The Executive Council began its second full meeting with over two hours of comments from tribal citizens in the Ketchikan/Saxman area. Approximately 20 tribal citizens attended the meeting and comments ranged from concerns to suggestions, some of which included: to improve elderly services, support elderly housing that has easy access, support veterans programs, support landless efforts, the need for staff to treat clients with respect, the need for Administration to make it clear what is expected of newly hired staff during their first 90-days, and the importance of knowing and understanding the roots of Tlingit Haida Central Council.

We were honored to have Dr. Delores Churchill begin our meeting with a prayer in Haida. We were all very pleased to hear that she received a national award for her cultural involvement.

The interaction between tribal citizens and the Executive Council was invigorating. It is clear that our people expect us to do more and do it in a manner that is respectful, professional and considerate.The Executive Council walked through our tribal fiscal policies with our CFO, Dorothy Webster, and heard reports from Head Start, ANTESSI, and TANF. Head Start is fairly stable right now but we have on-going facilities maintenance challenges and constant pressure to do more with less from the funding sources. The Executive Council is concerned that the ANTESSI program is ending in September and they would like to see some of the initiatives started under this program continue…particularly those programs that reach out to our rural communities. There continues to be concern on the instability of TANF funding: first a report of budget surpluses and then reports of Reduction in Force (RIF) activities to save money. The Executive Council requested that when RIF efforts are completed, staff members be told so that they are not left wondering if they will have a job in the future.

Tribal Administration assured the Executive Council that we will continue our efforts in improving "customer service" to our clients to ensure that our clients are treated with respect. This does not mean that program policy on eligibility and compliance will be compromised it simply means that each and every client will be treated with dignity no matter what their needs are. The Tribal Administration also assured the Executive Council that each time a new employee is hired there will be a clearly written statement of expectations of the employee for the first 90-days of employment. The President also made it clear that it is not the policy of the tribe to automatically exclude victims of domestic violence from employment considerations and asked that he be directly notified if an applicant feels this is happening to them.

During this meeting the Executive Council acted on the last three resolutions that were deferred to them by the General Assembly. They also decided that next year’s General Assembly will be a “Constitutional Convention.” This means that all proposed amendments to our Constitution and Rules of Election would take priority over other business of the tribe at that General Assembly.

The Executive Council went over a few housekeeping items that will improve their effectiveness and communications. They agreed on Executive Council stationery, to set up a “web-based” common calendar that shows each other’s appointments and meetings, and they made suggestions to our administrative staff regarding materials they need before meetings begin. They also reinforced their commitment to having meetings in our communities by scheduling our next meeting for Kake on July 23, 2006.

At the next couple of meetings the Council plans to review our Financial Management Handbook; have a strategic planning session; and consider our Code of Ethics.

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