Tribal Council approves first reading of ordinance amendments changing organizational structure

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved the first reading of amendments to three ordinances that will change the organizational structure at its Wednesday, March 11 meeting.

Proposed changes will be to the fiscal, personnel and executive management ordinances and include the following:

• The finance officer, audit services director and general manager will report directly to the chief of staff instead of Tribal Council;
• The chief of staff will be responsible for hiring, promoting, supervising, disciplining and discharging employees;
• The chief of staff or their delegate will develop and implement personnel policies and procedures which “govern all aspects of employment with the Tribe;”
• The chief of staff will be responsible for carrying out executive functions of the council as well as legislative actions, which include administering, planning and directing Tribal programs and services “in accordance with Tribal Council directives,” and implementing processes and principles of the Tribe’s strategic plan.

“Basically, It’s an organizational change to a lot of the direct reports who report to Tribal Council will (now) be reporting to the chief of staff,” Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier said. “I think there are some other minor (changes) but that’s the big one I think people are going to want to know about. It’s a big organizational change and in order to make that change…these ordinances have to be amended.”

There will be a 30-day comment period before the proposed changes are adopted. For a copy of the ordinances, contact the Tribal Attorney’s Office at 503-879-4664 or legal@grandronde.org. Send comments to the Tribal Attorney’s Office, 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 or by email.

Additionally, proposed changes to the ordinances will be published in the April 1 and April 15 editions of Smoke Signals.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved the sale of the ina Thin logging unit to Round Valley LLC for $93,401;
• Approved three software sovereign immunity waivers for Sundancer Solutions LLC, Google LLC/YouTube.com and Etsy Inc.;
• Approved one enrollment relinquishment request;
• Approved an agreement with ACTenviro to remove household waste from the Natural Resources Department hazardous waste collection event Saturday, March 21;
• Approved a waiver of sovereign immunity with Innova NW for security monitoring at the Great Circle Recovery Pharmacy;
• Approved a lease agreement for billboard use at the Tribe’s Enchanted Oaks conservation property in Salem;
• And approved enrolling one infant into the Tribe because they meet the enrollment requirements in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

In other news, Tribal Council approved a staff directive setting a general welfare payment of $800 to be made to the membership Friday, March 13.

To watch the entire meeting, visit www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.