On Friday July 12, 2013 the Oneida Business Committee called for an open working meeting beginning at 2:45 p.m. regarding the petition signed by more than 360 General Tribal Council members to dissolve Oneida Seven Generations Corporation, particularly the wide media coverage it garnered. The special meeting was not announced on the Tribe’s GroupWise notification system.
Attendees of the extemporaneous meeting included the Tribal Chairperson Ed Delgado and Vice-Chairperson Greg Matson, OBC Council members and staff, Chief Counsel Jo Anne House, members of the OSGC Board including OSGC CEO Kevin Cornelius & CFO Bruce King, and petition supporters including coordinator Leah Dodge, as well as neutral observers. Tribal Treasurer Tina Danforth also made a brief appearance.
Earlier that day Oneida Eye updated a previous post (Who’s Ready For Work?) to include a legal opinion by Chief Counsel Jo Anne House from a February 15, 2011 Oneida Law Office legal opinion that states:
The confidential report can be viewed by members; however it will be maintained in a confidential manner.
Oneida Eye understood that to mean that the Disclosure Report will be kept in the Tribal Secretary’s office for viewing by GTC members upon request and that notes may be taken but photocopies may not be made.
Chief Counsel House’s specific legal opinion was unknown to Oneida Eye, yet seemed to vindicate those GTC members who believed that they did have access to the reports, as well as those who had been denied access and felt that that they should have access.
During the Friday meeting the Chief Counsel’s February 25, 2011 legal opinion was cited as evidence that Tribal Secretary Hoeft was unwarrantedly denying GTC members access to review OSGC’s Disclosure Reports which are required by the Corporate Report Model of OSGC’s Charter.
In a stunning admission, Chief Counsel Jo Anne House – after thanking the petition coordinator for having read the 2011 analysis – said that she was previously mistaken and that it is currently her opinion that GTC has no legal nor legitimate need to be granted access to confidential corporate reports.
What was not indicated was when her change of opinion took place, when or how it was communicated to the Tribal Secretary/OBC, nor if it had ever been documented and brought to the attention of GTC in other documents or verbally at GTC meetings or other meetings.
Oneida Eye will have more analysis of this turn of events and the rest of the meeting soon.
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