Making life better in disadvantaged communities - our thoughts on everything - from Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
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I read that page on who would you vote for for council and I think I know who you are talking about. Sure he helps his relatives but what about the other people who need jobs. Who is helping with that money he brings in?
People say that he is helping the community but I think he is helping hisself and his family. He is not helping people that don't have jobs because he gave them to all his worthless relatives that don't come to work. He is not helping members of the tribe who can't ever find anybody in an office when they need something. No, I wouldn't vote for him but he'll still probably get elected again when all those family members vote for him. I think you know who I mean.
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If you have not read it, here is the page TJ is referring to:
Dallas has been a tribal council member for almost thirty years. No one can argue that he has not done great things for the tribe. He used connections in Washington and with other tribes to bring in over $30 million in grant money. Dallas was the leader in gaining approval for a casino on the reservation, worked with contractors on the design and building. Now the tribe receives over $3 million each year in payments, money which is used for loans to tribal members to start small businesses and for early childhood programs. There is not a person on the reservation who has not benefitted directly from Dallas' work.
Dallas has a large family, nearly all of whom work for tribal organizations. While some are dedicated workers, the majority received jobs through his connections. They were often hired over tribal members who had more education and work experience. For example, his nineteen-year-old niece was hired as a grantwriter. His brother, who has a tenth-grade education, is the manager for a tribal program that employs 50 people. His previous position was janitor at the elementary school. Several of his relatives only show up for work two or three days a week, but draw a full salary. On rare occasions, there has been a manager who has had the nerve to fire one of Dallas's relatives. If that manager does not have political connections of their own, such as a relative on the tribal council, Dallas has always gotten the firing overturned and usually had some negative letter put in the manager's personnel file, if not had the person outright fired. If that fails, no matter. Even if the relative has missed 90 days of work in the past year, been driving a tribal car under the influence, or missed work many times, spending the days in a bar, that person will have a new tribal job within the week.
Now there is a movement to elect a younger person to office to replace Dallas. Those supporting his opponent say that it is time for ethics, for fair hiring, for good service and good role models. Dallas' supporters argue that he is good for the tribe. A little nepotism - and they argue, correctly, that he is not the only one - is nothing compared to the millions of dollars, the early childhood programs, the economic development programs, the jobs that he has brought in. Would you really hurt every member of the tribe just so 20 or 30 worthless tribal employees could be replaced with good people? There isn't any guarantee those jobs wouldn't just go to relatives of other tribal members.
Would you vote to keep Dallas in office? Or to remove him? What if you knew your job was one that would probably go, because your program was funded through money brought in by Dallas's connections?
http://www.spiritlakeconsulting.com/TLC2/dallas.html
I have added the responses we received below, edited to remain anonymous.
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Regardless of the money Dallas has brought into the tribe, Dallas should treat everyone equally. If his relatives don't have the qualifications or the experience they shouldn't be hired for whatever position is up for hiring. Let the person who is qualified for the job get hired. Its pointless to hire someone who has no experience or qualifications for a job that could potentially be runned into the ground causing the tribe to lose money that could possibly provided more jobs.
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my opinion on dallas for council, first he may took his position seriously and thru the course of time realized that no one really question the ethnic of his behavior, in which tribal members just got fed up with his job performance and decide to boot him out.
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No! Because he got carried away with nepotism. I would vote to replace him and get true qualified people in those positions. Everyone probably would not say nothing about them being replaced because they know themselves that they are not qualified, that they're just there because of Dallas. People deep down know right from wrong.
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His work was good but his intentions with the tribe and who he hires and fires is wrong. He should be replaced with someone who will do all right for the tribes best interest.
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Dallas gets the vote because if someone else gets voted in the same thing will happen again. It will just be another family getting the jobs.
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I don't think a person like Dallas should be in the council. We could hire a more educated person and persons for replace these people for the tribe, who can do the same things Dallas has done for the tribe.
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Yes Dallas did a good job but with his family members missing work and all the other stuff they are losing money for the tribe. When the Other guy can come in and put people who want to work and be there the whole week. If it was my job that was on the line and the other guy thought it was a good program to keep maybe he will get us another grant. But if not I'll just have to find a different job.
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I would not vote for him he may have been prt of the group that got things done but others on the council were in on all the work and the things he is credited for. The employment pratices are not good for anyone including the family members heis alloeing he perfrom these behaviors.
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I would not vote for him because he is not thinking about what is good the for the tribe as a whole. Yes, he brought in money for the tribe but he is wrong by hiring only family members, just because their family, and not those most qualified. He is not thinking about what is best for the tribe, only his own. When elected by the tribal people, you are responsible to the tribe to do what is best for all.
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Dallas is corrupting the tribe, by having nepotism and other ethical violations.
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I would not support Dallas for Tribal Council. He is putting his personal interests and family ahead of the other enrolled members. It is also affecting more than just the 20 people that have those jobs. Those people that might have gotten those jobs instead of Dallas' relatives might have family members to support. They are not getting supported because Dallas has relatives that have the jobs.
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He knew he was doing wrong, even if he did do some good, he wasn't thinking for the best interest of others
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IF there was a way to get Dallas to understand that his nepotism tactics were actually hurting the entire tribe, I would use this method first.
Even though he may bring in all the programs that benefit the tribal people the nepotism balances out the total cost. I would not vote for him again. In reality I would have to look at the lesser of two evils of the other candidates.
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Dallas for Tribal Council? Your view: It doesn't matter how much a Tribal Council members brings into the tribe - these funds are for every tribal member not just family members. I would definitely vote for a new leader even if it meant losing my job.
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Our tribes have too many like Dallas. We think we can't live without them. But, we don't think about how our inaction against Dallas impacts the next generation of tribal members. We say we want them to get an education, but when they do, we don't hire them because we are too busy rewarding Dallas for his outside connections that could very well happen without selling out the future of our tribe.
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Dallas has made some positive gains for the tribe, but his unethical behavior far outweigh his contributions. It is time for change. Do not vote for Dallas
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I would not vote for Dallas. Nepotism and regurgitation of tribal employees has never worked. One of the problems I see that tribes face in ethical dilemmas is, if they fire the whistle blowers, they get a bad reputation in the community. I know that on my reservation, there are some people who run tribal programs and run them to the ground. Instead of writing them off as bad directors or managers, they rehire them to run other tribal programs to the ground. Oftentimes, this is the number one reason why tribes lose funding for many projects. It is so frustrating to see this going on that it is one of the reasons I always rethink moving home to work. I couldn't comply and ethically be content with hiring the same people who failed in other positions on the reservation. Being forced into doing that is even worse!
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