Following a presentation by Oneida Eye Publisher Leah Sue Dodge the General Tribal Council of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin voted at the March 28, 2015 GTC Meeting to include the Milwaukee-based Southeastern Oneida Tribal Services (SEOTS) polling site in all future Tribal elections.
The hand-counted vote to include SEOTS in all future OTIW elections was 926 in support, 58 opposed.
Among the 58 losers were these Oneida Business Committee members:
- Brandon Stevens
- Ronald ‘Tehassi’ Hill
- Jenny Webster
- Fawn Billie
The anti-democracy attitude of those four OBC members stands in stark contrast to OBC Resolution 03-13-02-O which says:
The Oneida Constitution reflects an intent to promote the widest possible participation of Oneida people in their governance, and…the use of [the SEOTS] polling site is likely to increase participation in tribal elections[.]
Milwaukee-area Oneida Tribe members – and all Oneida Tribe members who support Tribal democracy & voting rights – will not forget those four OBC members’ publicly expressed their desire to disenfranchise Tribal voters in violation of the intent of Oneida Tribal Constitution and the Indian Civil Rights Act.
Yet the OBC wants GTC to vote in the Secretarial Election to change the Tribe’s laws in order to allow the Oneida Tribe’s Constitution to be amended however OBC wants by a simple vote of 8 OBC members.
Instead, GTC should be considering the removal of traitorous OBC members from office.
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