OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House’s ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ Analysis Of The Appellate Court’s Decision In Favor Of Oneida Housing Authority Exec. Dir. Dale Wheelock Against Fmr. OBC Chair Ed Delgado, Fmr. OBC Treas. & Current OBC Chair Cristina Danforth & HR Director Geraldine Danforth; QUESTION: Were Federally-Funded Building Materials & Money Stolen From Oneida Housing Used For Construction Work On Jo Anne House’s Houses?

Posted on August 14, 2015 by the Editors

Even more information to support Oneida Eye’s contention that current and former Oneida Business Committee members and OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House (as well as Election Board members along with former Hearing Officers of the now defunct Oneida Appeals Commission who issue clearly erroneous decisions allowing illegal & unconstitutional Tribal elections) appear to be engaged in an ongoing pattern of conspiracy by the OBC and the Tribe’s election officials, attorneys, and hearing officers to violate Oneida Tribe members’ and employees’ due process rights which are protected by the Indian Civil Rights Act:

Below is part of the text of the Oneida Business Committee’s Chief Counsel’s analysis:

You have requested a review of the November 21 decision of the Oneida Appeals Commission in the [Ed Delgado, Tina Delgado-Danforth & Geraldine Danforth] v. [Dale] Wheelock case, docket # 14-AC-004. Specifically, you have requested an opinion regarding the impact of the opinion regarding the discussion about the 1982 action of the General Tribal Council and the position of the General Manager.

As a part of this legal opinion I have reviewed the Personnel Commission and Oneida Appeals Commission decisions, the briefs submitted in the cases, and actions of the General Tribal Council.

Personnel Case Background

This case began with a February 2012 inquiry by then-Treasurer Cristina Danforth to Owen Somers, [Oneida Internal] Security Director, to assign James [Sonny] Martin from Internal Security Department to conduct an investigation of issues arising out of the Oneida Housing Authority regarding missing inventory, misappropriation of federal grant funds and inappropriate bidding process. Mr. Somers approved the assignment to be conducted within the ability of Mr. Martin’s work duties. By June of 2012, Mr. Martin was interviewing several personnel within the Oneida Housing Authority, including Dale Wheelock.

[Footnote 1: It appears that a significant amount of information came from Whitney Wheelock regarding [American Recovery & Reinvestment Act/] ARRA grants and housing activities. Mr. W. Wheelock, at some point in this process, obtained an Employee Protection Order from the Personnel Commission. As a part of that order, the Personnel Commission also ordered an audit and directed [Fmr.] Chairman [Ed] Delgado to undertake some actions. It is not clear if any of this was part of the decision to place the three employees on investigative leave.

Whitney Wheelock is Dale Wheelock’s son.

Here are some of the documents that Whitney Wheelock submitted to the Oneida Personnel Commission as part of his Employee Protection Order which Chief Counsel Jo Anne House is referring to:

 

QUESTIONS:

  • Were any of the federally funded building materials stolen from the Oneida Housing Authority and/or misappropriated funds used for construction work on houses or properties owned by OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House, her sister Susan House, or any of their family members?
  • Did OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House know or suspect that federally funded building materials stolen from the Oneida Housing Authority and/or misappropriated funds had been used in construction work on houses or properties owned by OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House or any of her family members when she authored her ‘Confidential’ analysis to the OBC?
  • Wouldn’t it have been a professional ‘conflict of interest’ for Atty. Jo Anne House to have issued analysis of any kind as the OBC Chief Counsel on a case involving federally funded building materials stolen from Oneida Housing Authority or misappropriated funds if Jo Anne House suspected or knew that those stolen building materials and/or misappropriated funds were used for construction work on houses or property owned by OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House or any of her family members?
  • Does OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House now know or suspect whether federally funded building materials stolen from Oneida Housing Authority and/or misappropriated funds were used for construction work on houses or property owned by OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House or any of her family members, and, if so, when did that suspicion/knowledge begin?
  • Were any of the federally funded building materials stolen from the Oneida Housing Authority and/or misappropriated funds used in construction work on houses or property owned by Oneida Law Office attorneys or employees or other subordinates of Jo Anne House – including Atty. Rebecca ‘Becky’ Webster – or any of their family members?
  • Were any of the federally funded building materials stolen from the Oneida Housing Authority and/or misappropriated funds used in construction work on houses or property owned by Oneida Business Committee members or any of their family members?
  • Were any of the federally funded building materials stolen from the Oneida Housing Authority and/or misappropriated funds used in construction work on houses or property owned by Oneida Seven Generations Corporation or any of its subsidiaries’ executives, employees, or board members, or any of their family members?

