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All Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes
of Alaska's Executive Council members were present for a spirited
and productive three-day meeting (May 30 through June 1) at the
Vocational Training & Resource Center (VTRC) in Juneau.
The meeting opened with President Edward Thomas giving a historical
overview of the Tribe and our Tribe's experiences in contracting
for federal programs over the years; this was followed by an orientation
to the Council on the role that a Board (Council) plays in an organization
such as ours. The Council viewed an Effective Meetings video, and
also took the time to list some "Meeting Conduct Standards"
that outline how members should treat one another in meetings. The
Council wishes to make sure that each member is free to speak their
mind at any time, but to do so in an orderly and respectful manner.
A portion of this meeting was set aside to hear about the programs
Central Council manages and to get fully orientated on financial
issues. The Council reviewed administrative issues and the challenges
the Tribe is facing today and will face in the future.
Corrine Garza, Chief of Business Operations, and Dorothy Webster,
Chief Finance Officer, walked through each budget of the tribe and
then explained Fiscal Policies. This was the most interactive area
between the Council and our Administrative Staff. They asked some
excellent questions on budget development processes, budget monitoring,
and budget modification policies. The Council expressed appreciation
for explanations on how indirect cost recovery is used, and learned
what types of expenditures are not reimbursable from the federal
government.
The Council requested a multi-year historical report on Central
Council's major administrative budgets and programs to better understand
budget trends, which would help them make better decisions in the
future. Management will produce this information and will make it
available to the Council and to our management team on an internal
web site that is managed out of our Finance Department.
The Council was given an update on Tlingit & Haida Technology
Industries (THTI) operations and its financial picture. While these
projects provide good job opportunities for our people in the communities
in which they reside, the profit margins are very thin and our "fixed"
contracts give us little flexibility in making the salaries of our
employees competitive. This leads to higher rates of staff turn-over…particularly
during the summer months.
Tribal program managers gave reports on each of their programs;
giving detail on program eligibility and available resources. Generally
speaking our people have more needs than we have program resources
to adequately address and then again we have some programs set up
for getting clients "job-ready" and we can't sustain a
steady clientele of those eligible to make meaningful differences
in unemployment rates.
One point that is always difficult to address is how to make our
programs available for those who do not reside in our geographic
region. Our funding sources require a client to reside in our service
area of Southeast Alaska to be eligible for most of our programs.
While this is not good for those who reside outside of Southeast
Alaska and need similar services, it is clear that the needs of
people who reside in our region are generally greater than those
of tribal citizens residing elsewhere.
Another recent concern is the rapidly rising cost of energy. This
is a major problem for our people who reside in rural communities.
Energy costs are generally higher in rural communities because of
the transportation cost. This is compounded by the fact that program
benefits to our needy are not being adjusted to help the families
pay for the higher costs creating undue strain on the entire household
budget of our rural families.
The Council acted on all of the resolutions that were not acted
upon at General Assembly, as well as on some of their own resolutions
that authorize the Tribe to enter into new program contracts and
renew existing contracts. They very much agree that we should have
an internal auditor but they are not willing to waive the rule that
prohibits a delegate from being an employee. They feel that the
waiving of such a rule sets precedence and gives a perception that
it is okay for an employee to be a delegate or a delegate to be
an employee so long as you can get the votes, and this is not a
good message.
The Council was appreciative and pleased with the reports they
received from managers on their programs, but they want to ensure
that program dollars are maximized and that we expend all program
dollars to make certain we recover all indirect costs that are owed
to us for managing these programs. We did not hear reports from
a couple of program managers who will report at the Executive Council
meeting scheduled for June 24th in Ketchikan.
The Council and management team will engage in strategic planning
sometime before early fall. They would like to go through this process
so that we will have a good plan for addressing the needs of our
people while it is still early in their tenure. The Council will
have access to monthly financial information on our internal web
site; this will provide them with an opportunity to monitor the
expenditures of all programs on a more frequent basis.
The Executive Council wants very much to keep in contact with delegates
and other elected officials so we are going to be issuing periodic
reports of their activities and we will be printing letterhead for
them so that it is clear from whom the messages are coming from.
Future reports may get more deeply into the heart of a topic depending
upon the need to be more detailed. Stay tuned for future reports.
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Media Contact:
Jodi Wolf – CCTHITA Publications
9097 Glacier Highway, Ste. 206
Juneau, AK 99801
Tel. 907/463-7123
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