To the Editor

To the Editor,

I recently attended the financial meeting put on by Tribal Council and the finance division of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. Two budgets were discussed; the current one for 2014 and the budget for 2015 that has to be completed before the end of December. Tribal human resources may be one area that may be affected by the upcoming budget work. I can see some areas that may be looked at. For example, in the health clinic, one has to register in one office prior to seeing the receptionist in the doctor’s office. In all my years going into a doctor’s office I called to make an appointment with the doctor through the receptionist, reported to the same receptionist at the appointment time, and then was seen by the doctor. Here on the St. Regis Indian reservation, we report to the registration office and then we see the receptionist before seeing the doctor. There is a cost savings if we did not have to report to two receptionists. It makes me wonder how many other areas of operations at the SRMT job positions are handled the same way. Duplicating job responsibilities may also be an effective tool to artificially maintain a high number of employees who then may be called upon for election day votes. In general, this just does not make good business sense and as a tribe, we cannot afford this practice. I will say that if this was true we all could be employed anywhere and at any business throughout the country. I would not have lost my job with Eastman Kodak because Kodak would have justified some means to maintain employees regardless if that company was losing money. This is my comparison to the tribal HR practices. This is just one example I see, and the explanation for this trend was inadequate when I inquired about this at the finance meeting. The clinic is using the registration office to make sure that those reporting are tribal members. By showing our tribal cards to the receptionist, this verification should be adequate along with any insurance card we may carry. The feeling I got from the answer was this is how it is going to be and that should be the end of the discussion. Tribal government seems to move along much easier when it is sure that the position that it took is right, but I am not yet convinced they are seeing it from all of the sides.

Another question I have is why are tribal members regularly charged a fee of $10 for the renewal of these tribal membership identification cards? Again at the finance meeting, it was disclosed that the tribal administration is renting the equipment for the production of these cards. Therefore, each tribal member is charged a continuing fee of $10 for the renewal of any expiring cards. The expiration date on these required documents is imposed on the tribal rolls by the federal government in order for the tribal identification cards to be recognized by federal agencies. So how convenient it is for enrolled tribal members to be paying for this equipment rental. This equipment could have been purchased at the cost of $30,000 dollars and have since been owned by the tribal members who make up the tribe. This puts a burden on community members. The explanation I heard for this is that many tribal members come into the tribal clerk’s office and get copies. These services all cost something to provide, such as paper and ink for the printer. The answer provided at the finance meeting explaining of why tribal resources are allocated to a long-term renting agreement (a lease by another name) instead of a one-time purchase to benefit the tribal membership did not show attention to a baseline provision. It actually seemed to show an ongoing fund-raising campaign by that office. My thought was that the tribal card machine should be made available each and every voting day so that no tribal members shall be denied voting due to the expired tribal identification card. It should be allowed to be renewed right then and there. It also should be provided for free if you are at that time exercising your right to participate in tribal elections, which are requiring the card. At the present time, many tribal members wonder why so few people vote but this could be one of the reasons that needs to be examined with a wider view.

Peace Be With Everyone

Agnes Terrance