 

As you’ll notice. the dire reality behind OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House’s narrative only comes to light if you read the footnotes along with the main text, all of which glibly downplays the unlawful actions perpetrated by Former OBC Chair Ed Delgado, Fmr. OBC Treas. & current OBC Chair Tina Danforth, and Human Resources Director Geraldine Danforth against Oneida Housing Authority Executive Director Dale Wheelock in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act:

In August 2012, then Chairman Edward Delgado, his Sr. Policy Analyst Linda Dallas, and Mr. Martin met with Dale Wheelock, Jay Fuss, and Shane John to place them on Investigative Leave.

[Footnote 2: Jay Fuss is no longer employed by the Tribe. The Investigative Leave for Shane John appears to have been concluded.]

The initial leave identified that Mr. Wheelock was not allowed within any Tribal building. This was amended within a week to remove that restriction and to direct him to report to the Division of Land Management for an alternative work assignment.

[Footnote 3: During this process it appears that Mr. Wheelock’s insurance benefits were cut off prematurely. Once his alternative work assignment was identified his insurance was reinstated. There may have been a delay in the reinstating of the insurance.]

This is the first grievance appeal filed by Mr. Wheelock.

[Footnote 4: The Personnel Commission originally ruled that this appeal was not timely filed. The decision on appeal to the Oneida Appeals Commission remanded the case back to the Personnel Commission identifying the timeline was based on the last notice received regarding the alternative work assignment and the appeal was timely.]

In the interim, as a part of the reporting requirements for health care providers, Bob Fresen made a report to his supervisor regarding comments made by Mr. Wheelock. This resulted in three actions. First, Chairman [Ed] Delgado filed for restraining orders in Brown County as a result of the alleged threat made by Mr. Wheelock.

[Footnote 5: A preliminary restraining order was issued but was not finalized after the hearing. During the period of the preliminary restraining order, Chairman Delgado had Oneida Police Department enforce the preliminary restraining order by having Mr. Wheelock escorted from a satellite meeting room during a General Tribal Council meeting.]

What kind of “restraining order” would allow the OBC Chair to order the Oneida Police Dept. to unlawfully remove someone from a “satellite meeting room” at a meeting of General Tribal Council?

Ed’s request turned out to be bogus, but what a perfect political weapon for tyrants to prevent GTC members from giving the supreme governing body of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin information about corruption it can take action against!

Only GTC has the right to decide whether GTC members can be removed from meetings, though the OBC is now trying to undermine that authority via the proposed GTC Meetings Law.

What Ed Delgado and the OPD did was a clear violation of Dale Wheelock’s rights under the Oneida Tribal Constitution & Laws and the Indian Civil Rights Act.

Back to the ‘Confidential interpretation’ narrative:

Second, his alternative work assignment was terminated and he was placed on involuntary leave of absence until such time as he could obtain a return to work slip. Third, [Fmr.] Chairman Delgado asked for another member of the Oneida Business Committee to complete the Investigative Leave investigation because of the conflict of interest. The Oneida Business Committee assigned [Fmr.] Treasurer [and current OBC Chair Tina] Danforth.

[Footnote 6: Mr. Wheelock was not notified of this change of supervision and was still under the restriction to not enter offices of the Oneida Housing Authority.]

