Manataba Messenger

Page 8 Special Election September 18, 2021 Vice-Chairman Candidate Wã|z{à _ÉÅtçxáät ]ÜA WHO AM I? I was raised on this Reservation with nine brothers and sisters on land assigned to my father and mother in 1945. I attended and finished all the local schools, including Le Pera Elementary and Parker High School. In higher education, I received a BS degree in mathematics education from the University of Arizona, a BS degree in Civil Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, and a MA degree from California State University in Fullerton where I studied history and American Indian land tenure. I began my professional career by teaching high school mathe- matics in Snowflake, Arizona and later at Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, California, but the majority of my teaching experience has been in higher education. I taught mathematics, history, and physical education at Riverside College, and after twenty-five years of service was awarded the rank of Professor by the Board of Trustees. During that time, the faculty of our three-college district selected me to lead them as the president of the Faculty Academic Senate and later as the leader of the faculty union, where I helped negotiate the faculty contract with the college dis- trict. I was also a member of several California state higher educational committees. I taught at UC Riverside, Cal State University Fullerton, and San Diego State University as an adjunct faculty member. In 1987, I became a part-time farmer when I leased 56 acres of Tribal land on Eddy Road. I then leased land from my father and joined him in the cattle business. When I retired from teaching, I moved back to the reservation and leased and farmed over 9,000 acres of tribal ground. Later, I managed a 10,000 acre farm for a California dairyman where we grew cotton, alfalfa, corn, wheat and Bermuda grass. Today, I farm 250 acres for myself. WHY AM I RUNNING? There are several issues that are of profound importance to the members of the Reservation and I believe that with my experience and education I can help solve these problems. WATER: Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the Tribal Council today is the severe drought in the southwest, thought by some to be the worst in 1200 years. CRIT has superior water rights, but as the thirst for water in the major cities of California, Nevada, and Arizona grows, and when farmers from those states run out of water, the intense political pressure on the Tribes to negotiate for the use of their water will increase. With a background in Civil Engineering and an understanding of hydrology, and experience in negotiation, I can be an asset in understanding the water proposals and contracts submitted to the Tribes. Since water is of such great importance to the Tribes, the membership should be informed and involved when the lease (sale) of our water rights is being negotiated. Because the future of our reservation and our children depends on what kind of deal the Tribal Council signs today, the membership should be given the opportunity to 1. Review and, if necessary, adjust the Ordinance 01-18 authorizing the TC to lease our water allocation, and 2. Examine the water agreements and let the membership vote on the final settle- ment. ENTERPRISES: With all the great resources existing on our Reservation, tribal members should expect our 26 enterprises to prosper, but many are not. The Pandemic is certainly a factor in this, but financially several enterprises were not doing well even before the Pandemic. To help these enterprises recruit qualified workers, employees should to be given a better wage, competitive with other employers in the area. Also, most of the funds generated by our enterprises should be put back into the business and used to improve the business - not syphoned off into the CRIT General fund. For the same reasons, our gin and CRIT Farms could also be made more profitable. As the Pandemic winds down, we need to look for ways to turn things around. EDUCATION: The Tribes have some great programs in education, but we need to work on the quality of education that’s provided for our students. Many of our stu- dents are not adequately prepared to meet the challenges they will face after gradu- ation, but let’s focus on improvement and not blame. We need to work with and support our Public Schools, build new facilities for our Head Start program, get dependable online education with better internet access, and develop higher stan- dards for high school graduates. These things can be addressed and solved by work- ing together. Public safety on the southern end of the reservation could be improved and the Tribes could do more to support tribal farmers and ranchers. We need more tribal members farming our lands, but these farmers face many difficulties. If we want tribal lands to remain in tribal hands, we need to put tribal members on the land. To avoid gossip, conspiracy theories, and other misinformation, communication with the tribal membership is essential. We need to expand our poorly funded and understaffed Communications Department with adequate funding and staff. My experience on the CRIT Farm Board and the Education Committee made me aware of some of these problems. PANDEMIC: The Covid-19 Pandemic has hurt the Tribes physically and financial- ly, but now we face the bigger task of developing a viable plan that addresses both the illness and the economic recovery. I would like to be part of the solution for these problems. If elected, it would be an honor and privilege to serve as your Vice- Chairman. September 18, 2021