From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

Attorney was valued

I was disappointed that the Grand Traverse Band let go its general counsel, John Petoskey.

It is hard not to believe that this will have negative repercussions for the band. As John Wernet, Gov. Granholm’s deputy legal counsel, recently stated, John Petoskey is a highly regarded attorney.

Under his legal guidance, the band developed a productive and progressive government overseeing crucial economic development initiatives (crucial, since GTB has little land and thus no tax base with which to fund public services).

Having been lucky enough to work closely with John for five years, and having many good friends in the Grand Traverse Band community, I hope that circumstances arise so the band does not lose the resource it has in John.

His ethics and ability to combine street smarts with larger policy considerations, and community realities with the dictates of law, could be why Vine Deloria Jr., one of this country’s pre-eminent (American) Indian scholars, valued his personal and professional relationship with John.

Vine saw something in John that many others of us have also recognized — quality.

I hope the next chapter in this story recaptures the band’s decades-long history of a highly successful relationship with John. Both parties deserve nothing less.

Brian Upton
Missoula, Mont.