[Fmr.] Treasurer [Tina] Danforth reviewed the report submitted by Mr. [James] Martin and requested her assignment to schedule a meeting with Mr. Wheelock. Although initially scheduled, Mr. Wheelock canceled the meeting because it violated his earlier restrictions regarding the Investigative Leave. Although calls were placed by the [Fmr.] Treasurer’s assistant[, Mary Graves], no meeting was rescheduled. [Fmr.] Treasurer Danforth, as a result of the deadline regarding finalizing Investigative Leave, terminated Mr. Wheelock for failing to cooperate in the investigation in December 2012. This is the second grievance appeal by Mr. Wheelock.

[Footnote 7: In the intervening period Mr. Wheelock also filed a complaint directly with the Oneida Appeals Commission in October 2012.]

Who was it that provided legal advice and consultation to Fmr. OBC Chair Ed Delgado, and to Fmr. OBC Treas. & current OBC Chair Tina Delgado-Danforth, and to Human Resources Director Geraldine Danforth, while they all collectively abused their power by carrying out an illegal campaign of what the Personnel Commission and the Appeals Commission determined to be “harassment” and “intimidation” which resulted in a settlement having to be paid to Dale Wheelock by the Oneida Tribe this year?

 

Oh, that’s right…

OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House.

Conspiracy?

 

The rest of the ‘Confidential’ analysis outlines OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House’s opinion which basically boils down to the notion that the Oneida Business Committee can legally defy any directive given to the OBC by General Tribal Council by simply ignoring GTC, obstructing justice, and running out the clock until she decides that GTC’s directive is ‘out-of-date.’

Read Jo Anne’s ‘secret’ opinion for yourself and see.

Which is exactly what the OBC, with the advice & assistance of Atty. Jo Anne House, seem to be trying to do regarding GTC’s December 15, 2013 directive to OBC to dissolve Oneida Seven Generations Corporation and to allow Frank Cornelius Sr. to work with the OBC on the dissolution and report back to GTC until it is complete which the OBC has refused to do as it continues to obstruct GTC’s and Frank Cornelius’ rights to due process as protected by the Indian Civil Rights Act.

 

See also:

On August 20, 2014, the Appellants (Petitioners) filed a request for an Injunction/Temporary Restraining Order against the Respondents to postpone the August 23, 2014 Special Election [of the Oneida Tribal Judiciary until] the inclusion of the SEOTS polling site. They also requested a Declaratory Ruling that all Business Committee and Judiciary elections include the SEOTS polling site. The Trial [Body] answered the Injunction/Restraining Order by denial. The Declaratory Ruling request was not answered by the Trial [Body]. …

The Trial [Body Hearing Officers, Jean Webster and Chris J. Cornelius and Kathy Hughes,] failed to provide an answer to the Appellants’ request.

By the Trial [Body]’s failure to conduct a hearing on issue[s] presented, we find a denial of [the Appellants’] due process rights was made. No hearing was held. …

In respect to the Appellants (Petitioners’) request for Declaratory Ruling, the Trial [Body] failed to conduct a hearing, no record was made. Within the founding General Tribal Council Resolution, 8-19-91-A, which established the [Oneida Appeals Commission] it indicates:

“Whereas, the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, 25 USC Section 1301-1303 supports the policy that all Indian Tribes exercising powers of self-government shall insure that individual rights are protected and that people have a right to “petition for redress of grievances.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related:

 

4/21/2016 UPDATE – WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT TO FBI ABOUT H.U.D. FUNDING & MATERIALS THEFT AT ONEIDA HOUSING AUTHORITY, PLUS RETALIATORY PHYSICAL VIOLENCE:

 

This entry was posted in Appeals Commission, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Court, Employment, Fmr. OBC Chair Cristina Danforth, Fmr. OBC Chair Ed Delgado, Indian Civil Rights Act, Law, OBC Chief Counsel Jo Anne House, Oneida Business Committee, Oneida Housing Authority, Oneida Human Resources Dept., Oneida Law Office, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin / ONWI / Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Oneida Personnel Commission, Oneida Total Integrated Enterprises, Oneida-Kodiak, Tribal Budget, Tribal Housing, Vince Biskupic, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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