election was slated to occur today, July 15, but has been postponed for a third time. A new date had not been determined as of press time this week.

The tribe’s appointed Election Board met in special sessions on Monday and Tuesday to hear testimony, review evidence and discuss a complaint that one of the six candidates in the election failed to comply with election regulations by campaigning during working hours and taking other actions that threatened the integrity of the election process.

Former Tribal Councilor and current candidate Thurlow “Sam” McClellan was accused of campaigning during working hours by having phone conversations with incumbent Tribal Councilor Brian Napont, whose term does not expire until 2012. During the conversation, McClellan and Napont were heard in a recorded conversation disparaging other candidates and incumbent tribal leaders.

The phone conversations had been recorded, apparently inadvertently, through a voice mail system in a tribal office. The recordings were subsequently copied and distributed among tribal members by third parties.

“While it is clear that McClellan did not intend for his phone conversation with Napont to be recorded, or for it to be circulated among members of the tribe, the fact remains that the message was recorded, and that the message has been circulating among Tribal voters,” according to an opinion and determination issued by the Election Board on Tuesday evening.

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Cranbrook Repatriation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan is preparing to repatriate 59 ancestors to a group of tribes.

The 13 tribes requested the ancestors in 2008. The museum’s board of directors voted to repatriate the remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

“It is the right thing to do,” Michael Stafford, the Institute’s director, told The Detroit Free Press. “We don’t view these remains as data. We see them as people, with spirits and souls.”

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians is coordinating the process. The band will work with the other tribes on the reburial.

“We see this as a human rights issue,” Eric Hemenway, a repatriation expert for the tribe, told the paper.

Get the Story:

Tribes to finally lay ancestors to rest (The Detroit Free Press 7/21)

Gun Lake Casino Construction Update

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Grand Rapids Press, via Pechanga:

WAYLAND TOWNSHIP — The Gun Lake Casino is back on track through a $165 million loan arranged by Goldman Sachs and announced Tuesday.

Work on the 83,000-square-foot Allegan County gaming facility off U.S. 131 had slowed as the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi and its backers faltered in their ability to secure the loan in time to continue construction in time to meet their original plan to open this fall.

The five-year, 12 percent loan, which can be paid off after the third year, means the casino should be able to open sometime in early 2011, according to a statement released by the tribe. A specific opening date is expected to be announced soon.

“We’re going to shoot for January,” said John Shagonaby, chief executive of the Gun Lake Tribal Gaming Authority. “It’s all an estimate at this point. Once we get a couple of months into construction, we’ll be able to have a better idea.”

The delay was the latest in a string of setbacks for the tribe, which spent more than 10 years dealing with regulatory and court challenges only to emerge into a dicey economy that resulted in plans for the casino being scaled back when they were announced last year.

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Martin v. Little River Band State Court Claims Voluntarily Dismissed

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here: Order of Dismissal.

Grand Traverse Band Election Postponed Again

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the news coverage: Election Delayed Again July 14 2010

And the Election Board decision: Election Board Opinion Russell McClellan 7 13 10

Photos and Captions from Hearing in Muskegon on LRBOI Compact

Kate Fort

From the Muskegon Chronicle.  Click through for the slideshow and captions.

Also, live blogging coverage of the event, also from the Chronicle.  Not sure why the updates end before the hearing did.

Video excerpt, starting with Rep. Johnson and Ogema Romenelli.

Still More on Martin v. Little River Band — State Court Claims

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Martin v. Little River Band in Manistee County Circuit Court (apparently, there is a hearing Monday on the motion to dismiss):

Complaint

answer & motion to dismiss

answer – rest of exhibits

martin resp tribes msd

MI Reg Reform Committee Meeting Now in Muskegon

Kate Fort

Supporters of the LRBOI Fruitport casino are testifying now in front of the MI Legislature’s Regulatory Reform Committee at Muskegon Community College.  From the site:

9:30 AM
Regulatory Reform
Muskegon Community College James L. Stevenson Center for Higher Education – Room 1100 221 South Quarterline Road Muskegon, MI 49442

Important Michigan Tribal Court Decision re: Civil Rights, Judicial Immunity, and the Awarding of Attorney Fees

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the decision in Joseph Martin v. Little River Band of Ottawa Indians from the Little River Band Tribal Court (Judge Bill Brott, sitting pro tem): Martin v. LRB.

One Michigan Racino Ballot Proposal Fails to Acquire Enough Signatures

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Muskegon Chronicle, via Pechanga:

LANSING — A ballot initiative that would have allowed for seven more corporate casinos in Michigan, including one in Muskegon, has failed.

A coalition called Michigan Is Yours, which pushed the casino-expansion proposal, did not turn in the voter signatures needed — more than 380,000 — to make the Nov. 2 ballot by Monday’s deadline, according to state election officials.

The proposal, if approved by voters, would have put in the state Constitution the ability of a company called My-Casino Inc. to establish corporate casinos in seven specific locations — the cities of Muskegon, Lansing, Detroit, Benton Harbor, Flint and Port Huron, along with the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

This failed ballot initiative is not connected to the proposed American Indian casino in Fruitport Township. A tribal casino does not require a vote of the people, but the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians needs several approvals of state and federal officials before the tribe’s proposed casino development can be built at the former Great Lakes Downs racetrack site.
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