Manataba Messenger

Page 4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 TREASURER ANISA PATCH A brief summary of my first treasurer’s report at the Regular Meeting open to the membership in June was on the analysis of the prior year’s operating budgets, where there was a revenue loss however, budgeted expenditures that went unspent became a cost-savings to offset that loss. In addition, it was estimated that a total of $11 mil- lion in unspent budgeted expenditures of which a large portion was for unused salaries due to hiring issues or closures of departments due to the pandemic. I also reported the on-going billing issue for CRIT Utilities, where due to the computer upgrades, data was lost but provided a summary of payments customers should be making on a monthly basis. Those rates provided by CRIT Utilities accountant are as follows: Water (Residential) - $36.75 Water (Commercial) - $78.75 Refuse Toter (Residential) - $20.10 Refuse Toter (Residential & Tribal Member) - $16.40 Refuse Dumpster (Commercial) - $94.50 I would also like to address the issue of my position as a Grants Specialist and also council member. The hiring crisis has been personally felt when initially elected on tribal council in 2018, I was the only Grants Specialist working in Grants and Contracts due to vacant positions that remained vacant thru this current year. The question was asked if I could do my job as a council member and assist with Grants to assist the tribe in remaining contractually compliant by performing federal report- ing of expenditures for grants and submitting budgets to federal agencies for grant monies awarded. The Attorney General was told to conduct research of the allowa- bility of an elected official who was also performing the duties of a grant’s employee. It was researched within our own tribal laws and regulations and through the fund- ing agencies I worked with and there was nothing prohibiting me from doing both compliance work as the Tribal Council is the ultimate responsible party obligated to their commitments to all grants, contracts and cooperative agreements when fund- ing is accepted. To put in perspective of why it was importance of continuing to per- form these duties, there were several contracts that were not re-contracted which put in jeopardy the funding for services and departments such as Realty, Revolving Credit, Wildland Fire, Law Enforcement, Water Resources, JOM to name a few, which if not re-contracted, would’ve amounted in the loss of $36 million of grant funding for years 2019 thru 2021. Currently, these positions are to be filled by the end of this month. I am a strong advocate for grants/contracts to be able to provide more services to our membership and to be without would be detrimental to our programs. The tribe’s department budgets that provide services are largely grant funded that help run pro- grams such as Headstart Program, Social Services, Special Diabetes which also pro- vide the funding of employees that work these community services. I have con- tributed 14 years of my life to help the tribe maintain compliance and I am grateful for the experience that I have been allowed to perform my duties. I commend all department and enterprise employees who are having to take on extra work or assist during this hiring crisis, your hard work does not go unnoticed. I would like to see the departments and enterprises return to being able to solicit and hire individuals to eliminate lost applications or unprocessed applications many have experienced. Please be on the lookout for the tribe’s vaccine campaigns and for all vaccinated members, there will be opportunities to win cash prizes as an effort to protect our loved ones. I am here for you, as a voice and accept your suggestions and input because we can only strive to improve continuously together and I appreciate your time and continued support. I can be contacted via email at anisa.patch@crit-nsn.gov or at (928) 669-1234. Sincerely, Anisa Patch, Treasurer COUNCILMAN ROBERT "BOBBY" PAGE "Nothing changes until you change it." I look forward to this new opportunity to share with the people every month some exciting and progressive things I have been looking into and working on with the tribal council. CLARK RANCH Clark Ranch is 450 acres of our tribal lands in California that we are working with CRIT Farms to develop and put into produc- tion. Soon there will be a resolu- tion in front of the tribal council to approve the action of using 3.5 million dollars of Bureau of Reclamation fallowed land money to be invested in Clark Ranch, which will justify our own water needs and usage, and take back water currently being used by the CA Metropolitan Water District. After it is in production, these lands can too be entered into a fallowing program. We must invest in our land and water; it's important that we use up our water allot- ment on the CA side, and it's important we get the attention of the CA Metropolitan Water District and send a clear message that we will be using our water and get things moving in that direction—I believe that we as a tribal council are all on board to approve this future action. NEW FARM MANAGER I am excited to see our new FarmManager come on board for the tribes and the tribal membership. Mr. Joshua Moore has some great ideas, solid and good business prac- tices on farming; his in-depth research into agriculture, how to get more land in pro- duction, new ventures in greenhouse farming, and water conservation have me look- ing forward to better and brighter things at the farms. He's educated in all these sub- jects, and I think he will be a big help to us and very productive for the tribes and its tribal members. NEW REVENUE GENERATING ENTERPRISES- PROPANE Tribal Council is on the verge of starting a propane business for the tribe; we have been working with a supplier to create a new enterprise for our people. We will sup- ply propane to our tribal members and community at a lower price, but it would still be profitable due to our lower tax rates, a good market for it, and access to transport- ing it using the train. The company we are working with currently pays a lot in ship- ping, but we can allow them access for their deliveries to CA, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. I think most of the tribal council is on board with doing that —another enterprise, another opportunity for us to expand and be progressive and make new revenue. MY PERSONAL FUTURE GOALS My background has always been more of the business side of things, and I am always talking to companies and tribal councils; it's important to me to constantly get feedback from them. We should have more control over our resources as we have with our land and our water. I would like to see our tribe moving into the future and considering "638ing" our electric utility service, Head Gate Dam, and even taking over our Irrigation system. Lots of tribes have done things like this, and I know we can too. In the future, if we want to get into solar energy, I think we can have our own electrical power instead of depending on WAPA for it. This is true sovereignty; this is taking control of our future. Contracting out these entities that we are so unsatisfied with, including Indian Health Service— in my opinion, is also the future rather than staying "status quo'. I have personally asked our experts in AZ & Washington to find us information on several of these subjects. We, as tribal members, and tribal council members, are not satisfied with how they are being run "for us," and we need to do something about it. That is what taking control of our future looks like, but I am grateful for the experts we have working for us; they find factual information that allows us to dis- cuss our options. You know we as a people can only go forward together; we will succeed together or fail together as a tribal council, but what's important is that we be together. Not everything that I bring forward will pass, and that's ok, but when it does pass, we need to know how to adjust on the fly and say, ok, this is how we will do it —work- ing together. I support better communication, opening it up, and having tribal members control our communication methods. I support getting a larger workforce and finding hous- ing solutions for them. I feel I am a progressive leader, my background running CRIT Sand & Rock taught me to be impatient and work fast because time waits for no one. I don't like when things get delayed, even though I'm an elected official now, and I better understand government and how it moves--it can still be frustrating. More opportunities are coming up for the tribes to expand and things we can partic- ipate in and take advantage of; I will talk about that later. Tribal Council has also been discussing areas to expand our Senior Citizen services— they are limited on a lot of things. We are trying to develop some ideas and thoughts on expanding those services for our elderly. Sincerely, God Bless You All, Bobby Page Colorado River Indian Tribal Council Monthly Updates