At the March 26, 2014 Oneida Business Committee Regular Meeting a Quarterly Narrative Report was submitted by Oneida Seven Generations Corporation’s acting ‘Agent,’ Gene Keluche who is the sole owner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sagestone Management, LLC.
Under the category of ‘Financial/Physical’ assets the following is listed:
Checking accounts; Buildings; Other business ventures.
OSGC has often used this woefully inadequate description of its assets in previous reports, and as Oneida Eye said on June 26, 2013:
According to Section 1 (B) of Res. 01-26-11-A, Narrative Reports “should include, but are not limited to, at a minimum” among others these components:
e. Explanation of any material changes or developments in the market or nature of business the Corporation is primarily engaged in since the last reporting period.
j. Summary of the assets of the Corporation, including but not limited to its financial, physical, employee, customer, brand or intellectual property, and supply assets.
k. Summary and status update of any pending legal action to which the Corporation may be subject.
Here is a copy of OSGC’s Narrative Report as of March 31, 2013. This is how OSGC addressed the “financial” and “physical” aspect of item j:
Financial / Physical: Checking accounts; Buildings; Other Business Ventures.
Quite the informative summary, no? Who could ask for more? Other than perhaps the shareholder to whom a meaningful summary is due.
Therefore Oneida Eye finds it interesting that at the March 26, 2014 BC Regular Meeting, when the BC was discussing OSGC’s March 26 Narrative Report before Gene Keluche arrived to make an oral report, Tribal Treasurer Tina Danforth said the following:
Under ‘Financial/Physical’ it says “Checking accounts; Buildings; Other business ventures.” I don’t know what that means as far as a report item.”
So why didn’t Treas. Tina Danforth ever raise her concerns before regarding previous OSGC Narrative Reports with the exact same wording?
Was it because at those times Tina’s sister, Cathy ‘Tsyosha?aht’ Delgado, was on the OSGC Board of Directors?
You can see Tina’s apparently hypocritical comment for yourself in the following excerpt from the March 26, 2014 meeting video:
Eventually Gene Keluche and Steve Collins, who is the Senior Financial Advisor for Sagestone Mgmt., reviewed the Narrative Report in person with the BC:
As Oneida Eye has previously reported, Sagestone Mgmt. is receiving $12,000 per week to act as the Agent for OSGC.
For that amount of money one would hope for a more detailed Narrative Report than the one submitted, but apparently Sagestone Mgmt. is just following the precedent established by the former executives of OSGC.
Or maybe it’s OSGC employee Becky Demmith who is responsible for authoring the insufficient work product.
In any case, it should be noted that while OSGC’s role has supposedly been limited to ‘commercial leasing’ ventures, it was OSGC’s abuse of that very role which resulted in an illegal open flame operation occurring in the building OSGC owns at 1201 O’Hare Blvd.
After it was discovered that OSGC was leasing that building to Generation Clean Fuels there was a proposed BC Resolution titled ‘CLARIFICATION OF GENERAL TRIBAL COUNCIL ACTION REGARDING WASTE-TO-ENERGY ACTIVITIES’ which stated the following:
WHEREAS, the General Tribal Council adopted the following motion: “…to direct the BC to stop Oneida Seven Generations Corporation from building any gasification or waste-to-energy or plastic recycling plant at N7329 Water Circle Place, Oneida, Wisconsin or any other location within the Oneida Tribal reservation boundaries.”
WHEREAS, the discussion regarding waste-to-energy and other similar activities identified the General Tribal Council is of the opinion that this technology may result in causing health and environmental damage; and
WHEREAS, the Oneida Business Committee has identified a need to clarify the application of this action of the General Tribal Council to allow it to be fully implemented to meet the opinion of the General Tribal Council;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oneida Business Committee directs that all corporations, entities, and enterprises of the Tribe shall not engage in, or allow tenants or lessees to engage in, the business of operating a waste-to-energy, plastics recycling, or other similar technology on Tribal fee or trust property within the Reservation.
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that all corporations, entities, and enterprises of the Tribe who are engaged in, or who have tenants or lessees engaged in the business of operating a waste-to-energy, plastics recycling or other similar technology shall take necessary steps to cease those operations in a reasonable and timely manner.
That proposed BC Resolution failed to be adopted by the following vote:
Ayes: Patty Hoeft, David Jordan.
Nays: Greg Matson, Brandon Stevens, Paul Ninham.
So even acting simply as a commercial leasing entity, OSGC under its former leadership failed to abide by the intentions of General Tribal Council and OSGC did so with the support and approval of Vice-Chair Greg Matson, Council member Paul Ninham, and Council member & OSGC Liaison Brandon Stevens.
GTC should be sure to remember that come the July 12, 2014 election.
Hopefully Gene Keluche and Sagestone Mgmt. won’t disregard the will of GTC unlike former OSGC executives and Greg Matson, Paul Ninham and Brandon Stevens.
